10.2 Practical Reciprocity
© 2018 Christ Revealed Bible Institute
Being built together for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit (Ephesians 2:22). The entirety of Ephesians (and the Bible) is about God living in and revealing Himself through the interaction with one another among believers in Jesus.
Sunoikodomeó (are being built together): to build together with; from syn, “together with” and oikodomeó, “to build a house.”
Katoikétérion (dwelling place): a habitation, dwelling-place, abode; from katoikeó, “to inhabit, to settle (permanently),” and -térion (suffix denoting place).
What does it mean to be built together?
A Universe of Life. I do not know of any theology that allows Ephesians 2:22 and 4:16 to mean what they say. I myself have never really considered the implications of these words; they simply do not fit into the universe conceived in the split-apart-ness flowing out from Adam.
Indeed, these verses have their meaning only in an entirely different conception of the cosmos, a universe flowing out of Life, a universe we know almost nothing about. Only now is my mind catching glimpses of what Life actually means regarding all things, but this topic belongs in Essence, though I hardly knew it when I wrote Essence. Here we want practical application.
What If? Being built together – being joined together – being held together. Built – fitted – glued or mortared or nailed – (“get on board” means commitment). Every conception of these things has been going the wrong way. The idea is that these things are preparing each one of us, “building us up” individually, for a someday heaven. And so these things have come to mean little more than “getting blessed in Jesus.”
But what if? What if these things are true, real, and even literal. And when I say “literal,” I include the reality of heavenly substance as being as “scientific,” shall we say, as the physical matter with which heaven is always married.
Fantastical. Alien beings, intelligent and sentient beings from other planets out there, are a popular theme of much story-telling in our day. The idea of such beings showing themselves to us, although in the realm that most would call “fantasy,” yet modern thinking takes seriously as well, as a scientific and literal possibility.
What if? What if there is an “alien” being who is attempting to insert Himself into our universe, to show Himself, to make Himself known? And – what if this “alien” being, in order to show Himself, requires, by His construction as a Spirit, a gathering together of humans to become His “body?”
Actual and Literal. What if we ourselves are heavenly beings, as much as we are earthly beings, and what if we are, literally and actually, coming, every moment, out of the essence of this “alien” being? If this conception of reality is true, then Ephesians 2:22 and 4:16 might actually mean something.
Then, what if this “alien” being, in forming us together as His Body, has spoken the essence of what builds us together – as the form through which a new Being enters the known universe of heaven and earth – by these words: Love One Another? What if “Love One Another” is actually and literally the revelation of Jesus Christ, Jesus returned bodily upon this earth?
Christ Constructs. If these wild and fantastical speculations be true, then the heart of Ephesians 4:16 might actually have practical and essential meaning for us.
Now, on the underlying absolute, that all things are proceeding out from Christ Jesus in our formation together as the Body of God, let’s revert back partly to the NKJ translation of verse 16 – but in this way. Joined and held together through every member’s supply, according to the energia by which every part contributes its measure – by which Christ increases the Body, constructs the House, the visible representation, of God.
Jesus makes God in Person visible AS each believer in Jesus contributes life and love to nearby believers and receives the same in return.
What Is Actually Happening? I have titled this lesson “Practical Reciprocity” and the next “Reciprocal Love.” Yet it seems I am being more fantastical than practical thus far. But unless we see just how fantastical Ephesians 2:22 and 4:16 really are, we will have no idea what is actually happening as we love and share with one another.
Now, I have positioned reality in a “science fiction” manner, because “being built together as a dwelling place of God in the Spirit” is a practicality that cannot exist in the normal human conception of the universe. Yet a Life universe, that is, God, is the only thing that does exist, and all the warped rebellion is taking place only inside the unbelief and blind ignorance of each individual bubble of self.
Speaking What God Speaks. NO ONE is “going into” God, for all things exist, live and move and have their being, only in Him. It is God entering into the knowledge of each one, yet as He IS, not as we have blindly and ignorantly defined the universe. And only one thing has allowed us even to see such a reality of God as He is, and that is our speaking what God speaks as Christ Jesus made personal as us.
So, we entered into our first glimpses of the knowledge of God by speaking Christ Jesus as the only life we are, by speaking only what God Himself speaks. Then, we turned around upon the Mercy Seat by calling every circumstance of our lives God through us reconciling the world to Himself.
God Revealed through Faith. Now, we are taking one step further. Now, we are going forth as the revelation of Father BY calling our every interaction together as believers in Jesus TO BE God Himself showing up visibly in the universe in Person. If we are first saved through faith, then God is revealed as He is only through that same faith.
Here is what I am saying. AS we call God to be God through our interaction together, we ourselves are moved, in the renewing of our minds, out of the stupid thinking of Adam’s definition of the universe and into the thinking of Life as it actually is. We are transformed by the renewing of our minds.
Full Reciprocity. Finally, we can turn to practical application inside of a Community of Christ, around 75 believers in Jesus sharing life together. God is showing up, becoming visible and known, through our every interaction together, moment by moment. As we call it to be so, we are placing into Love the entirety of our motion and energia as living and sentient beings together.
Now, there are places in the Bible where God tells us to love other believers in Jesus as well as to love even our enemies. That is not what we are talking about here. Love one another is something different from loving others. Love one another is full reciprocity.
Defining Reciprocal.
Reciprocal (Webster’s 1926): (Latin – to move back and forth) 2. Done by each to the other; interchanging or interchanged; given and received; due from each to each; mutual; as reciprocal love; reciprocal duties. 3. Mutually interchangeable; also, complimentary.
Reciprocate (Webster’s 1926): 1. To cause to move in alternate directions. 2. To give and return mutually; to make return for; to give in return; to interchange.
Reciprocation (reciprocity) (Webster’s 1926): Act or state of reciprocating (characterized by alternation in movement); interchange of acts; a mutual giving and returning, as in the reciprocation of kindnesses.
Honor or Contempt. In the fellowship of Christian communities of which I was a part for many years, our theology was definitely Nicene Christianity, the same as everyone else’s. That is, we honored Christ in the Spirit but held only contempt for “the flesh.” Some communities did tend more towards honor, but the majority tended more towards contempt. Contempt for the flesh of other Christians rules through all Christian thinking of which I am aware. In that fellowship, we would have called reciprocity, “I’ll scratch your back if you’ll scratch mine.” In other words, “I’ll wink at and support your fleshy falling short if you’ll wink at and support mine.” As I said – contempt.
In Weakness First. We have established, however, that God does not “show up” “because of” what we do in interaction together.
Here is an absolute. We must know Him in and as our human weakness FIRST before we will ever know Him in His power. It is only when I place God into even my stumbling stupidity – not to justify my insensitive and hurtful actions, but to carry me through them, taking them entirely upon Himself – it is only then that I will NOT imagine that “I” in my actions am responsible for God becoming visible.
Contempt for flesh creates arrogance of the worst kind, that is, religious arrogance, the superiority of fakery. Jesus has become our flesh, even our every interaction together, good, bad, or indifferent.
For God Not Us. Let me define “rooted and grounded in love,” as meaning – bearing all for all, believing all for all, hoping all for all, enduring all for all. God fills our every interaction together with all of His fulness, God Himself in Person.
Joined and held together through every member’s supply, according to the energia by which every part contributes its measure. I once thought that this means that you have something I need and that I have something you need. But that thinking was partly inside the idea of “going into” God. We are not talking about a place for us, but a Body for God. God Himself is showing up through our reciprocity. Our place, then, is inside of God’s place.
Allélón. Let’s bring in some of the 100 occurrences of allélón – of one another – in the New Testament.
A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another (John 13:34-35). – For I long to see you, that I may impart to you some spiritual gift, so that you may be established—that is, that I may be encouraged together with you by the mutual faith both of you and me (Romans 1:11-12). – So we, being many, are one body in Christ, and individually members of one another (Romans 12:4-5).
One Another. Romans 12 factors large in our study of reciprocity inside the local church.
Be kindly affectionate to one another with brotherly love, in honor giving preference to one another. – Be of the same mind toward one another (Romans 12:10 & 16a). – Therefore receive one another, just as Christ also received us, to the glory of God (Romans 15:7). – That the members should have the same care for one another. And if one member suffers, all the members suffer with it; or if one member is honored, all the members rejoice with it (1 Corinthians 12:25b-26). – Through love serve one another (Galatians 5:13b).
Love One Another. Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ (Galatians 6.2).
Let me simply place the remainder of Paul’s uses of allélón in succession. Bearing with one another in love – we are members of one another – be kind to one another – submitting yourselves to one another in the fear of God – regard one another as better – comfort one another – encourage one another.
Then, from the other epistles (1 John is mostly a succession of “love one another”). Love one another with a pure heart fervently (1 Peter 1:22b). – If we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another (1 John 1:7a).
Reciprocal Love. Here is what we must understand. The truth of Ephesians 2:22 and 4:16 takes every one of these interactions together out from the realm of blessing and being blessed and into the reality of God seen and known through His Body.
Now, I keep trying to arrive at practical application, but I have needed to place reciprocity in its place in our understanding before I can do that. Joined and held together through every member’s supply, according to the energia by which every part contributes its measure.
Every mutual interaction takes place in and is part of reciprocal love; let’s find out together what that means.