Revisit 2 Corinthians 5:17 and you just might Revitalize Your Church
Phil Miglioratti @ The Reimagine.Network
“Now, if anyone is enfolded into Christ, s/he has become an entirely new person.
All that is related to the old order has vanished. Behold, everything is fresh and new.”
2 Corinthians 5:17 TPT
Is it possible our application of this amazing declaration of transformative truth has been insufficient? The result of a limited purview?
What if 2 Corinthians 5:17 should not only be applied to and by each believer, but should also be applied corporately; to and by congregations, across all denominations, and through ministry organizations?
“Now all who are enfolded into Christ have become an entirely new community.
All that is related to the old order has vanished.
Behold a Church where everything is fresh and new.”
Church, recognize the old is gone.
Church, realize the new has come.
In our individual-focused society it is too easy to forget that the Church is the Body of Christ.
Like a human body, it is comprised millions of cells, but yet it is one entity. One spiritual nation but many ethnicities. Multi-generational. Dissimilar geographies. Many different (and differing) tribes, which are led and taught by diverse personalities as they express worship and enjoy fellowship with distinct rituals and practices. No one snowflake exactly alike but one in Christ.
“Just as there are many parts to our human bodies, so it is with Christ’s body.
We are all parts of it, and it takes every one of us to make it complete,
for we each have different work to do.
So we belong to each other, and each needs all the others.”
Romans 12:5
Teaching, equipping, discipling, are vital to the life of everyChrist-follower but also to every Christian community (congregation, ministry). We must give more than theological-statement lip-service to this reality. We must recognize the codes and methods differ for each and to employ only one set of formats or styles is ministry malpractice.
Scripture written for the discipleship of each believer also has relevancy for the discipling of each corporate expression (cell) of the Body of Christ. Those who attend small groups or large gatherings should not be perceived as a passive audience (audible; “to hear)” where the teaching and preaching of biblical truth is applied only to the personal life of each individual. Each believer must personally respond to the commands and counsels of Scripture, but so also must each expression of the Church strive to mature, become equipped as well.
“ekklesia” in the Greek New Testament refers to
"an assembly" or "a group of people called together for a purpose.”
In Ephesians 4:13 the writer “says that the equipping work should continue until the church reaches unity and maturity. Interestingly, Paul doesn’t use the plural form ‘mature persons’ but rather uses the singular form ‘mature person.’ He’s referring to the church, saying that the church must ‘attain to a mature person.’ We often think of maturity only in terms of individual believers, but in this passage the emphasis is on the maturity of the church.” (Pastor John Sypert)
“I will build my Church.”
Jesus, quoted in Matthew 16:18
The Church is a company bound together by a world-changing mission statement, given by our Lord and Leader Jesus to a group comprised of devoted followers. Like a coach, the Church is guided and empowered by the Holy Spirit to live-out and take-out the Gospel, across the street and around the world.
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“Anyone with ears to hear must listen to the Spirit
and understand what he is saying to the churches.”
Revelation 2:7 NLT
We must begin to apply 2 Corinthians 5:17 to the ministries of the Church . . .
• Church, “the old is gone” … so, “be not conformed.” (Romans 12:2)
The old that is gone for us today is the two millennia of traditions, rituals, formats, styles, customs that have unavoidably intermingled with our interpretations and applications, creating a Christianized culture. Christianized to a specific time, place, problems, and people. Built upon truth but never the whole truth (humanly impossible regardless of any certainty of our theological positions and policies) and certainly not nothing but the truth (humbly impossible to not make unintended errors of application and discernment). √out "Text, Context, Pretext"
Culture: “the customary beliefs, social forms, set of values,
corporate practices, and traits of a racial, religious, or social group;
the characteristic features of everyday existence shared by people in a place or time.”
Stepping away from old patterns and practices (2 Corinthians 5:17) and becoming unconformed (Romans 12:2) begins with unLearning.
Recognizing that at the time our applications of biblical truth were designed (how we worship, how we make disciples, how we share the Gospel), they were unavoidably influenced and in many cases, infected by, “the behaviors and customs of the world” (Romans 12:2). Like air pollution, one can not help breathing in contaminated air. But, that does not make those ministry formats evil; it makes them embedded into a time and lifestyle that no longer exists or no longer suits our biblical objectives (or maybe they never did). unLearning sees to untangle those accumulated ministry planning and programs from biblical principles and practices.
• Church, “the new has come”. … so “be transformed…by a new way of thinking” (Romans 12:2)
As times change, so does the inspiring and leading of the Holy Spirit. The “new” is a fresh filling of the Spirit that equips the Church to apply biblical truths to new, contemporary, even unprecedented, situations. Scripture changes not. Living out Scripture does.
“Don’t be under the control of anything that can control your life.
Church, instead you must continually seek to be filled with, under the control of, the Holy Spirit.”
Ephesians 5:18
“Now all who are enfolded into Christ have become a new entity; a new community.
All that is related to the old order has vanished, so
Don't copy the behavior and customs of this world, instead
Let God transform you into something new by changing the way you think, so that
You may proven practice that the plan of God is good, meets all God’s expectations and moves toward the goal of maturity.
Behold a Church where everything is fresh and new!”
2 Corinthians 5:17~Romans 12:2