Tuesday, March 1, 2016
Taking every thought captive for obedience to Jesus Christ (2 Cor. 10.3-5).

Vision
The Communion of Saints
At The Fellowship of Ailbe, we believe that, in our search for a Kingdom vision of life and culture we do well to look to our forebears in the faith.

This is nothing more nor less than what Scripture recommends. Even a casual read-through of such psalms as 68, 78, and 106, for example, will demonstrate what Paul insisted in Romans 15.4, that by looking back to our forebears we might find comfort and encouragement for the challenges before us here and now.

One of the great challenges pastors have to contend with these days is in articulating a vision for their church – what it should be, what it should hope to accomplish, how it relates to the Kingdom, and so forth. Certainly there is much in the literature of our Christian heritage to guide us in thinking through such questions.

Concerning the Church, for example – a place in the Kingdom where real vision is all too rare – the Westminster Confession of Faith (1648) offers this helpful bit of counsel in chapter 26: “All saints, that are united to Jesus Christ their head, by his Spirit, and by faith, have fellowship with him in his graces, sufferings, death, resurrection, and glory: and, being united to one another in love, they have communion in each other’s gifts and graces, and are obliged to the performance of such duties, public and private, as do conduce to their mutual good, both in the inward and outward man.” 

This is the point C. S. Lewis made in his essay, “Membership” (Weight of Glory). The local church is a body of believers, and we are all members of Christ and of one another. We are created to be lovers, relating to and communing with one another, sharing our unique properties and possessions freely and gladly. We are obliged by our very existence to work for the edification of one another, that together we might increase in love (Heb. 10.24; Eph. 4.11-16; Rom. 14.16-20).

We are all children, Lewis explained, teaching and helping one another learn to walk toward the outstretched arms of our loving Father.

In the church we are called to be caretakers of one another’s souls and, when necessary, of one another’s outward lives. Everything in the church must be done for the practice and promotion of love, so that we might truly be a kind of incarnation of Christ’s Body (Gal. 6.1-10).

But we can only fulfill this reason-for-being when we each of us is fully united with Christ and partaking of Him. He is love, and our source of power for loving one another. He is our peace, as Paul explained (Eph. 2.14). He is also our life, Who indwells, fills, transforms, and empowers us by His Spirit according to His promises (Jn. 14.6; 2 Cor. 3.12-18; 2 Pet. 1.4).

Without a clear and compelling vision of Jesus Christ, exalted in glory, we will struggle to become the Body of Christ together. And without time in the Word, sincere and focused prayer, and worship concentrated on seeing and exalting Jesus, it’s unlikely we’ll ever achieve a real vision of Christ, or of His Church.

The Greeks who came to the disciples requesting, “We would see Jesus,”(Jn. 12.20, 21) set a tone and mindset that should characterize every believer, and every local church, all the time. For if we will not see Jesus, see Him clearly, closely, and with conviction, so that we actually participate in Him and the life He offers in His Spirit, we will have nothing to offer our church in becoming His Body.

And nothing much to offer anyone else, either.

Look to the Word for the vision of Christ. Then look to the Word and the teaching of our forebears to help your church gain a vision of being the Body of Christ in your community.

T. M. Moore

For reflection
1.  What does it mean for you to pursue a vision of Jesus, exalted in glory?

2.  Would you say that your church’s worship is concentrated on seeing Jesus

3.  What is a believer’s responsibility for showing Jesus to the people he or she sees each day?

Download the free PDF, Glorious Vision: 28 Days in the Throne Room of Christ (click here), and begin to work harder at your vision of Jesus Christ, exalted in glory. Make a copy for a friend and meet weekly to discuss what you’re learning.

The Week features insights from a wide range of topics and issues, with a view to equipping the followers of Christ to take every thought captive for Jesus. Two other studies focusing on the vision of Christ are available in our bookstore. You can order Be Thou My Vision, 28 days of devotional readings, together with meditations, by clicking here; and The Kingship of Jesus is available by clicking here.