Church Unity in a Turbulent Age

What you have mentioned is all about the “drama of salvation” in Ephesians. How does this shed light on the current situation facing Hong Kong churches?

A few years ago, I preached in our seminary’s Spiritual Revival Concert. The text I preached from was Ephesians 1:3-14. It states that our sins are forgiven because of the beloved Son Jesus Christ. But this is only the beginning of the message. After that, it introduces the theme “reconciliation”—to bring unity to all things in heaven and on earth under Christ. Then, the text declares that we exist for the praise of His glory. Lastly, it says that “this[the Holy Spirit] is the pledge of our inheritance toward redemption as God’s own people, to the praise of his glory” (v.14 NRSV). “Redemption” here suggests a group of people who have God’s image and bear His name; this is the scene that God has been longing for in the whole Bible. The church is hence very significant.

What does this imply? During this period, many people comment that those talking about the Bible have their heads in the clouds; I feel bad about this. It is because the Epistle to the Ephesians has made it clear that although there are many realities in the heavenly realms: glory, praise, truth and blessings; heaven has a counterpart on earth, which is the church. Why do I feel sad? It is not because of the seemingly chaotic situation outside the church, but because of the church’s failure to be a witness to the reconciliation God makes possible. As Ephesians 1:23 says, the church is the body of Christ, and Christ’s body is “the fullness of him who fills all in all” (NRSV). All the good things that we have just stated should be embodied and made visible to the world through the church. Thus, no matter how turbulent the world is, the questions we ought to ask are: As God’s Church, what is our place as in the world? What gospel are we preaching? How can we embody the gospel? These questions are essential.

What you have just mentioned involves ecclesiology. You said that the church is a community that corresponds to the heavenly realms; although the world is disordered, the church should be united and ordered, and all these constitute a testimony. Can you elaborate on this? Do you mean that when the world is messy, the church should be more united in love and stop arguing regardless differing political beliefs? Surely we need to be united in the present Hong Kong society; however, as now we appear to have entered a life-and-death stage, how does Ephesians shed light on this situation?

I think we may respond in several aspects. We have to acknowledge Christ as our head, as Ephesians and Colossians teach, and we must bear in mind certain things. First, remember that the cross can destroy hostility (cf. Eph 2). Human beings are pitiful creatures. When we mistreat another person, the victimized person will also harm another person—a vicious cycle is thus formed within which everyone has their own excuses to abuse others. Nevertheless, the event on the cross tells us that this cycle can end. The cross shows that God has good reasons to take retribution on us because of our sins, but He did not. So, Ephesians 2:14 says that Jesus became our peace through the cross. The most typical cross-reference of this verse should be Romans 5:8 where God demonstrates His love for us in this: while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

Also, grace is emphasized in Ephesians 2:4-5, 7-8; when we were still unworthy, God did all these things for us. Thus, when we feel furious, one way of responding is to look upon the cross, recall the death of Jesus and meditate on the meaning of His death—to make us let go of our hatred as He did. Moreover, we need to reconcile with others. We can see from Ephesians that “reconciliation” is in the DNA of the gospel. Our religion will be empty without reconciliation, because the focus of our faith is indeed the story of reconciliation. 2 Corinthians 5:17-20 says that God gave us the “ministry of reconciliation.” But for what reason? Because this is exactly what God did.

In the parable of the unmerciful servant in Matthew 18:23-34, the servant treated his fellow servant who owed him a small debt harshly, even though his master canceled his much more significant debt. In the end, the master turned him over to the jailers. Is this an undue punishment for him? No, this is what he deserved initially. The master’s response shows that if you want to live in a world without forgiveness and mercy, then you must live within such a sad reality! Indeed, many texts that we avoid reading convey this very message. For example, Matthew 6:14-15 says that if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins; and Matthew 5:23-24 says that if you want to make an offering at the altar, you have to leave your gift and first go and be reconciled to your brother, so that God will listen to your prayer and accept your offering. We cannot neglect these instructions.

Why is the unity of the church essential? It is because we not only proclaim the message of forgiveness, reconciliation and renewal, but also need to embody it in our lives. As in Ephesians 4, we have to make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. This is not only for the sake of others’ well-being and for the maintenance of the harmonious relationship, but also for the very fact that the world would have no hope if even the church is not united. This is the pathway of reconciliation and forgiveness. Someone might say that “unity” will only be achieved in the eschaton or the End. Even so, this is the future that we are moving forward to.

Then, what should we do when others offend us? Ephesians 4-5 has a lot of practical teaching regarding interpersonal interactions in the church. Ephesians 4 begins with the advice that you have to live a life worthy of the calling you have received; and the rest of the passage is all about unity. “One” is the most frequent word in 4:1-6. The message is not that we should not worship false gods because there is only one God, but that we all have to become one because there is only one God. In sum, the church is a witness to the world; we have to embody the actuality of the gospel in our daily life, so that people will see that the God whom we preach is a God who is willing to forgive indeed.