Ekklesia: Maturity through Responsibility
by Dr. Patti Amsden
by Dr. Patti Amsden
Contained within Jesus invitation to walk alongside of Him in a yoke of service is an amazing promise. “Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me (Matt. 11:29). What is that promise? The believer is afforded the privilege to learn of him. To know the Lord is to work alongside of the Lord and to work alongside of the Lord is to know the Lord. Knowledge of him is developed through sharing common work and common responsibility.
Sticking one’s head in a yoke might present a variety of other images. For example, to be yoked with and therefore directed by the other person in the yoke minimizes the free spirit, independent volition, or self-governing choice. Who wants to exchange liberation for dependency? That can be seen as some form of enslavement.
Another image is that of hard work, plowing fields, and stringent rigors. Although in modern culture, most nations use tractors in their farming efforts rather than oxen or horses harnessed to pull a plow; nonetheless, the thought of a yoke evokes the image of a hewed wooden hitch strapped upon the strong necks of a team of animals. And – that mental picture is not a pretty illustration nor is it very inviting.
With only the above mentioned examples in view, the amazing promise of knowing the Lord via the yoke becomes obscured. Yet, the Lord’s main focus in the passage under consideration is that of knowing Him. Laboring together means that both partners are doing the same job. A yoke provides a mechanism for walking in harmony, for coordination of steps, for synchronization of purpose. It serves to train in agreement and unity. To learn about the will and purposes of the Lord for the earth and its systems, for the people and their well-being, for philosophies and their ramifications the believer must labor in the yoke of God.
The yoke not only facilitates knowledge of the job but it aids in learning about one’s partner. Jesus said He was meek and lowly in heart. Every disciple yoked with Christ is tutored in character or nurtured in nature. Knowing is more than the gathering of facts and the accumulation of information. Modern day education has often adopted the philosophy of education that unyokes the student from the teacher. The mind can be informed in a non-relational environment; however accumulation of knowledge, advancement in skill, or development in talent does not necessarily guaranteed the maturation of character. Examples of persons whose gifting or talent is disproportionate to their character fill the history books and the current day tabloids. The model that most closely adheres to the idea of the yoke is the master/student or pedagogue/pupil pattern. Jesus embraced this latter model as He trained up His disciples and even as He promised them the coming of the Holy Spirit who would continue the tutoring as Christ’s replacement Rabbi.
The concept of ekklesia convocations carries the idea of working for and with God in governing the earth. The idea of a church culture in which congregants sit in pews like students sit in desks and the pastor like the teacher presents facts to inform the mind is contradictory to ekklesia. Pastors and church leaders are responsible to give truth and also to train in the work. Work? Work! Almost every Christian has heard a sermon that heralds of virtues of loving God over working for God. In keeping with the tenets of Biblical Christianity, the preachers should be communicating that work does not merit salvation. Faith in Christ positions the believer to be right with God. But, once made right, the believer is invited to put on the yoke. Go to work? Go to work! Working in the yoke causes maturity. Responsibility fosters maturation. Governing the earth is the job of the mature. Remember Romans 8:19-21? “All creation is eagerly waiting for God to reveal who his mature sons are. Creation was subjected to frustration but not by its own choice. The one who subjected it to frustration did so in the hope that it would also be set free from slavery to decay in order to share the glorious freedom that the children of God will have” (GW).
If anyone wants the right to vote or a voice in the governing of creation, that man or woman must first put on the yoke and then go to work. The voice creation hears is the voice of its Creator. The disciple, who has learned of the Lord in the yoke, says what the master says. The voice of the Lord is the same whether it is coming from His lips or from the lips of His partners. There is no dissonance, no disparity, no disunity. Creation eagerly awaits the voice of mature sons to release the bondage caused when non-yoked earth rulers seek to govern.
The ekklesia is the delivery system for God’s vision, His will, and His purposes. Church goers are not necessarily kingdom managers. Pew sitters are not automatically a governing body. They are candidates. The determining factor rests in the invitation to put on the yoke of service and begin the training of knowing the Lord.
Sticking one’s head in a yoke might present a variety of other images. For example, to be yoked with and therefore directed by the other person in the yoke minimizes the free spirit, independent volition, or self-governing choice. Who wants to exchange liberation for dependency? That can be seen as some form of enslavement.
Another image is that of hard work, plowing fields, and stringent rigors. Although in modern culture, most nations use tractors in their farming efforts rather than oxen or horses harnessed to pull a plow; nonetheless, the thought of a yoke evokes the image of a hewed wooden hitch strapped upon the strong necks of a team of animals. And – that mental picture is not a pretty illustration nor is it very inviting.
With only the above mentioned examples in view, the amazing promise of knowing the Lord via the yoke becomes obscured. Yet, the Lord’s main focus in the passage under consideration is that of knowing Him. Laboring together means that both partners are doing the same job. A yoke provides a mechanism for walking in harmony, for coordination of steps, for synchronization of purpose. It serves to train in agreement and unity. To learn about the will and purposes of the Lord for the earth and its systems, for the people and their well-being, for philosophies and their ramifications the believer must labor in the yoke of God.
The yoke not only facilitates knowledge of the job but it aids in learning about one’s partner. Jesus said He was meek and lowly in heart. Every disciple yoked with Christ is tutored in character or nurtured in nature. Knowing is more than the gathering of facts and the accumulation of information. Modern day education has often adopted the philosophy of education that unyokes the student from the teacher. The mind can be informed in a non-relational environment; however accumulation of knowledge, advancement in skill, or development in talent does not necessarily guaranteed the maturation of character. Examples of persons whose gifting or talent is disproportionate to their character fill the history books and the current day tabloids. The model that most closely adheres to the idea of the yoke is the master/student or pedagogue/pupil pattern. Jesus embraced this latter model as He trained up His disciples and even as He promised them the coming of the Holy Spirit who would continue the tutoring as Christ’s replacement Rabbi.
The concept of ekklesia convocations carries the idea of working for and with God in governing the earth. The idea of a church culture in which congregants sit in pews like students sit in desks and the pastor like the teacher presents facts to inform the mind is contradictory to ekklesia. Pastors and church leaders are responsible to give truth and also to train in the work. Work? Work! Almost every Christian has heard a sermon that heralds of virtues of loving God over working for God. In keeping with the tenets of Biblical Christianity, the preachers should be communicating that work does not merit salvation. Faith in Christ positions the believer to be right with God. But, once made right, the believer is invited to put on the yoke. Go to work? Go to work! Working in the yoke causes maturity. Responsibility fosters maturation. Governing the earth is the job of the mature. Remember Romans 8:19-21? “All creation is eagerly waiting for God to reveal who his mature sons are. Creation was subjected to frustration but not by its own choice. The one who subjected it to frustration did so in the hope that it would also be set free from slavery to decay in order to share the glorious freedom that the children of God will have” (GW).
If anyone wants the right to vote or a voice in the governing of creation, that man or woman must first put on the yoke and then go to work. The voice creation hears is the voice of its Creator. The disciple, who has learned of the Lord in the yoke, says what the master says. The voice of the Lord is the same whether it is coming from His lips or from the lips of His partners. There is no dissonance, no disparity, no disunity. Creation eagerly awaits the voice of mature sons to release the bondage caused when non-yoked earth rulers seek to govern.
The ekklesia is the delivery system for God’s vision, His will, and His purposes. Church goers are not necessarily kingdom managers. Pew sitters are not automatically a governing body. They are candidates. The determining factor rests in the invitation to put on the yoke of service and begin the training of knowing the Lord.
