Vision Glorious

You can’t talk much about community and discipleship without acknowledging some of the better authors on these subjects. One author whose heart was near and dear to authentic, Christian living was Dietrich Bonhoeffer. Stories swirl about his life, ideas, theology, hair color, and if he ever watched Hogan’s Heroes. But whatever historical side of the fence you take, you can’t ignore the depth in some of his insights. We think Bonhoeffer hit the nail on the head in a number of areas. So, we occasionally want to share some of those spot-on nuggets with the VG community. Consider them “Deitrich-chewers” if you will. Written from an underground seminary in Germany during World War 2 - here’s the first:

Psalm 133:1 It is not simply to be taken for granted that the Christian has the privilege of living among other Christians. Jesus Christ lived in the midst of his enemies…to bring peace to the enemies of God. So, the Christian, too, belongs not in the seclusion of a cloistered life but in the thick of foes. There is his commission. The Kingdom is to be in the midst of your enemies. And he who will not suffer this does not want to be of the Kingdom of Christ; he wants to be among friends, to sit among roses and lilies, not with the bad people but the devout people. O you blasphemers and betrayers of Christ! If Christ had done what you are doing who would ever have been spared? (Martin Luther)

According to God’s will Christendom is a scattered people, scattered like seed “into all the kingdoms of the earth.” ( Zechariah 10:9; Deuteronomy 28:25)… “and they shall return” ( Zechariah 10:8-9)… Until then, God’s people remain scattered, held together solely in Jesus Christ, having become one in the fact that, dispersed among unbelievers, they remember Him in the far countries.

So between the death of Christ and the Last Day it is only by a gracious anticipation of the last things that Christians are privileged to live in visible fellowship with other Christians…Not all Christians receive this blessing…They know that visible fellowship is a blessing…The physical presence of other Christians is a source of incomparable joy and strength to the believer.

The believer feels no shame…when he yearns for the physical presence of other Christians…The believer therefore lauds the Creator, the Redeemer, God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, for the bodily presence of a brother. The prisoner, the sick person, the Christian in exile sees in the companionship of a fellow Christian a physical sign of the gracious presence of the triune God…But if there is so much blessing and joy even in a single encounter of brother with brother, how inexhaustible are the riches that open up for those who by God’s will are privileged to live in the daily fellowship of life with other Christians!

It is easily forgotten that the fellowship of Christian brethren is a gift of grace, a gift of the Kingdom of God tha any day may be taken from us…Therefore, let him who until now has has the privilege of living a common Christian life with other Christians praise God’s grace from the bottom of his heart. Let him thank God on his knees and declare: It is grace, nothing but grace, that we are allowed to live in community with Christian brethren.¹

1. Excerpts from Life Together: The Classic Exploration of Faith in Community. Harper & Row Publishers Inc., 1954. pages 17-20

   [all bold emphases are added by Vision Glorious] [back]

~ by Pastor Rob Krause

Quality Community

Have you noticed this to be true?

No matter how hard technology tries to bring people together, inherently, technological devices tend to isolate us from healthy, human interaction.

Oh no. I’m not saying that email, cell phones, TV, News sites & channels, and this blog aren’t great ways to pass information around to each other. What I am saying is that true Christian community demands we go deeper than info sharing. There are bigger needs than email can touch. I can’t develop my spiritual gifts through the TV. Although very helpful with financial reports and worldwide searches, my computer screens (yes, I have screens now) can’t put their arms on my shoulder and pray with me.¹

One brother wrote that his Church was studying and trying to apply "quality community." This is good. I think one "quality factor" of community for our day will be the ability to turn it off. This is really hard because technology floods our world. These days, it’s becoming easier to fast from food than it is from the TV or computer.

The Damnable TV

Television is like novacaine to the Christian life. Early on in our ministry in Italy, we had a small group get into a warm debate. A warm debate means that it was just at the point of being "heated" but not quite there yet. Political correctness would refrain us from ever calling it heated. Their debate was about when to meet together as a LifeTeam. This isn’t a bad argument to have. The problem was the motive of this particular group. Their scheduling trouble was over what night to meet together based on what TV programs were airing. Back in that day, Thursday was must see TV. And apparently Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday were as well.

You might ask, "Why not TiVo the thing?" Horridly & Unimagineably, TiVo didn’t exist. "And the VCR?" you say… Old satellite receivers and VCRs didn’t work together at all out here. Multisystem issues.

Can you feel the pain? People, obligated to Church in the home are without a recording method for Survivor, the Bachelor, and Trump’s Apprentice (who I predict will one day converge and one person will win all three — keep filling out those applications Andrew Maxwell!) Can you hear the elephant in the room? "Other Christians get to see that show - but we have to be together." Here was my first, simple reaction — "What are we? 12?" I was pretty fresh to the ministry back then and maybe that wasn’t the better, kinder, more seasoned reaction that I have now, "What are we! 10?!!" Kidding aside for a brief moment. I want to say, "What are we - Saved?" 

I think we’re paying a bigger price than we realize through our TV-time. I remember listening to a message where Bruce Waltke² spoke about how we want to become like what we see. And, if we’re watching Hollywood’s Hell as it preaches its deficient values system to us and our kids, then we are basically sitting in the seat of scoffers and resting a while ( Psalm 1:1). That kind of life can’t be spiritually blessed. 

But I can also see that the flipside is true. If the Spirit of Jesus ( Acts 16:7; Philippians 1:19) is dwelling in my brother or sister and I’m sitting in their presence, then what I see of Jesus working in and through them makes me want to become like HIM. For example, there are a few people in my life that have taught me how to pray. They never taught me in front of the TV or through an email. Occasionally, I learned some pray-er things over the phone. No, we had to be together and we had to be spiritually focused. 

Simply People

This is not a cry for us to go Amish on technology. A number of these devices are our modern-day tools. Just remember that tools are made for the man and not man for the tools. However, I have noticed that true Christian community has a very distinct taste to it; a taste you can never experience around electronics. There’s a rest that comes in the fellowship of the resurrected.

Here’s how I want to end this article. Jesus was all about people; simply people. Today, all who are simple Jesus-followers have a battle on our hands — we crave things. Two major cravings are technology along with entertainment. Like it or not, these are two cravings pounding the Church on today’s battlefield. They compete for the hearts, minds, & wills of the people in our flocks. But, we have a weapon that still wins again and again — True Christian Community with Jesus inside.

1. And, if they did put their arms on my shoulder to pray with me I’d turn 3-CPO into my new satellite dish, if you know what I mean. [back]
2. one of my favorite OT commentators who did a magnificent job on Proverbs and Genesis. [back]

~ by Roberto Battistuzzi

Applications 

There is a wonderful Teaching Letter on Discipleship at Bridges for Peace. One thing it explains is the very difference between the Hellenistic and Jewish thought when it come to the Scriptures. The Hellenist (now Western) thought will dig into the Scriptures, say how wonderful they are, dissect them, but the Jew will say “great scripture, how can I APPLY it?” This is what we have to do. How do we apply our faith in practical ways that will show the World that we are “in this world but not of this world” (Jesus in John 17).

The community structure that the Lord desired for His people just struggled to get going. For example, the buildings became the “Church”. Hence all the churches and cathedrals built over the centuries. People were not taught the correct definition of “church”. Therefore, people thought that they were Christians if they went to a building once a week, but that their life during the week was their own to live. Like everyone else around them, there was no difference, except the weekly pilgrimage to the local “church”. Praise the Lord the Reformation came along and something began to move. But it has been very difficult to break away completely from the Roman leaven. We see today many Protestant denominations still shackled with the idea of Church as a building where people come once a week (if that). Ask anybody if they are a “Christian” and they will say “Yes”. But ask them to define the term and you will get a myriad answers. Most answers will be “Oh, I belong to such and such a denomination." Or “Yes I am a Christian, but not a good one.” Here in Italy you will hear, “Yes I am Catholic, but not a practicing one”. My reply is “ Are you Italian? If yes, are you a practicing Italian?”

This brings me to the phrase I coined some years ago : “A Jew is a Jew is a Jew, a Christian is a Christian is a Christian.” Early on in our walk with the Lord, we were taught that we had to live our lives 24/7. We had to live-out our faith in our homes, work, community, society. Pastor Rob Krause did an excellent series on “Centers of Gravity” and then began to put into practice these teachings. This is when I came up with this catch phrase.

I lived in South Africa for 26 years and worked for a large Jewish Retail Chain for 23 of those years. So, I was privileged to have mixed with Jews and get to see how they lived and worked. Up until then “Jews” were this mysterious group of people that one never mixed socially with, butt of many sick jokes, and often held in awe. South Africa has a large Jewish community. I was quite nervous the first time I was invited to meet a family. One of my school friends from Kenya married a Jewish girl with an orthodox background. The amazing thing was that the Lord saved her first in the revival in the early 70’s and then me. Now, I had a close born-again, Jewish friend and greater contact with the Jewish Community.

One of the great principles we have to understand, which should cause us to radically change our ways of thinking and living our Christian life is this: A Jew is a Jew in his faith, in his home, in his work. You cannot separate these. They have an incredible network worldwide. Wherever you go in business you are bound to find some Jewish person involved. They help each other all the time. I have known of business entrepreneurs that have gone to family and friends for financial support to start a business. Over the last few years, in my involvement in the export business, I was collaborating with some Jewish American businessmen. It was incredible to see how “this one knew that one" in some of the highest decision making positions for the largest USA retailers. One thing I have learned is this: it does not matter which nationality they are (American Jews, Italian Jews, Russian Jews, South African Jews, etc.), they are still a community.

So what does all this have to do with us Christians? I am firmly convinced in my heart that the Lord desires His Church to begin to understand what He had in mind regarding His people. The Jewish nation born out of the Patriarchs first and now His blood bought the Church and Bride. Looking at some of the definitions of the word, as defined in the Hebrew (part 1; above), we see that a community is a “witness”. We are to be witnesses in the world. First and foremost declaring Christ but also living our lives in such a way that is coherent with what we declare with our mouths.

Very recently, a doctor friend of mine was very impressed by the way a “community of believers” displayed love and support to a family who had a premature baby. In light of this article, one thing that struck her was that they had breaking of bread with the family. In our own “community” at Serenissima, an Italian family was struck by the family spirit and love displayed towards one of our members in celebrating her birthday. In their own way, relatively small incidents but powerful witnesses to unbelievers.

Two years ago, Serenissima cleaned up and repainted one of the main bridges of Sacile and a small park. The Mayor and members of her Council were impressed that a “religious “ organization had spent time and money to do this. My family and I have personally been blessed over the years with help in times of difficulty by the Community of Believers. As I said at the beginning, the topic is huge and we need to chew on small bits at a time. So in the next installments we will look at other aspects. For example, the Universal Church, Local Body, Family, Business and how we should conduct ourselves in it and many others.

Roberto Battistuzzi currently serves as Deacon to the Serenissima Bible Church of Northeast Italy where he specializes in ministry to the Italian people. Roberto & his wife Adele have two sons as well as providing full care for Roberto’s 92-year-old father, Pasqualle. Roberto works as a liason and translator for the US military at the regional hospital & Adele works in Church Administration.

~ by Roberto Battistuzzi

A Jew is a Jew is a Jew and a Christian is a Christian is a Christian.

Introduction

Where does one start on a subject so vast, that affects the very core of our existence as Christians and society we live in? We need to set the scene. I’ll be starting with the principle’s Biblical origin and then with my own personal experiences and insight I have acquired over the years. We need to break up this subject into bite-sized pieces. Each piece has to be studied, meditated upon, and then put into practice. This subject could easily degenerate into some great discussion forum, with many intellectuals expounding each item, offering some great insights, & dissecting every thought. This must not be. It is a radical thought, which cuts through all our preconceived ideas of living for the Lord, Church, life and impact in the world.

I use the word “radical” because to many of us who have grown up in mainstream denominations, some of these concepts will challenge the very way we have lived our Christian lives. It has taken many years of the Lord working in my heart to get to this point, studying the Scriptures, mentored by a number of godly men and women, and being exposed to many Jewish friends both Orthodox and Born Again. Yet it is not “radical”, because it has always been in the Bible. The problem has been the Hellenistic Worldview that corrupted the early Church and drew it away from the true Jewish thought. Then, there were centuries of corruption by the Roman Catholic Church (read: Empire or Institution — a “church” it certainly is not) which has caused so much damage with its leaven that now we see today’s Protestant churches, some born in the fires of persecution, returning to these old practices of living their faith. For example, Catholics and many Protestants live their faith on Sundays and/or Christmas and Easter only. The rest of the week is their own. Church is a building or a Denomination, not the Community of Believers.

I recommend every believer to read the book Our Father Abraham by Marvin R. Wilson who does an excellent job at explaining the origins of our faith, all the way to Abraham as well as the difference between the Hellenistic and Jewish thought. I firmly believe that we as Christians¹ need to look at Community with a Hebrew Worldview. We need to go back into the origins of the Hebraic Community as the Lord intended them to be, in relationship with Him, with each other and with the world around them. I will get to the above mentioned phrase “A Jew is a Jew…later“, but we need to understand from the outset that we are a called out people, separated from the world ( Exodus 33:16; 2 Corinthians 6:14-18- a reference from Isaiah 52:11).

Definitions

Let us look at the definitions of the word community. In the Bible, the word “community” is also translated as “congregation”

COMMUNITY “common possession or enjoyment; communion; commonness; people having common rights, body of persons leading a common life” Chambers English Dictionary.
CONGREGATION: "the act of congregating: an assemblage of persons or things; a name given to the Children of Israel” Chambers English Dictionary.
HEBREW: (according to Strongs Concordance) “edah - fixture, assemblage, assembly, congregation, from ed - “witness”; also from a primary root uwd to “duplicate or repeat, protest, testify."

These are interesting. The Chambers definition of Congregation is very biblical as it appears that the very first mention of the word “community”² or “congregation” is in Exodus 12:3. It appears that the Lord had something specific in mind when he chose to use this word in relation to Passover. The Hebrew root ed - witness and uwd - duplicate have fascinating implications. For we are called to be “witnesses” and also to “duplicate”, or better “multiply."³ Which brings me to a concept to be expounded later when we read in Acts 2:42-47 that they broke bread in homes (LifeTeams!?).

Connections 

So we see that both in the Old and New Testaments, Community living is closely connected with Passover ~ Breaking of Bread. Let us look at some aspects:

• Community in the Old Testament began with the liberation of the Jews from Egypt and Pharaoh
• Community life is perpetuated in the New Testament by remembering the death of Jesus, Who, through the Cross and His shed blood has redeemed us from the World (Egypt) and Pharaoh (the devil).
• “a lamb according to each house” speaks of Family first. The Community begins with the Family, not a synagogue, church building or denomination.
• It was to be celebrated forever ( Exodus 12:14).
• It was to be celebrated in Jerusalem. Jews, no matter where they were, had to come to Jerusalem to celebrate it, around the Temple. This speaks of the Lord impressing on the Jews that they had to maintain their identity as Jews, even if they lived in other parts of the Earth. It forced them to remember this year after year.
• The last two points have kept the Jews as a separate Community for thousands of years. Through disobedience and repentance, persecution, further slavery, & Holocaust. It is in their very psyche.
• I love the final toast with the last cup of wine at Pesach (Passover): "Next year in Jerusalem!”  How much more for us should the Passover or Breaking of Bread keep our hearts knitted together as the Bride of Christ and keep our minds focused. “Next year in the New Jerusalem!” How much more should this keep us steady in times of trials, temptations, and persecutions. Would we still be united in heart and mind thousands of years down the line?

In part 2 ~ coming to Vision Glorious in a few days ~ I will show you some practical applications and personal experiences. My goal is that you’ll meditate on these principles for a few minutes and catch the beauty of how the Lord constructed community with Israel and what it means for us today.

Roberto Battistuzzi currently serves as Deacon to the Serenissima Bible Church of Northeast Italy where he specializes in ministry to the Italian people. Roberto & his wife Adele have two sons as well as providing full care for Roberto’s 92-year-old father, Pasqualle. Roberto works as a liason and translator for the US military at the regional hospital & Adele works in Church Administration. 

1. by this I mean Born Again Christians as defined biblically, not by human terms, for there are many that would define themselves as “christian”, simply because they belong to some church organization [back]
2. Jewish Publication Society, English-Hebrew Tanakh and NIV [back]
3. how about this for LifeTeams! (small groups) [back]