The apostle Paul did not view the early Church in terms of ultimate attainment. In fact, given the widespread, and at times grevious, problems with which the apostle had to deal in serving the Christian community, he almost certainly would have wondered at the present ambitions of some to recreate "the New Testament Church." At this point, one can only ask, "Which one?"
One of the primary concerns, particularly as exemplified in the Corinthian church, was that of sectarian division. In his last recorded prayer, Jesus had requested that those of faith "be one, even as you [i.e., the Father] and I are one" (John 17:21-22). The degree to which such is yet to be achieved requires little elaboration. For those committed to the realization of Christ's request, the issue obviously becomes one of implimentation.
Answer here does not lie in a further splintering of the Body by means of additional organizations and/or "super spiritual" identities. We recall a pastor who, having formerly served in a major denomination, now led a congregation that had experienced "deliverance from sectarian bondage." In fact, he enthused, their fellowship now consisted of five such churches - seemingly oblivious to having exchanged a multi-church denomination for a five church denomination. As any student of Church history knows, endeavors of this nature are far from unique.
We would propose three catalysts that will almost certainly prove conducive, not only to the fulfilling of our Lord's petition, but Paul's vision of a united, mature Bride "without spot or wrinkle...holy and blameless" as well (Eph. 4:11-13; 5:27):
1. A coming move of the Spirit wherein Christ's "High Priestly Prayer" of John 17 finds fulfillment within the believing Body;
2. A coming persecution in which believers will of necessity become dependent upon one another (Matt. 24:9);
3. A necessary oneness in opposing the culminating apostasy of a deviant and rebellious world - including those spheres of compromised faith allied with its corrupted values (Rev. 18:4).
Within the foregoing frame of reference we do well to once more consider the apostle's identification of the Church - not in terms of sectarian identity, but rather, "all who in every place call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, their Lord and ours" (I Cor. 1:2); "all who love our Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity" (Eph. 6:24); and, "all who love [Christ's] appearing" (II Tim. 4:8).
To the degree that such become the determinant factors in faith and fellowship, the rest - including the prescribed "unity of the faith" - will increasingly come into place.
Burl Ratzsch
