The Radical Resurgence

The Cyprian Model

Thus,  by the time of Cyprian’s rule as bishop of  Carthage in the middle of the third century, the distinction of function has   hardened into a separation and gradation of office: to move from one office to another is viewed as an advance or the result of the increased merit of the individual (Davies, p.133).

Cyprian’s response to the inheri­tance of the one-bishop-rule form of church government was to strengthen it by developing the authority of the bishop.  To support both con­cepts he defends the idea of an un­broken succession of bishops from Peter to the legitimate bishop in every Catholic church.  Furthermore, it is Cyprian who first formulates the unity of bishops into an organ­ization which represents the whole church:

And this unity we ought firmly to hold and assert, especially those of us that are bishops who pre­side in the church, that we may also prove  the  episcopate itself to be one and undivided . . . the episcopate is one, each part  of which is held by each one for the whole (quoted by Earl D. Radmacher in The Nature of the Church [Portland:  Western Bap­tist Press, 1972], p.32).

Having traced the growth of one-bishop-rule as seen in Ignatius and Cyprian, let us now turn to a brief analysis of the factors which may have stimulated this development.

A Study in the Writings of Ignatius and Cyprian

INTRODUCTION

Even a cursory reading of the post-apostolic fathers reveals how faintly influenced they were by the doctrine which had earlier so con­sumed the apostle Paul’s thought: justification by faith. This early literature reflects much more in­terest in matters of discipline, church polity and sacramental forms. In fact, as one modern his­torian puts it:

The pre-Augustinian church never heartily accepted St. Paul’s doctrine of justification by faith. Sometimes it was wholly ignored; at other times even when the formula was respected it was in­terpreted in a way which would have been expressed more natu­rally by saying that men are saved by repentance (Reinhold Niebuhr, The Nature and Destiny of Man, 2 Vol. ed. [New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1941], p.132).

While the doctrine of justification by faith suffered at the hands of many different dogmas, the church’s adoption of mono-episcopacy (one-bishop-rule) played a pivotal role in keeping this central doctrine always on the periphery of the church’s attention.  The hasty abandonment by the second century church of the New Testament form of plural oversight for its own form of one-bishop-rule is important for at least two reasons.

First, one-bishop-rule appeared in a church largely ignorant of the im­plications of justification by faith. The spiritual hierarchy resulting from the one-bishop-rule witnesses to the lack of comprehension of the spiritual equality possessed by all believers because of Christ’s right­eousness imputed to them.

“I will not quarrel with you about my opinions; only see that your heart is right toward God, that you know and love the Lord Jesus Christ; that you love your neighbor, and walk as your Master walked, and I desire no more. I am sick of opinions; am weary to bear them; my soul loathes this frosty food. Give me solid and substantial religion; give me a humble, gentle lover of God and man; a man full of mercy and good faith, without partiality and without hypocrisy; a man laying himself out in the work of faith, the patience of hope, the labor of love. Let my soul be with these Christians wheresoever they are, and whatsoever opinion they are of.”

John Wesley

SERVANTS OF CHRIST

The third foundation stone for the ministry of God’s people is the call to be servants of Jesus Christ. To be a minister in the church means to be a servant. This underscores the practical significance of the church as servant.

A key passage here, though many others might be cited, is Matthew 20:25-27. “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. Not so with you.  Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be your slave – just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

Jesus says in effect: If you are going to be my disciple, you must function differently from the world’s way.  The model is not hierarchy but servanthood.  Ministry is service, and greatness is Christ-likeness.

This foundation stone suggests three things for the ministry of God’s people.  First, Jesus is the model for ministry. We do not have to look else where, and anything we learn elsewhere must be corrected by Jesus’ example.

GIFTS OF THE SPIRIT

The key passage here is Ephesians 4:1-16.  The passage speaks of unity in the church – one faith, one Lord, one baptism. Throughout the passage the themes of unity, diversity and mutuality intertwine. After the initial stress on unity, a contrasting theme is introduced in verse seven. “But grace was given to each of us according to the measure of Christ’s gift.” (RSV)  The context indicates that Paul is not referring here to the grace by which believers are saved, but rather to the particular grace God gives his people for ministry.

In chapter three of Ephesians Paul says he had been given a particular grace, a special gift for ministry.  Now in chapter four he says this is true for all believers, although our ministries vary.  He is saying, in effect: Now that you have been saved by grace, you need to understand that God continues to give you grace — grace for ministry. The principle and power by which you were saved is the principle and power by which you serve.

The church operates by grace (charis) through the gifts of the Spirit (charismata).  The church is charismatic because it is saved by grace and serves by grace.   As believers, we are all one in Christ, all parts of the body, the community of God’s people.  God shares his grace with us from the fullness of Christ.  God’s fullness in Christ is not exhausted by the new birth; it includes abundant resources for ministry through the charisms or gifts given to the body.  As John Arndt wrote: “Christ lives and works in the members of his body so that each one might receive of his fullness (Jn.1:16), for he as the head has all the fullness of all and each gifts.”

THE PRIESTHOOD OF ALL BELIEVERS

The key passage here is 1 Peter 2:4-9.  Peter says that believers are “being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.”  The church is “a chosen people (laos, or “laity”), a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God”, called to declare the praises of him who called (it) out of darkness into his wonderful light.”

In coming to know Christ, believers became part of the body of Christ, the church. Under the high priesthood of Jesus the church itself is priesthood. In 1 Peter, the author refers to Exodus 19 where Moses was about to go up to the mountain to receive God’s law.  God said to Israel: “Now if you obey me fully, and keep my covenant, then out of all nations you will be my treasured possession. Although the whole earth is mine, you will be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation” (Ex.19:5-6).

The whole nation of Israel, not just the tribe of Levi, was to be God’s priesthood.  God’s plan was that his people would represent him to the world.  They would be the channel of his revelation and his salvation purposes.  This was God’s commission to Israel.  Although Israel often was unfaithful and the commission was only partly fulfilled, God’s purpose was clear.

Call it revolution or reformation – the church’s understanding of ministry is changing radically.

Ministry is in crisis today. Seminarians say they don’t feel called to the traditional pastoral role, and young men and women in pastoral service tell me. “I don’t fit here.”  A young man with a M.Div. degree, two years out of seminary, wrote, “My wife and I just don’t feel at home here. We have lots of questions about the traditional pastoral role we’re placed in, and we feel isolated.” He was serving as an assistant pastor, working closely with the senior pastor and with a group of people who know and love the Lord. But he felt something was out of focus and out of gear. He felt he was spinning wheels instead of building community.

This is not an isolated example. Several currents are combining to challenge and undermine the traditional pastoral role.  While most seminaries will operate on a professional school model (the religious counterpart to a legal or medical school), here and there that model is being challenged.  Biblical images of pastors as equippers and disciples are beginning to yeast their way into the church. On the other hand, in many local churches the expectation, both official and unofficial, is that the pastor is the professional religionist, the expert, not the equipper and catalyst.  The pastor is the one who does the religious work for the people, not the one to turns “laymen” into ministers.

Ekklesia is Supernatural

I have said that there is much going on in the ekklesia at many different levels. The ekklesia is not a phenomenon of the natural historical world only. The writer of Hebrews says that we have already been introduced into the transcendental realms, which includes participation in “the ekklesia of the firstborn ones who are enrolled in heaven” (Heb.12:23).

Think of it as polarized by the Godhead and creation. Between these poles is a great variety of interchange — many different things are going on. On any or all of these levels of dynamic interaction, the ekklesia is identified by the presence of Christ. “For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them” (Matt.18:20).

According to philosophers and linguists there are three requirements for an adequate linguistic expression. It must be simple, complete and consistent. Here we have a simple statement — the ekklesia is constituted by the personal presence of Christ. It is complete, for He who is Himself the center of ekklesia-life is the one that “fills all in all” (Eph.1:23). And it is consistent for He that expresses His fullness through the ekklesia is genuine truth.  The presence of Christ, therefore, is an adequate expression of ekklesia. As few as two or three believers assembled together can now constitute the ekklesia.

Hence where Christ Himself is present the ekklesia exists in a totality. It does not require a composite collection of various assemblies to form the total ekklesia. Each local ekklesia is the ekklesia. Each local ekklesia is conscious of itself as the representative of the universal ekklesia (1 Thess.2:14, 1 Cor.1:2). This seems paradoxical to us — how each gathering can contain the whole ekklesia in its universality.

Phe-nom-e-non

1. An observable fact or event. 2. An extraordinary person or thing or event.

3. An outward sign of the working of a law of nature (The Merriam- Webster Dictionary)

Ekklesia

1. Assembly, as a regularly summoned political body.

2. Assemblage, gathering, meeting generally.

3. The congregation of the Israelites.

4. The Christian church or congregation (Arndt & Gingrich Greek- English Lexicon)

Let’s not use the word “church.” It has so many preconceived meanings. Also, it is not even a translation of the Greek word ekklesia. “Church” comes from the Anglo-Saxon word kirk meaning, “of or pertaining to the Lord.” A good statement about God’s people, but not an accurate translation of ekklesia.

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