The Church Universal

Last month I asked the question, “Can you find your church in the Bible?” This question pertains to your church affiliation at large and not a particular local congregation. It is in this context that we read about the church which Christ established (see Matt. 16:16) and for which He died (see Acts 20:28). Of course, I was not expecting for you to find your particular local church in the Bible any more than I can find the local church I am a part of , except in terms of what Christ taught about the organization and work of local churches. That is another subject not addressed here.

The Bible speaks of the universal church, but the Bible also speaks of local churches that belong to Christ. The universal church has no earthly organization or physical structure and is composed of individuals who belong to Jesus Christ. They collectively are viewed by God as consisting of ONE BODY and their function is to glorify God no matter where they are in this world. Such a BODY consists of both Jews and Gentiles, male and females, slaves and free, rich and poor, etc. The Bible is silent as to any earthly organization (such as Pope, Cardinal, arch-bishop, etc.) that would function through clergy systems that tie all members together.

How did the early disciples become a part of the body of Christ? The answer is very simple. Before Jesus ascended into heaven, He gave the great commission to His apostles which is summed up in three accounts:

Matthew 28:18-20: And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, "All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age."

Mark 16:15-16: And He said to them, "Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation. He who has believed and has been baptized shall be saved; but he who has disbelieved shall be condemned.

Luke 24:46-47: and He said to them, "Thus it is written, that the Christ would suffer and rise again from the dead the third day, and that repentance for forgiveness of sins would be proclaimed in His name to all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem.”

The gospel is the message that is to be preached to every creature. When men and women hear the gospel, believe the gospel and obey the gospel, they are “added” by God to the ONE BODY OF CHRIST. It is specifically by the means of the act of baptism that one enters into the BODY of Christ (see I Cor. 12:13; Rom. 6:3; Eph. 4:5). It is not outward compliance only that counts with God, but obedience from the heart.

When God adds you to His BODY (see Acts 2:47), no one has the power to remove you but God Himself. Therefore, we can confidently say that the universal church is constitutionally and essentially ONE and is comprised of the saved. Salvation is not a matter of being voted upon by others or being accepted by a particular group of men. You belong to Christ by means of your obedience to the gospel (see Romans 6:17; 2 Thess. 1:8). This message which is to be preached to every creature is about Jesus Christ (Rom. 1:1-4) and is centered on the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ—1 Cor. 15:1-4. These are simple but profound truths. Who has ever become a Christian without actually hearing the gospel, believing the gospel and obeying the gospel? It is through the preaching of the word that God in His wisdom seeks to save souls. “For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not come to know God, God was well pleased through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe” (1 Cor. 1:21). This is the original message of the New Testament, but these simple truths have been lost through the ages.

The religious world has come to the point of teaching that people can join the church of their own choice or believe the faith of their choice instead of learning about God’s choice. There is absolutely no salvation in the doctrines and commandments of men, as Jesus Himself taught. Are we receiving the original teaching about Christ and the church authorized by Christ Himself? For example, we find that religious lawyers who, through a multitude of deceptive words, have hidden the gospel from the people, so that many people do not even believe that the Bible contains the infallible word of God (see Luke 11:46, 52). If there is no reliable rule book for religion then it is impossible for us to be on the same page. What I do in this paper is talk about the religion of Jesus Christ 101. Does that make sense? What say you?

EARTHLY ACCOLADES

Two months ago I received an invitation to join other fellow retired baseball players in the “Yankee Old-timers Reunion (a game and festivities) taking place on July 17 – 19, 2009. This is certainly an honor of sorts, but as I think on these things, many thoughts pass through my mind. It will be nice to see a lot of my old teammates after so many years, and reminisce about the game we enjoyed playing.

I have often wondered why sports are so wildly popular and yet it seems few people seem to have that kind of devoted interest in the gospel of Jesus Christ. Indeed, it will be a good experience to reacquaint myself with players of years gone by. Many which I have not seen for almost 40 years. Will I be intimidated by the fact that many of these players are Hall-of-Famers? Not at all. My record with the Yankees speaks for itself, which was 38 wins, 29 losses, 58 saves and an E.R.A. of 2.46. As a Yankee, I appeared in 265 games covering 545 innings, gave up 486 hits, struck out 343 batters, gave up 156 walks and 173 earned runs.

It will also be a lot of fun to be joined by my wife Nancy and close Christian friends, Phil and Sandy Ford, as we anticipate some good times in New York city and at Yankee Stadium. A Christian ought to have fun while putting God first. Yes, it will be enjoyable to be introduced by name, along with my fellow baseball players with 60,000+ people in the stands and millions watching on T.V.

Yet I know in the things that ultimately matter, all of this pales into total insignificance to the glory of God and the importance of knowing him. The “crown of leaves” will fade away, but the eternal crown of life will never fade away (see 1 Cor. 9:25; 2 Tim. 4:7-8).

I can understand the popularity of sports. It appeals to the fans because they know that sports involves “an all out effort to win in open, honest competition.” So it involves the thrill of competition and watching a genuine performance, taking sides, rooting for your team, etc. There are not many things that are so “open” and “honest”. Yet I have often wondered, as I observed a packed stadium on a Sunday afternoon, how many of those people went to church services and truly love the Lord Jesus? Have we not raised a generation of people who know more about sports than they do about the Bible? How much does sports contribute to the moral well being of our nation? Very little if any.

I have also known athletes whose world and their identity (who they are) centers around sports. As they might say themselves, “I eat, drink, sleep and live baseball. It is my life.” And yet I have seen many such men make a mess out of their lives with divorces, scandal, drug use, becoming poor examples for young people, etc. And I think to myself, “That person may be a Hall-of-Famer, but they did not know much about life.” To tell you the truth, I miss not having played on a World Championship team, but after all is said and done, this will not matter at all. Like Mary, we need to choose the good part which will not be taken away (see Luke 10:42).

I wish that people in our great nation love Christ as much as they love sports. Although in fact, if one is to be a true disciple, he must love Christ more than anything else. But at least it would be a step in the right direction. Let us just say that if they dedicated themselves to Christ with the same dedication they have for sports, then Christ would be #1.

Seeing the “Old Timers” will be a reminder that we live in this time/material universe where nothing remains the same. Many of my old buddies in baseball have already passed on. As the brother of Jesus wrote: “but the brother of humble circumstances is to glory in his high position; and the rich man is to glory in his humiliation; because like flowering grass he will pass away. For the sun rises with a scorching wind and withers the grass; and its flower falls off and the beauty of its appearance is destroyed; so too the rich man in the midst of his pursuits will fade away” (James 1:9-11). We may joke and kid one another about our age, but we all know that we live in a time of fading glory. Even the glory of all those Yankee Championships will become a distant memory and will not be long remembered many years from now.

Eccles. 1:11: There is no remembrance of earlier things; And also of the later things which will occur, There will be for them no remembrance Among those who will come later still.

I must confess that many of my friends and loved ones are not into sports. I assume that they love me for who I am and not because I had a long stint in baseball. Oh, they remember my birthdays and other occasions by giving me baseball books, baseball movies on D.V.D’s, and other such things, but they know that baseball is not the most important thing to me. I have a very ordinary life compared to many of the sports stars of today, but it is rich in many things money cannot buy.

– Lindy McDaniel, 2009

E-mail: lindymcdaniel41@yahoo.com