Chapter Four
I mean by this that no one should imagine that he constitutes the Church. He is merely a member of the body, and if he is separated from the body, he
loses everything! The difference between an individual and a member is that the individual is separate with his own identity whereas the member is not; he has no identity except through fellowship in the group. Is it
possible for the body to be reduced to one member? This is impossible since it can no longer then be a body! Can a person isolate himself from the fellowship of the group and imagine that he is on the right path? This is
wrong and dangerous for both him and his followers. The Church is one group, 'Ecclesiastical', and to reduce it to one person is to destroy the concept of its being one body with different and complementary members.
We see St. Paul the Apostle, who was called directly by God and who received the basic principle of Christianity directly from God, who served God as a giant for 14 years, coming to the apostles in all humility and "setting before
them his gospel" saying: "Lest by any means I might run, or had run, in vain."
(Gal. 2: 2) After a discussion with the pillars of the Church, the apostles gave him and Barnabas "the right hand of fellowship" (Gal. 2: 9). This is the unity of the Church and true Christian fellowship!
When the apostles had to deal with certain questions, they called a meeting at Jerusalem so that they should all be of one mind. After ample discussion they said:"For it seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us ....."
(Acts15:28). The Holy Spirit came upon the Church as it was gathered in the upper room on the day of Pentecost. When the Holy Spirit said: "Now separate to Me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have
called them", the Bible tells us that the apostles did not only listen to the call of the Spirit, but also "having fasted and prayed, and laid hands upon them, they sent them away." (Acts 13: 3).
When the Lord Himself appeared to Paul on the way to Damascus, He sent him Ananias to baptize him and teach him and to make him join the church group.
The spirit of individuality is a great danger to the individual and to his followers. History tells us that no one committed a heresy except as he became self-sufficient and isolated himself from the church group.
The orthodox teacher experiences the feeling of belonging to the church group and does not live apart or hold his own views and opinions. He lives in fellowship with the church and discusses his ideas and thoughts with his
spiritual father and with the group so that they can judge them. If he is criticized, he listens in humility and if he is invited to a dialogue, he comes with an open heart and a humble mind! In Orthodox thought, nobody is
infallible for we are all weak. That is why the apostle says: "My brethren, let not many of you become teachers, knowing that we shall receive a stricter judgment. For we all stumble in many things." (Jas.1:1,2). The
most dangerous thing in the life of a servant is to lose the sense of discipleship and the feeling that he needs to learn, and that he needs to correct himself from time to time
Therefore, individuality in the Church, as in society and the nation, is a danger for the individual and the group at one and the same time. Let us examine some of the following points.
Individuality is an Annulment of the Body: The 'individual' is
separate whereas the 'member' is united. The individual is an entity that can be independent and his egoism and selfishness are extremely dangerous for him and for the group! The "member" is an integral part of
the body and cannot live alone or function or work alone. He needs the other members in order to form a body and in order to have life and work. Likewise, the group takes care of the member since his membership in the
group does not do away with his individuality, his distinctiveness, his privacy, or his private function which might not be fulfilled by anyone else but him. The group has to offer the member the opportunity to make a contribution and to
work. As for the member, he cannot survive if he alienates himself from the group. St. Augustine says: "He whose mother is not the Church, cannot have Christ for his father," meaning that the member has to unite with the
Holy Body (the Church) whose head is Christ, the Lord of glory.
We know that the word "church" = "eklyssia" = "group" and that it is composed of:
^ The Lord of glory at its head, and He is its Holy Bridegroom
^ The heavenly members who have gone to paradise
^ The members who are still struggling here on earth
The Christian person must be ecclesiastical, i.e. he has to unite with:
b the Lord Jesus through prayer, the Gospel, and Holy Communion
b the saints whose intercession he asks for and whose lives he imitates
b
the faithful by feeling for his brothers and serving them in the life of fellowship Therefore, St. Paul cries out saying: "For as the body is one and has many members, but all the embers of that one body,
being many, are one body, so also is Christ. For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body --- whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free --- and have all been made to drink into one Spirit. For in fact the body is not
one member but many. If the foot should say, 'Because I am not a hand, I am not of the body,' is it therefore not of the body? If the whole body were an eye, where would be the hearing? If the whole were hearing, where would
be the smelling? But now God has set the members, each one of them, in the body just as He pleased. And if they were all one member, where would the body be? But now indeed there are many members, yet one body. And the
eye cannot say to the hand, 'I have no need of you'; nor again the head to the feet, 'I have no need of you.' No, much rather, those members of the body which seem to be weaker are necessary. And those members of the body which we
think to be less honorable, on these we bestow greater honor; and our unpresentable parts have greater modesty, but our presentable parts have no need. But God composed the body, having given greater honor to that part which lacks it,
that there should be no schism in the body, but that the members should have the same care for one another. And if one member suffers, all the members suffer with it; or if one member is honored, all the members rejoice with it.
Now you are the body of Christ, and members individually." (1 Cor 12: 13 - 27)
How beautiful this song about the Church, Christ's body, is. We can deduce from this passage that: . The believer is a member; the Church is the body; and Christ is the Head.
. There is a distinct difference between one member and another, but all complement each other. . There is a role and a function for every member; otherwise, this member would be unnecessary.
. All the members are equal and equally honorable. . There is unity and coordination in the body, without division or schism. . Each member needs the others. . There are shared feelings of pain and joy. . Each member serves the others.
This should be the feeling each of us has so that we do not adopt a detestable individualism, but each should have a "team spirit" or a "group spirit" through which the Spirit of God distributes different gifts, while He also unifies them all.
Diversity does not Cancel Unity On the day of Pentecost, the Holy Spirit came upon the disciples. First, the Spirit of God took the form of a strong
wind that filled the house where they were staying. No doubt this wind was a spiritual reviving of the disciples as a group. The word 'wind' in the original is similar to the word 'spirit' and in Hebrew both are designated by the
one word "Ruah", which means both wind and spirit. There is an obvious resemblance between wind and spirit, causing the Lord to tell Nicodemus: "The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell
where it comes from and where it goes. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit." (Jn. 3: 8).
b The secret of the life of the body is the wind, and the secret of the life of the spirit is the Spirit.
b We do not see the spirit, but we see its manifestations; it is the same with the Spirit.
b The wind exerts pressure to give us life if we do not resist it. The Spirit also persists in giving life to our spirits if we do not reject Him.
b
As human beings, we cannot discern the boundaries of the spirit; the Spirit is infinite by nature. Thus, we say that the Holy Spirit answered the prayers of the Fathers who were praying in one spirit, and was poured onto their
lives as a group and a Church, and thus imparted spiritual life to them. Next the Spirit, and at the same moment, appeared as cloven tongues of fire which rested on each of them. This constitutes the individual and
distinctive gifts, for each of them was given a special gift. However, they all spoke together as one body. That is why we say that the group does not do away with the individual, and that differences do not cancel
unity. The basic endeavor of the group is to reveal the gifts of the members. It brings out their energies and utilizes them to build up the individual and the community. The task of the individual is to remain
united to the group, for this is the secret of his life and the meaning of his existence, for the Head of the group is Christ, the origin of existence.
Individualism Cancels Authority It is most dangerous for an individual to make himself his own authority. Even if he
resorts to another person as his authority, he is mistaken. Human beings, as individuals, are not guaranteed to think and make decisions soundly. But the sanctified group that is united to the Lord and is guided by the Spirit can
be an authority for every believer. Although St. Paul received his call to be an apostle directly from the Lord when He appeared to him and revealed Himself to him, he went to an authority, to the Church group, that
is to say, to the group of disciples lest his striving be in vain, either in the present or future. "Then after fourteen years I went up again to Jerusalem with Barnabas, and also took Titus with me. And I went up by
revelation, and communicated to them that gospel which I preach among the Gentiles, but privately to those who were of reputation, lest by any means I might run, or had run, in vain.....but from those who seemed to be something added nothing
to me. But on the contrary, when they saw that the gospel for the uncircumcised had been committed to me, as the gospel for the circumcised was to Peter....... they gave me and Barnabas the right hand of fellowship, that we should go to
the Gentiles and they to the circumcised. They desired only that we should remember the poor, the very thing which I also was eager to do." (Gal. 2: 1- 10).
In this passage, we see the following: . St. Paul who received his apostleship directly from the Lord, did not think it beneath him to refer to the
authority of the Church. . The apostle had ministered for 14 glorious years, but feared lest he should have worked in vain. . The apostle did not put forward the idea of ministering
to the Gentiles, but he expounded the details of the gospel, "and communicated to them that gospel which I preach".....The oneness of the gospel was confirmed to all. . The authority referred to was not one of
those who had been with the Lord but the group of apostles, in particular, Peter, James, and John. This is contrary to individualism in the church and an incentive to group work. . The group distributed the
work among the apostles deciding who was to minister to the Jews and the Gentiles. . The group gave St. Paul the hand of fellowship in confirmation of the unity of the body and the fellowship of the members. . The commitment of all to serve the poor is an affirmation of the feeling that all the different peoples are united in one body, especially the Jews and the Gentiles. That is why the individual who
isolates himself from the body of the church is like the branch that separates itself from the vine, or like the stone that separates itself from the building. May God keep us from the spirit of individualism, and may He grant us that we
live together in the spirit of the single group and of the one body.
Diversification of Gifts In the Bible we find many analogies to the Church, the most important of which are: the body, the vine, and the building. Each of these analogies has
specific characteristics, the most important being that the individual lives only as he is rooted in the body. "Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you,
unless you abide in Me. I am the vine, you are the branches...." (Jn. 15: 4,5).
These analogies also contain the element of "complementing", for what is the significance of stones without pillars, foundations, or ceilings? "For we are God's fellow workers; you are God's field; you are God's building." (1 Cor. 3: 9); "you also, as living stones, are being built up ...." (1 Pet. 2: 5).
These similes confirm the concept of "diversity". The work of the pillar is different from that of the foundation, which in turn is different form that of the stones. But this difference is not disagreement or conflict. The purpose of the difference is to do various jobs, but all the while being integrated, complementary, and united.
St. Paul devotes a whole chapter in his epistle to the Romans to the different gifts. He says:
"Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, let us use them; if prophecy, let us prophesy in proportion to our faith, or ministry, let us use it in our ministering; he who teaches, in teaching; he who
exhorts, in exhortation; he who gives with liberality; he who leads, with diligence; he who shows mercy, with cheerfulness." (Rom 12: 6 - 16). In this chapter, we see many kinds of service, such as:
1. Prophecy: predicting the future or preaching that is
2. Service: Seeing to the needs of different people, 3. Teaching:
explaining the way of Christ spiritually, 4. Preaching:
urging people to repent and to return to God. 5. Giving: giving of material goods, energy and time with
6. Leading: administrative services, organization and 7. Acts of Mercy:
the service of God's loved ones, the
8. Love: having loving relations with all citizens. 9. Worship: the service of prayer and praise. 10. Fellowship: sharing with the joyful and with those who weep.
11. The saints: the service of the ministers as well as of the poor. 12. The strangers: seeing to their needs and their welfare.
This is just an example of how many services there are in the church. Each of us must have a role according to the grace of God and through sound spiritual guidance.
anointed by the Spirit.
"deaconia".
theologically,doctrinally, and ecclesiastically.
liberality.
leadership.
poor, the sick, the handicapped, the
aged, the blind, the deaf and dumb, the
illiterate, and the mentally retarded.
Authenticity of the Apostleship Apostleship cannot be authentic unless it emanates from the church. The evidence
for this is seen when the Lord Jesus appeared to St. Paul on the way to Damascus, said to him: "Arise and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do." (Acts 9: 6) The Lord then appeared to Annanias and told
him: "Arise and go to the street called Straight, and inquire at the house of Judas for one called Sail of Tarsus, for behold, he is praying .."
(Acts 9: 10 -16). When Annanias went to St. Paul (Saul), he said to him: "Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus, who appeared to you on the road as you came, has sent me that you may receive your sight and be filled with the Holy
Spirit....and he arose and was baptized." (Acts 9: 17, 22: 16). It was of course possible for the Lord to baptize St. Paul, to open his eyes, to give him the Spirit, to teach him, and to give him his apostleship directly,
but He wishes to protect us from the thinking we were wise of ourselves, so He stipulates that apostleship had to be granted through the church. The same thing recurred when the Holy Spirit said: "Now separate to
Me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them." They could have started out on their ministry at once, but we find that the apostles, "having fasted and prayed, and laid hands on them, they sent them away."
(Acts 13: 2,3). This is the role of the Church in the life of its children. It prepares them for service through the Holy Spirit and then sends them out officially, so that they do not send themselves out, in
fulfillment of what the apostle said: "And how shall they preach unless they are sent?" (Rom.10:15).
Council Resolutions
The resolutions taken by the Councils did not emanate from individuals, but were taken by the members of the local or world councils, thus confirming the Church's rejection
of individuality, and so that the decision is right and God's Spirit is at work. A Biblical example is the Council of Jerusalem held in 50 AD which is mentioned in Acts 15. At that time, Paul and Barnabas went to
Jerusalem to consult the church there about circumcision of the Gentiles. "And when they had come to Jerusalem, they were received by the church and the apostles and the elders, and they reported all things that God had done with
them." (Acts 15: 4). And after "much dispute", in which many took part, especially St. Peter and St. James, they arrived at a final decision in the preamble of which they said: "It seemed good to us, being assembled with
one accord, .... For it seemed good to the Holy Spirit, and to us, ...." (Acts 15: 25 -28). Similarly, in the story of the adulterous young man in Corinth, St. Paul decided to excommunicate him until he
repented, saying: "In the Name of our Lord Jesus Christ, when you are gathered together, along with my spirit, with the power of our Lord Jesus Christ...." (1 Cor. 5: 4). Notice the three powers assembled together:
b
the power of our Lord Jesus Christb the power of the clergy
b the power of the believers
This is how Church matters are decided, in partnership and in the congregation without individualism or separation.
The Church has proceeded along these lines, holding holy councils to look into and legislate for the matters of faith and doctrine, such as the Council of Nicea which was held to oppose Arius, the Council of Constantinople to oppose Macdonius, and the Council of Ephesus to oppose Nestorius.
The Church is a group, and the Orthodox teacher is committed to the spirit of the group, determined never to be separate from it. He does not depend on himself and his intellect, but sees in the church group a fundamental authority for his life, behavior and ideas, so that he does not lose the way and neither does anyone else with him.
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