Essential Personnel

 

There have been several words and phrases that have entered our every day conversation. One of these is, “essential personnel.” A few Sundays ago, as we were preparing for our livestream setup, we were concerned if we would exceed the 10 person limit in our skeleton crew. We had a conversation about not having to count the “essential personnel,” who needed to be there. Someone mentioned the preacher as being “essential personnel,” along with the elders, and worship leaders. Then it dawned on us. There is no such thing as “essential personnel” in the church, if by that you mean some personnel, but not others.

I am reminded of this passage in 1 Corinthians 12 that deals with this idea using a human body as an analogy for the church. Here are some highlights:

14 For the body does not consist of one member but of many. 15 If the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body. … But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as he chose. …21 The eye cannot say to the hand, “I have no need of you,” nor again the head to the feet, “I have no need of you.” 22 On the contrary, the parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, 23 and on those parts of the body that we think less honorable we bestow the greater honor, … God has so composed the body, giving greater honor to the part that lacked it, 25 that there may be no division in the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another. 26 If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, all rejoice together.

The body of Christ is different than the world. Our value does not come from the manner in which we may useful, but from being created in the image of God and redeemed by the precious blood of Christ our Lord. At great cost, God redeemed each of us and placed each of us into the body of Christ, which is entirely precious to God. There is no such thing as nonessential personnel in the body of Christ.

I prefer to say, “skeleton crew.” A skeleton needs the rest of the body. This is what I have been painfully aware of in the last several weeks. The skeleton conducting the livestream have said how hard it is to be encouraged in the way we would like because we are not all actually together. Those who have been watching from home have also expressed the same sentiment.

You are all important to God, and you are important to the rest of the body. When all of this passes, hang on to the renewed appreciation you have for the body and come back with a renewed energy for being connected. Outdo one another in showing honor and value. Hug each other. Appreciate each other. Be together. Thank you, Lord, in advance, we know that all of us will ultimately be together with you.

The Constitution vs. The Gospel

The founding fathers of our country seemed to have a biblical understanding of human nature, law, and governance. I was reminded of this when I once again read a letter written by John Adams in 1798. Here is an excerpt:

"But should the People of America, once become capable of that deep simulation towards one another and towards foreign nations, which assumes the Language of Justice and moderation while it is practicing Iniquity and Extravagance; and displays in the most captivating manner the charming Pictures of Candour frankness & sincerity while it is rioting in rapine and Insolence: this Country will be the most miserable Habitation in the World. Because We have no Government armed with Power capable of contending with human Passions unbridled by morality and Religion. Avarice, Ambition Revenge or Galantry, would break the strongest Cords of our Constitution as a Whale goes through a Net. Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious People. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other."

What stands out to me is, "We have no government armed with power capable of contending with human passions unbridled by morality and religion." In other words, the constitution, no matter how well written, cannot make people better. If good laws were all that are needed for a people to be better, then there would never be a need for law enforcement officers. But they are needed. Without them, there would be lawlessness, violence, and chaos. Adams affirmed the absolute necessity of religion in order for the new America to survive. He concludes that "Our Constitution was made for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other." In other words, government by the "consent of the governed" can only work for a moral and religious people.

Romans 3:10 declares that "None is righteous, no, not one." Jeremiah 17:9 says, "The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?" Our founding fathers understood the corruption in the human heart. This is part of the reason they established a federal form of government that included co-equal branches of government as checks and balances.

But Adams declared that without morality and religion, the constitution is as powerless as a net is to a whale. Laws cannot make people better. Changing the system cannot transform individuals. Laws and its systems are powerless to do so. At best, it leads to what Jesus called "whitewashed tombs" in Matthew 23:27. The change is superficial and outward, but it is not real change. Only our Lord can transform people. This is why God promised in Ezekiel 16:26-27, "I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will be careful to observe My ordinances." This is what Romans 8:29 means when it says that he predestined us to be "conformed to the image of his Son…"

This should be a reminder for Christians not to forget our calling. Social justice causes, politics, activism, and other such things are not our primary calling. Participation in such things should never take the place of our primary purpose. The danger is that these could become a trojan horse that causes us to leave our first love. These could lead to becoming so unequally yoked that the unique voice of the church with its Gospel becomes muted. Jesus did not come to change the system, but to redeem and reform individual hearts for God. The system is not the power of salvation. The Gospel is the power of salvation, and nothing else.

I Was Sick and you Came to Me

Plagues were a common occurrence in ancient times. What was also a common occurrence was abandoning the sick to die. Even in an impressive place like Rome, the only people who received any kind of health care were the wealthy and powerful who had the money to hire a physician. There was no such thing as a hospital in first century Rome. This was because there was no pagan theological basis for the inherent value and dignity of the stranger. The only option for the poor would be a visit to a healing deity's temple, such as Asclepius. It was a common practice for people to carry their sick out of the house and leave them in the street for fear of catching the plague themselves. During a plague that struck in 250 A.D., it was reported that 5,000 died in one day in Rome. Bodies were left piled up in the street as pagans tried to appease the gods whom they believed were angry at them.

Into this situation came a group of people with a radically different view of human beings. They believed that humans have inherent value and dignity because they are created in the image of God. Their Lord, Jesus, had modeled and instructed love that gives sacrificially to all, especially those without status or money. As a result, they cared for the sick and the dying, taking great risk on themselves. Many of them contracted the disease and died. However, they viewed this as a type of martyrdom in the name of Christ. In the third century, Eusebius pointed out that only Christians showed sympathy to those who were sick. Christians not only cared for their own, but also for the pagans, many of whom had persecuted Christians, blaming them for angering the gods. These efforts became more organized over time, which gave rise to various orders whose purpose was to care for the sick and the dying. This, along with the Christianization of the culture, drastically changed the public attitude toward the sick. Rather than seeing the sick as those to be avoided, they were seen as those that needed to be cared for in the name of Christ. This divine motivation to care for the sick is what eventually led to public health care, clinics, and hospitals.

Later, in the early 1500's the plague came to Wittenberg in Germany. While many were fleeing, Martin Luther, a minister, believed that he was called to stay. Just as health care workers stayed to care for the bodies of the sick, so he was called to stay to care for the souls of the sick. He refused to abandon those in need.

During the 1918 Spanish Flu epidemic, A.B. Lipscomb, nephew to David Lipscomb, wrote an article in the Gospel Advocate about one Nashville church's response. As the hospitals became overwhelmed, The Russell Street Church of Christ offered its building as a field hospital. The editor, J.C. McQuiddy, praised this action in the next issues, citing the parable of the Sheep and the Goats as the authority to do this.

In 2015, medical missionary Dr. Kent Brantley, traveled to Liberia to serve in the name of Christ. While there, he contracted the deadly Ebola virus and survived with an experimental treatment. In February this year, he told Fox News, "The message I shared in 2014 is just as true and just as pertinent now as it was then: We must choose compassion over fear. We must choose to respond to people (even in deadly outbreaks of infectious diseases) with actions and words and attitudes that convey compassion and uphold the dignity of our fellow human beings."

The thing that all of these and many, many other similar examples have in common is the love of Christ. Love overpowers fear and causes one to run to the disaster to help rather than away in fear. John wrote that perfect love casts out fear. Paul wrote that the love of Christ is what compels us. Like our Lord who left Heaven to come here, we love in deed and in truth, and not with just words. It is that love, the love of Christ, that opens the door for the Gospel which brings about true spiritual healing, even in the face of violence, danger, sickness, and death.