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Ephesians – Which Church Is the Real Church?
In a section of Atlanta we are reminded of America’s complicated past. Within a few blocks there are signs in memory of the Confederacy, Martin Luther King, and the Cherokees. The ideal of America has always been more glorious than its reality. This is the same for the church.
Ephesians presents a glorious, unblemished, exalted view of the church. It is the body of Jesus, the temple, and His bride. From this perspective it is perfect; because we are perfected.
Then there’s the reality of every local church. Some are filled with the devious as in the Corinth, or loveless as in Ephesus in Revelation 2. Every congregation is imperfect because of you and me.
Which church is the real church? Which church is of Christ: the one universal church (Ephesians 1:23; 4:4); or the myriads of local ones (Romans 16:16)?
As said by John Stott: “What do you think of the church? Your answer will probably depend on whether you are thinking about the ideal or the reality.
“In the ideal, the church is the most marvelous new creation of God. It is the new community of Jesus, enjoying a multi-racial, multi-national, and multi-cultural harmony that is unique in history and in contemporary society. It is a people who spend their earthly lives (as they will also spend eternity) in the loving service of God and of others. What a noble and beautiful ideal!
“In reality, however, the church is us (if you will pardon the bad grammar) – a disheveled rabble of sinful, fallible, bickering, squabbling, stupid, shallow Christians, who constantly fall short of God’s ideal, and often fail even to approximate it!”
Like America, both the ideal and real are real. Like with both America and the Church, some only see one side. With neither, but more importantly with God’s Church, we shouldn’t cover up the ugly; nor fail to see the beautiful.
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