They MET

The single biggest vision and passion in my life is visible in the words of Paul in Ephesians.

First, in chapter 2:19-22:

“So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints, and are of God’s household, having been built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the corner stone, in whom the whole building, being fitted together, is growing into a holy temple in the Lord; in whom you also are being built together into a dwelling of God in the Spirit.”

Then in chapter 4:12&13:

“…the equipping of the saints for the work of service, towards the building up of the body of Christ; until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God; to a mature man; to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.”

The way I see it – based on years of study, research and experience – the ‘building’ and the ‘body of Christ’ Paul is writing to the Ephesian disciples about is none other than the ecclesia of God.  This Ecclesia lives in the world as a Divine Mosaic – in which every individual piece is necessary and important (the chapter 2 reference) – and as a God-ordained Trapeza [banqueting table] – to which every believer brings spiritual food for the blessing and strengthening of the Body (the chapter 4 reference).

Purely because it makes it easy to grasp and remember, I bring the three words together: Mosaic, Ecclesia and Trapeza and take the first letter of each to form the word MET.  If English-speakers wants to grasp the heart and soul of God’s purposes in the world and a vision for the people of God today, all they need do is remember, ‘They MET’: Mosaic; Ecclesia; Trapeza; and commit to these two short sections of Paul’s letter to the Ephesians.

Of course one can do much more than that, but this is a very fine start.  Indeed, I believe it is a start that all too few have made.  And – for what it’s worth – I believe it is THE start that must be re-made if we are to see what Paul was talking about become a living breathing reality in our communities today.

Bit by bit, we are working to see MET become a reality in our community in Brisbane.  The description – but definitely not the name – of what we are doing is mosaicSWB.  One day recently, I found a simple picture that illustrates this: Mosaic the City.

So often we kid ourselves that words like these from Ephesians are a description of ‘church’ life today; but we would be hard pressed to come up with something further from the truth than that.  The fundamental flaw is this: we equate what we call ‘the church’ with Paul’s ‘the body of Christ’.  The only thing the two have in common is some people.  But more on that later.  The bottom line, I think, is this: there are people in ‘the body of Christ’ who are not in ‘church’; and there are people in ‘church’ who are not in ‘the body of Christ’.  On the basis of Jesus’ words that you know a tree by its fruit, both these statements are painfully obvious.  What has gone wrong?

Much of what will follow in this blog grows out of this soil.  I hope and pray that all who read this will be enriched beyond measure – as I have been in looking a whole lot deeper into the subject of the ecclesia of God.

You may have noticed that I haven’t used the term ‘church’ very much.  That is deliberate, and I will spend some time of this subject.  For now, let me say that if you have any interest at all in one of the martyrs of a few hundred years ago – William Tyndale – you may be interested in one of the main reasons he was murdered.  And it might surprise you!

Tyndale was the man who did the foundational translation work for what we have today as the English bible.  He not only created the first English bible, but also the first English bible to be translated from the original language texts.  The political and religious institutions hated him, persecuted him and eventually strangled him and then burnt his body to remove all trace of him from the earth.  Why did they do that?

Cheers,

Kevin.