True Church vs. False Church

Ephesians 4:1–16 ESV

I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call— one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all. But grace was given to each one of us according to the measure of Christ’s gift. Therefore it says, “When he ascended on high he led a host of captives, and he gave gifts to men.” (In saying, “He ascended,” what does it mean but that he had also descended into the lower regions, the earth? He who descended is the one who also ascended far above all the heavens, that he might fill all things.) And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes. Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.

Scripture: Ephesians 4:1-16

Belgic Confession: Article 29

Sermon Title: True Church vs. False Church

           As Pastor Gary mentioned, there is part of Article 29 that we didn’t read today, and I plan to come back to it in a couple weeks. We confessed earlier the marks of a true church and a false church, and that’s what we are going to focus on this afternoon. But there are also marks provided for a Christian—what distinguishes someone who confesses to follow Christ, who is saved, who is part of the body, the church. When we look at that topic, I tentatively have planned to continue in Ephesians 4 from where we are ending today, so we should remember some of the themes.

           This is another passage that emphasizes unity.  I point that out now because unity here in the letter to the Ephesians is not just a general be-together concept. But Paul is emphasizing unity to Gentile Christians that they might know and trust that they are heirs together with Jews who have put their faith in Jesus. They are privileged to the same benefits—they’re not greater than or better than them, but they are also certainly not less because of their heritage. With the change in mission-focus from mainly Israel to going out and spreading in the world, it was important they knew their ethnic differences did not matter in terms of kingdom-mindedness and gospel reward.

           Brothers and sisters in Christ, throughout my life the differences between local churches has always interested me. My hometown, South Holland, Illinois, has a population of around 22,000 people, and over 30 churches. DeMotte, Indiana, where my parents live, around 4,000 people, has about 20 churches. Holland, Michigan where I went to seminary, if you look at the greater area, capturing Zeeland and a bit beyond, about 113,000 people, supposedly 170 churches. 

In each of those areas, which started out as Dutch-immigrant settled towns, you will find a fair share of these are CRCs and RCAs, especially around Holland. You also find a few United Reformed Churches—which broke off the CRC in 1996 and Protestant Reformed Churches—which broke off in 1924. But still, there are a number of other denominations that have moved in and established congregations in each of these towns.

Looking at that, we ask the question, why are there so many different churches? Why doesn’t everyone just go to one? Well, there are a few logistical factors. Maybe the distance that members are expected to drive is a burden, and so a new church is built in a different part of town. Maybe a congregation outgrew its building or sees it as beneficial to limit the number of people to stay more connected. So, they plant another church for part of their membership to go to and hopefully keep on growing. Maybe the most visible reason, though, especially when you have multiple churches of the same denomination near each other is preference. Growing up around so many churches, I remember referring to one as the contemporary music church, another as the organ one, another really focused on education or outreach or whatever it might be. Those style preferences become the distinction—maybe that’s right to do, maybe not though. 

But those aren’t the only reasons person A is part of this church and person B is part of another. Most of us know this too—throughout the body of believers, we have differences in our beliefs. This has led to all number of denominations. Already de Brès was noticing this in his day that there were multiple sects claiming the name “the church.” Obviously, there was the Roman Catholic Church and Protestant churches, but others too seem to have popped up. That’s only multiplied since 1561. I’ve given up trying to find an accurate count of denominations around the world, but let’s think about here. Our churches represent 2 denominations, from Parkston to Platte, we could probably find 10 or so more. You go to a city and there may be dozens of denominations. 

How does someone find a good church? What ought we or they to be looking for? Part of my semester at Calvin Seminary was a class on CRC history, and I chose to write a paper on the URC split, the United Reformed Church of North America. I have an uncle who is a pastor in that federation—that’s what they call themselves rather than denomination. I went to the URC in DeMotte with some regularity throughout high school. It was interesting to me to see how this group of people didn’t just split off randomly or hastily, but it had developed over the course of decades. Conversations and meetings were happening among pastors and churches and individuals in different areas of the country. There was disgruntlement with the direction of the CRC. 

But it’s not just they didn’t like ideas and practices, but they went to Scripture. They looked at ideas like biblical authority and infallibility—those two core beliefs, strongly held doctrines, led to the split. Enough decisions were made in the CRC, conflicting with those beliefs, going against what God’s word seems to be so clear about, and finally it was enough. The split wasn’t just over women in office, it wasn’t just over some form of evolution being shared in a denominationally-funded college; it was because those things among others conflicted with placing authority in the Bible for our understanding.

Looking at our denominations in 2018, I hear similar whispers happening again. I say that not to scare you or cause anxiety but because something one of my seminary professors was convinced of is that we as human beings, but especially those of us who are of the Dutch immigrant waves, have a secessionist mindset. We like to separate, to make sure we’ve got things as right as possible and to draw lines in the sand. Just like I said last time, back in the early days of the CRC, someone touted the goodness and strength of isolation. We want to protect ourselves, and so we draw in to what we know and are familiar with.

There’s some struggle here between that and what we read in Ephesians 4. How do we know a true church? Well, we look to the Bible—to this revelation that has been contributed to over time, pointing to Christ our Savior, and how it lays out God’s plan for us originally, with regard to sin, and now in light of what has been offered to us in salvation. In this Bible, it says, “Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to one hope when you were called—one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.” 

To those that have been gifted with various forms of leadership gifts, we are to “prepare God’s people for works of service, so that,” important words, “so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature.” Other places this word is perfect or whole, but here mature, “attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.” And the final part—we are growing up from infancy, not pushed around, but knowing the truth, we grow up into Christ. As we mature, all the parts are part of the same body, growing and building up in love, with each part doing its work. There’s not a lot of separation or division there. 

Something I’ve heard time and time again among RCA colleagues is part of the Minister of Word and Sacrament ordination vows. They echo this passage, RCA ministers make a promise “to walk in the Spirit of Christ, in love and fellowship within the church, seeking the things that make for unity, purity, and peace.” Unity—staying together, purity—keeping pure—that being about the truth of God’s word, peace—not creating conflict.

           When we consider the schisms, the separations, the splits that have taken place and continue to take place in the church, we must ask and discern, are these right, are they proper, are they glorifying to God? If it seems to be, then we must look at how do these factions put God’s word into faith and practice? There is a proper time for a church or a denomination to separate. Looking back to the Belgic Confession, we’re told how. Is God’s word presented to us faithfully? Are ministers and elders and deacons and teachers holding true to that which is stated clearly, is salvation being rooted in Christ alone, is the doctrine of sin and our need for repentance and forgiveness to us and one another being taught? Are the sacraments, those things which we expect people to be involved in, if they are in right relationship with God—baptism and the Lord’s Supper, being rightly celebrated, and not putting more restrictions on people than ought to be done? 

The third mark, church discipline, is not something Calvin and others held at an equal standing as these two, but still is discipleship and directing people towards seeking justice and reconciliation part of the life of the church? Do we teach people the truths of God’s word, and how our lives are shaped because of what God has spoken and continues to speak by his Spirit? If someone is trapped in sin or knowingly engage, do we reach out, and direct them to repent?

These are the marks, standards, commitments that we apply to individual churches when looking at if a body of believers, part of the single catholic church, is true or false. Given that the church is under Christ’s lordship first and foremost and not solely exercising with its own authority, regardless of polity, we also reach out in love to encourage one another in these things. If a congregation is not living under these marks, and we know that, we ought to speak the truth in love, and accordingly, pursue unity with them. 

Sometimes splits are pursued rather hastily. Sometimes splits are upheld, and wedges are driven between individual believers on things that ought not to drive us apart. This passage is laying out for us the essentials, and that is an important word in our tradition, there are essentials of faith and non-essentials, things that we can agree to disagree on and still be in Christian fellowship. There’s almost a framework for the Apostles’ Creed, those things that are essentials here—we hear the three persons of the Trinity, we hear love, faith, baptism—we hold the same God and consider both what we believe and how we act to be something we have in common. 

 How would a false church differ—a church that is only a church by name and not a people we ought to join if it’s more important to follow its own practices and desires than God’s word and obeying Christ. It doesn’t administer just the two sacraments of baptism and Lord’s Supper but has more or less; and it’s more worried about honoring people and their decisions than Christ. And with that, holy living, submission to the teaching of Christ is actually looked down upon.

If all of that is true in a group that you are worshiping with or is where someone you know has joined, then it is appropriate to encourage them elsewhere. However, if we have the ability, we ought to help direct back towards the truth. If we struggle with sermons regularly going astray from God’s word and pointing us to life in Christ, then we ought to raise that concern and caution to the leaders. That is a bold move, but it can be done in love. If there is potential to help not only ourselves but others who are involved in a church, to bring them into a truer body as what’s being called for—not just hypocrites, not just taking the name of a church, then we ought to help. 

But there is a word of caution here, that when we do form different congregations close to each other, when we establish separate denominations, are we making a declaration of one of us being a true church and another a false church? Maybe there are non-essential beliefs, non-salvation affecting differences that do frustrate us, and a group says we will separate for peace but still see you as part of the family of God. But are we breaking faith, breaking covenant, breaking from part that we truly believe is no longer following the Lord? If that is the case, have we done all that we can to mature together?

Brothers and sisters, we live in a world that looks much different than the days of Jesus and Paul, and much different than the days of Guido de Brès and the Reformers, but is the Bible’s call still the same? Is the fundamental practice and teachings of the sacraments still the same? Is discipline always intended to seek repentance, restoration, and holy living? May we live with those values and may we encourage other Christians and other parts of the body who we hope to be seeking the Lord and his kingdom with. Amen.