Before you read on, think about this question. Who holds church leaders accountable?
In practice, it seems to be bishops and boards, constitutions and bylaws, and ultimately churchwide conventions. But Ascension shouts, “No!” “This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven” (Acts 1:11). When Jesus comes in glory, the time of final accountability has come for us all. “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 7:21). Who holds the church and its leaders accountable? The Lord of the Church.
I vividly remember one gathering of church leaders at a St. Louis hotel. Breakout sessions had begun, but I was a bit late. Looking for my group, I walked into the wrong room. About a dozen church officials were in deep silence, each with his head into the bylaws of The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod. “Whoops, wrong room,” I said, and then, always going for a joke, “I see you’re deep into Bible study.” No reaction. Constitutions and bylaws, boards and officials have their place, “all things decently and in order,” wrote Paul, but he immediately proceeded to talk about the resurrected Christ who is soon to return in judgment (1 Corinthians 14:40-15:28).
When someone finishes service to the church, you’ll often hear this verse. “Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master” (Matthew 25:23). But is that for us to say? Who is Lord of the Church right now? Ascension reminds us that we are accountable to Jesus Christ. N.T. Wright: “What happens when you downplay or ignore the ascension? The answer is that the church expands to fill the vacuum… The church is not Jesus and Jesus is not the church” (Surprised by Hope, 109, 112).
“Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts! And see if there be any grievous way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting” (Psalm 139:23-24).