Jerusalem Without Walls
When Nehemiah heard that the walls had been broken down and the gates had been burned in Jerusalem, he wept and mourned. Why such a grievous reaction? It wasn’t the inner city or The Temple itself, so why such grief? Nehemiah could see the bigger picture and the far-reaching implications. The walls were not intended to keep the people in, but rather, to keep those hostile to the God of Israel, and the work of God, out.
The gates offered a form of crowd control with guards posted at every entrance to make certain no one hostile to the city or the sanctuary could enter. And there were those posted on the walls who could discern from afar potential or imminent perils approaching, giving ample warning to prepare in advance.
No walls meant no protection. No gates meant no control. No observation from a safe distance meant no advance warning of impending danger. The result? The city and the sanctuary are overrun by the sheer weight of numbers, and a hostile culture. No more distinction! No more testimony!
A Church Without Walls?
This is an analogy of an ever-present danger to the Church. Someone has said, “I went out unto the world to find the Church, and when I got into the Church, I found the world.” A flaw in the teaching of evolution is the thought that the creation is continually progressing towards order and refinement. However, Biblical creationism declares the opposite position, and that it is at the very beginning of what God created that you will find each entity in its simplest and purist form.
So too, at the inception of the Church could be found for a time the simplest and purest expression of the Church. It was comprised of true apostolic teaching, fellowship, the breaking of bread, and prayer (Acts 2:42), along with a total reliance on the Holy Spirit to accomplish God’s will. And there was a sense of awe, of reverence, and gladness of heart. No gimmicks, nor would they be welcome by the true believer, who enjoyed and continually sought after, an increasing reality of God.
The Church was the collective place of meeting Christ, among and through, the individual members of the Body, and where the corporate expression of Christ could be made manifest to the world. It is no wonder that Paul was so concerned with the Church losing its” simplicity and purity of devotion to Christ.”
You want gimmicks for personal ambition? Look what happened to Simon the Sorcerer (Acts 8:18-24). You want to look good on the outside while scheming in your heart? Look what befell Ananias and Sapphire (Acts 5:1-11)! You want a church where everyone feels welcome because, after all, we want to be popular, accepting, and relevant?
The Solution
We would do well to pay attention to Jesus’ admonition.
“Woe to you when all men speak well of you, for in the same way their fathers used to treat the false prophets.” “You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt has become tasteless, how will it be made salty again? It is good for nothing any more, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men.” “Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.”
And how is this testimony to be accomplished? Jesus said,
“I am the light of the world,” “And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to Myself.” It is in this way that the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known through the Church to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places (Eph. 3:10).
It is the life of Christ lived out through His people, being “in the world but not of it.”
Fred London has been a Jewish believer in Jesus since 1971 and is the son of a Holocaust survivor. He is a writer, Bible teacher, speaker and an administrator of a Facebook page, entitled, The Biblical Watchman. Although he has taught and written on a variety of Biblical subjects and continues to do so he has had an ever-increasing sense of urgency in light of the times in which we live. His wife is also a long time Jewish believer in Jesus and the daughter of a Holocaust survivor. They reside in East Tennessee. Fred may be contacted at frederickglondon@gmail.com His Facebook page, The Biblical Watchman, is https://www.facebook.com/groups/785459871881520
