Indulge me, if you would, in a Christological reading of Genesis 2:

The Lord God said, “It is not good that the [Christ] should be alone; I will make him a helper fit for him.” . . . So the Lord God caused a deep sleep [like death] to fall upon the man, and [he pierced his side and] took one of his ribs and closed up its place with flesh. And the rib that the Lord God had taken from the man he made into [the church] and brought her to the [Christ]. . . . Therefore [the Christ] shall . . . hold fast to his [church], and they shall become one flesh. (Genesis 2:18–24)

Of course, that’s not yet how Genesis 2 reads. But Paul does quote from Genesis 2 in Ephesians 5, then says, “This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church” (Ephesians 5:32).

The mystery of marriage remained an enigma for thousands of years. Why did God design the world and us with male and female so basic and central? Now, with the coming of Jesus and the making of his church, that mystery has been revealed. Temporal marriage is patterned on God’s eternal plan to make a bride for his Son, bring her to him, and make them one.

Elsewhere, the church is Christ’s body, his flock, God’s temple, branches of the vine, and more. But of them all, none is more profound than his bride.

Jesus is the paradigmatic Groom; the church is his bride, the “helper fit for him” by the Father’s design (Genesis 2:18). The church complements him, corresponds to him, like man and wife. They share in human nature: He leads and provides for and protects her, and she (in life-giving relationship with him) gladly takes her cues from him. And so, Christology leads to ecclesiology, though study of the bride can shed light on her groom as well.

But my assignment is to ask, “How does Christology lead to ecclesiology, and how might that make some on-the-ground differences in our churches?”

Christology from Chalcedon

First, we need a definition — and thank God, when it comes to Christology, we have a Definition. I’ll provide some key Scriptures as we go, but let’s start with the hard-fought, time-tested Definition of Chalcedon from 451:

We, then, following the holy Fathers, all with one consent, teach people to confess one and the same Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, the same perfect in Godhead and also perfect in manhood; truly God and truly man, of a reasoning soul and body; consubstantial with the Father according to the Godhead, and consubstantial with us according to the manhood; in all things like unto us, without sin; begotten before all ages of the Father according to the Godhead, and in these latter days, for us and for our salvation, born of the Virgin Mary, the Mother of God, according to the manhood; one and the same Christ, Son, Lord, only begotten, to be acknowledged in two natures, inconfusedly, unchangeably, indivisibly, inseparably; the distinction of natures being by no means taken away by the union, but rather the property of each nature being preserved, and concurring in one Person and one Subsistence, not parted or divided into two persons, but one and the same Son, and only begotten God the Word, the Lord Jesus Christ; as the prophets from the beginning declared concerning him, and the Lord Jesus Christ himself has taught us, and the Creed of the holy Fathers has handed down to us.

So if, like streams into a lake, Christology pours into the doctrine of the church and its practices, how does Christology impact our churches? I have five Christological currents that shed light on ecclesiology, and with each I’ll offer some practical counsel or questions for evaluation.

1. Plurality: Healthy churches are led by teams.

We begin here, not because it’s most important, but because this is a room of pastors and aspiring pastors, and this is fundamental to practical pastoral ministry.

Chalcedon emphasizes the oneness of Jesus’s person:

• “One and the same Son, our Lord Jesus Christ”
• “One Person and one Subsistence”
• “One and the same Son, and only begotten God the Word, the Lord Jesus Christ”

The church has one Lord (Ephesians 4:5), one “great shepherd of the sheep” (Hebrews 13:20), one “Shepherd and Overseer of your souls” (1 Peter 2:25), one groom — and that oneness in Jesus corresponds to plurality in local church leadership. There is nothing in the New Testament about a singular pope in Rome, nor is there anything about a singular pastor as pope in his own church.

Christ’s plan for his church includes flanking his own singular universal headship of the church with a plurality of elders in local churches. In other words, he calls his undershepherds to teamwork. As his apostles from the beginning were plural, so too are the pastor-elders. Even in rural settings, where the idea of a team of pastors may seem unrealistic, we still have the New Testament’s stubborn ideal of plurality. Twice Peter addresses the plural elders in 1 Peter 5:1–5; local church elders are plural in Acts (Acts 14:23; 20:17); so too in the Pastoral Epistles (1 Timothy 4:14; 5:17; Titus 1:5); and in James 5:14.

Practically, if you don’t yet have a team, I don’t assume you’re in sin (unless you don’t want a team). Make it a priority to pray for and disciple men toward leading with you as peers. And if you do have a team, don’t take it for granted! Rehearse what a precious gift it is to have brothers in the work of leadership. The times we need a team most are the times when a team can seem the least convenient to our flesh.

And whether you already have a team or not, brothers, we all need to remember we’re not the groom. We are first and foremost sheep (Luke 10:20), and we need fellow undershepherds in our modest office as pastors, however briefly we serve in the role.

Brothers, let’s delight to have Jesus as your church’s hero, not you. Let’s delight to personally decrease in our little fiefdoms by adding and celebrating peers. Let’s pray and plan and invest ourselves to raise up fellow elders (2 Timothy 2:2), and work toward and sustain a healthy team. It takes work, and it’s worth it.

Jesus is the one person who had to work alone at the most important moment; the rest of us need a team at our most critical times. That’s Christological correspondence for practical ecclesiology.

2. Catholicity: Healthy churches love other churches.

Not only is Jesus’s person singular, but he is the one and only Lord, the one and only Christ, the one and only divine Son, the one and only divine Word. “There is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12). “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to [him]” (Matthew 28:18). That means not only is Jesus the worldwide Christ, the worldwide Lord, the worldwide Word, but he is that also across time and history. So says Chalcedon:

• At the beginning: “We, then, following the holy Fathers, all with one consent, teach . . .”
• And at the end: what “the Creed of the holy Fathers has handed down to us.”

Bishops from far and wide gathered in 451 to say, in effect, “This Definition represents all of us spread abroad, as well as the holy Fathers who have gone before us.”

Jesus has one bride, the universal church. Our local churches are precious tangible manifestations of that church. And vital to the health of our local churches is the acknowledgment (and indeed, the joy) that our church is not the only church — not the only one in the world, and not the only one in our area.

That our Christ reigns with all authority in heaven and on earth, that he is worldwide, universal, means we’ve got to get over ourselves that our little local church has it all figured out, or that we’re the only church anyone can really trust. Point that singular religious focus (your worship) to Jesus, not to your own church. Enjoy a big Christ and a humble little local church (rather than a big local church and a little Christ). A big sense of Christ and a big sense of “our church” don’t go together. When Jesus is big in our minds and hearts, our hands can be looser about our own little kingdom embassy.

“Like streams into a lake, Christology pours into the doctrine of the church and its practices.”

So, do you celebrate other churches nearby? Do you make friends with pastors of other churches? Can you name other churches nearby that you love and root for and support and pray for and happily would send people to? And can you imagine sending your best people overseas on world missions or to the next town or a needy part of town to plant a church?

This is another way to say, and express our hearts, that Jesus is far bigger than our one little local church. Enjoy having a Jesus who is way bigger than your church.

3. Divinity: Healthy churches mature in godliness.

Jesus is “truly God,” “perfect in Godhead”:

• “Consubstantial with the Father according to the Godhead”
  
• “Begotten before all ages of the Father according to the Godhead”
  

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God” (John 1:1). “He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power” (Hebrews 1:3). “In him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell” (Colossians 1:19).

And so in Jesus our Lord, who is divine, we humans “become partakers [sharers] of the divine nature” (2 Peter 1:4, genēsthe theias koinōnoi physeōs), without ceasing to be human. That’s Peter’s way of saying we become more holy, more godly, as we become more like Jesus in union with Christ. One aspect of Christian growth, individually and corporately, is a greater sharing of God’s nature in Christ.

So, is your church growing in godliness? Not growth in human numbers, but growth in the divine nature? Are people in your church and your church as a whole growing in likeness to Jesus?

Realistic Church Expectations

In tension with that, let me tag on here (between streams 3 and 4) the one mention in Chalcedon of “sin.” Jesus is “in all things like unto us, without sin.” We are sinners; our churches are made up of sinners. And Jesus is making us like himself, perfecting his church, but he’s not done yet.

This leads to an often-unnamed doctrine in ecclesiology, almost forgotten in some places, called “the doctrine of realistic church expectations.” Jesus is perfecting his church, and the church is not yet perfect. She’s being made holy because she’s not yet holy. She is being beautified because at present she has warts and blemishes, spots and wrinkles — which sounds like Ephesians 5:25–27, does it not?

Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish.

That day is coming for a spotless, wrinkle-free church. And that day is not here yet.

So, grant that your church is not perfect. We are sinful humans who are ever-so-slowly becoming partakers of the divine nature; church life is sanctifying life. Our calling as pastors for our church is not perfection but direction.

4. Humanity: Healthy churches embrace their own nature.

Not only is this one spectacular person “truly God,” but he is also “truly man.” Jesus is “perfect in manhood”:

• “Of a reasonable [rational] soul and body”
  
• “Consubstantial with us according to the manhood”
  
• “In all things like unto us, without sin”
  

“The Word became flesh” (John 1:14). “In him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily” (Colossians 2:9).

Jesus’s “[rational] soul and body” — that is, his fully human body and fully human inner person, with human emotions and will and a human mind — tell us that both the human soul and body matter and both the mind and the emotions.

So, we ask, “How are our people treating their bodies, cultivating their emotions, stimulating their minds, and conditioning their wills?”

• Are our people growing in their ability to glorify God in their bodies?
• Are our people growing in becoming more fully human in their emotions? This is huge in our day; we as modern people are so misshapen in our emotions, and typically so blind to this! This is not just a church problem but a society-wide problem that deeply affects us even in the church. Our people need to know that Jesus experienced human gladness and sorrow and anger and fear and had no sin. And so should we, as we grow in Christlikeness, experience not only holy joy, but holy sorrow, holy anger, holy fear, holy guilt, holy shame.
• Are our people growing in the life of the mind? This is especially under assault, not just in the practically-oriented, anti-cerebral vibe, but in the habitual use of phones and scrolling ourselves to death and replacing thinking with AI. As pastors, we need to lean into this sometimes, and say some bracing things about the life of the mind and its importance to us as Christians.
• Are our people growing in forming and strengthening their human wills? Are they more self-controlled? Can they say no to good things to get better things (the Christian-Hedonistic pursuit of holy reward)? Are they willing to make covenants and keep their word?
• And we could go on and on about our dehumanizing age, including male and female, manhood and womanhood, and how our churches can be places where we live out a different and better vision than what people see in society.

As pastors, we should ask, “What are the ways in which my people, our church, in our local place and at our specific time, are tempted to become less human?” Where can our churches grow in their humanity? And let’s start with ourselves.

As worshipers of the God-man, are we pastors becoming more fully human?

• Pastor, how’s your body?
• How are your emotions?
• How’s your mind?
• How’s your will and self-control?

5. Hedonicity: Healthy churches cherish Jesus.

By cherish, I mean adore him supremely, worship him from the heart. He is our great shared Treasure. He is the focus of our whole-souled worship (which brings us back to his oneness, which we started with).

Healthy churches cherish Jesus. They adore him supremely. They worship Jesus. They treasure Jesus. He is the tie that binds — and they are not bound by indifference or apathy to him, but by supremely cherishing him.

Brothers, do you want a “pure church”? A “credible profession of faith” in a Christ like this is not mere assent to his saving work nor mere acceptance of his sovereign lordship, but some real sparkle of enjoying Jesus as the surpassing value, the pearl of great price, the treasure hidden in the field, the supreme delight and satisfaction of our souls.

What’s most important in church life is not getting all our ecclesiological ducks in a row. It’s the glad worship of Jesus, the thrill of the soul in Jesus. Knowing and enjoying him is the surpassing value, not being a healthy church. Brothers, you can get your ecclesiology almost right, and get Christianity just about all wrong, if Jesus himself isn’t your church’s supreme treasure.

Healthy churches say, “We have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us” (2 Corinthians 4:7). Healthy churches at their best know themselves to be jars of clay, and love it. Jesus is the treasure. At our best, we’re prongs. Jesus is the diamond.

And wonder of wonders, this groom loves his unworthy bride.

So, brothers, check your hedonicity. In our good, noble efforts to have healthy churches, does the groom thrill the hearts of you and your church? That is the single most important mark of a healthy church.