A Graduate School for the Angels

We met Joann on the north side of Ghent.

“What is the most beautiful thing about your culture?”

“My culture? Or the Belgian culture?” She gave us a curious look.

“Either one.”

She smiled, “The people are very friendly.”

Next question: “What is something you consider broken about the culture?”

She paused, looked down.

“I have been here for 30 years…But I will never be Belgian, I will always be on the outside.”

Joann was lonely. Loneliness isn’t easily hidden, and it spilled out in her brief and thoughtful response.

But there is good news for Joann and other immigrants in Belgium also suffering from feelings of isolation, homesickness, and loneliness. Jesus has established his Church, and by God’s grace through him, the church can be a community like no other, in which the Holy Spirit unites a diverse group of people under the Lordship of Christ.

The church is God’s answer to loneliness and cultural isolation.

While in Belgium I spent time in Ephesians 3. What Paul proclaims in Ephesians 3:10 is that the church is a bright and convincing example of God’s manifold wisdom, not only to men and women, but to angels! In his commentary on Ephesians, John Stott notes that the history of the church has become a graduate school for the angels. It is striking to think that God plans to use his church to make something known about himself to the rulers and authorities in heaven!

Here is what Paul says in verse 8-11.

8 To me, though I am the very least of all the saints, this grace was given, to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ, 9 and to bring to light for everyone what is the plan of the mystery hidden for ages in God, who created all things, 10 so that through the church the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places. 11 This was according to the eternal purpose that he has realized in Christ Jesus our Lord.

In verse 6, Paul describes the mystery which was hidden for ages: “This mystery is that the Gentiles are fellow heirs, members of the same body, and partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel.”

So what is it about the church that reveals God’s manifold wisdom to the heavenly hosts?

Well it’s the church itself, and what Paul is stressing about the church in Epehesians 3 is its unity among various ethnicities. The fact that many tribes and tongues are united to God through Christ is worth looking into if you want to understand the character of God.

We are all spiritual foreigners to God as we were separated from him, isolated by our sins. But now because of Christ we are brought near. The gospel levels us! If God has worked to unite us to him across cosmic boundaries of justice and holiness, by sending Jesus, then do we not think that he would unite us across racial, ethnic, and national boundaries as well?

The international church has this advantage: despite the difficulties navigating diverse backgrounds, cultures, and languages, its members witness the uniting power of the gospel message. Our team observed this as we visited two international churches in Belgium. In each church many nations were represented: the Congo, India, United Arab Emirates, New Zealand, Venezuela, the Netherlands, South Africa, and Ireland to name a few.

Across many lines drawn on the map, the Holy Spirit works to bring unity and new life to these communities, as they worship (sometimes in multiple languages), as they fellowship, and as they carry one another’s burdens.

What is the answer to loneliness? The answer is Jesus and his love manifested in the church. With him at the head of the church, it is hospitable and welcoming to every tribe and tongue

When Joann said that she will always be on the outside of the circle in Belgium, my heart broke. That may be true of Belgium but it's not true of the kingdom of God.

Lord help your church to make known your manifold wisdom to the rulers and authorities in heaven, and also to the foreigner, to the isolated, to Joann and many more like her searching for home.

“Once you were not a people but now you are God’s people.” 1 Peter 2:10