by Pastor Patrick Cho
2016 is well underway, and as is the custom at LBC San Diego, we have introduced a new theme for the year. The purpose of the annual themes has been to focus the church’s attention on a major spiritual truth that brings particular applicability for the church body or addresses a specific need. It has been our practice to establish these themes since 2000, but it has had particular significance for my life since 2011 when it became my task to decide the annual themes. In the past five years, the themes have been “Bound as One” (Eph. 4:1-6), “Dying to Know Him” (Phil. 3:7-8), “Making God Big” (2 Cor. 3:18), “One Thing I Do” (Phil. 3:13-14), and “The Gospel Wins” (Eph. 1:13-14; Rom. 8:28).
Our theme for 2016 is “As One, In One” from John 17:20-23. It is very similar to the theme of 2011 in its focus on the church’s unity, but this year it takes on a slightly different nuance to focus more on the unity of the church that is accomplished through our being brought into unity with Christ. Jesus prayed in John 17:21, “That they may all be one; even as You, Father, are in Me and I in You, that they also may be in Us, so that the world may believe that You sent Me.” There is a lot packed into that verse and it gives the reader much to think upon. If you consider the weightiness of what Jesus is praying, “that they also may be in Us,” it is enough to fill your heart with joy and wonder for ages. Because of God’s grace to save us through the work of Christ on the cross, we have been granted entrance into a very deep and intimate relationship with the Triune God.
As believers, our unity, which is often illustrated and demonstrated through the practice of the variegated “one another” commands of Scripture, is rooted in our unity with God. This truth is equally humbling and wonderful when you consider that as sinners we were once estranged from God and self-proclaimed enemies of the truth. Because of Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross to pay the penalty for our sins, when we placed our faith in Jesus, God was willing to forgive our sins and bring us into fellowship with Him. Jesus reconciled us to the Father. The fact that we could be brought into this fellowship is alone incredibly amazing.
When I introduced this theme to the church family, I helped convey the significance of the unity of the church and how it reflects our unity with God.
1. Our Unity Serves as an Illustration of God’s Love.
God has placed us in the church so that we can grow in and show forth the love of God. As we have received the love of God, we can then reflect it out towards others so that they can see at least some sense of the greatness of God’s love through us (1 John 4:7-21). Since we have been brought into God’s love, this then becomes our motivation in everything involving the Christian life. The love of Christ compels the believer to greater godliness and supplies the heart with fuel towards joyful obedience (2 Cor. 5:14-15).
2. Our Unity Serves as a Picture of Christ’s Body.
God has placed us in the church to reflect the oneness of God and our unity in Him (Eph. 4:1-6; cf. John 17:20-23). One way we particularly demonstrate this is in our service in ministry. God has designed the church such that no individual member has been graced with every spiritual gift. He has made it so that all the members are interdependent. We are saved into the church and need one another in order to present a fuller picture of what it means to be in Christ (1 Cor. 12:12-13).
3. Our Unity Serves as a Catalyst for Spiritual Maturity.
God has placed us in the church so that we can mutually grow to maturity in Christ (Eph. 4:11-16). This spiritual maturity is not only brought about by the teaching ministry of spiritual leaders, though that is true (1 Cor. 3:6-7). He doesn’t only use the preaching of His Word, though that is true (Col. 1:28). The great means of promoting the growth of the whole body is through the exercise of each individual part. When the members of the church serve together in a picture unified worship, the whole body benefits.
4. Our Unity Serves as a Protection Against Personal Sin.
God has placed us in the church so that we can help each other in the fight against sin and the pursuit of holiness (Matt. 18:15-20). Church discipline strengthens the church and protects the churches unity. This may seem counter-cultural but it is true. When someone in the church falls into unrepentant sin, it threatens the unity of the church. The church is specifically called to remove members who would threaten, damage, or divide the church’s fellowship because of their unrepentant sin. In this sense, church discipline and communion are related ideas. Communion is a picture of the unity of the church, so the one who has been removed from the fellowship of the church through excommunication should not take communion with the church. One of the goals of church discipline is to call the sinner to repentance in order to restore them to fellowship because church discipline is about the unity of the church.
I’m so excited to unpack the theme of “As One, In One” in 2016. My hope is that it would help widen and deepen our understanding of the implications of the amazing gospel of grace for our lives. Hopefully it will cause us to see Christ more clearly and draw us to Him to a more intimate fellowship. May this theme fill our hearts with true worship and further strengthen the church.