Of late I’ve been reading Mark Dever’s book The Church: The Gospel Made Visible. While I personally want to quibble with the good Dr.’s title a little bit (ask me about that another time), since I’ve gotten past the title page, I’ve been agreeing with him over and over again. Too often today, Christians are apologizing for the Church, as if she is the black sheep of Christendom, but that couldn’t be further from the truth. The Church is being used by God to display his manifold wisdom to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places, to use the words of the Apostle Paul in Ephesians 3:10. And if the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places are seeing God’s glory and manifold wisdom on display in the Church, then shouldn’t those of us who are here on earth see something of the grandeur of Christ’s church? Yes, we should. And so reflecting on the glory and the responsibility of the church Dever writes,

“What company is so obliged to worship God as those who have been not only created but redeemed? What group is so concerned with the task of proclamation of God’s Word and evangelism as those who have themselves been saved through hearing the Word? What body will be so involved in making visible signs – in baptism and the Lord’s Supper – of God’s saving action in Christ? From the ministry of the Word to the management of the church’s own affairs, what other group is so charged with the responsibility as the church of Jesus Christ?” [Mark Dever, The Church, p.45].

That is indeed a high responsibility and calling, but it is also a high privilege for a highly prized bride.