What is church? What we normally do on a given sunday morning, like the songs and message and sunday school, etc., do you see a scriptural basis or precendent for it? This came up in conversation last week, as my girlfriend and I were talking about the sermon we'd just heard. We've had people in the past who are like, "I don't need to go to church because according to the Bible, we ARE the church." What would you say to such a person?
And this is my response:
Let me say I am quite humbled by your opinion of my understanding of the Church. And blessed by it. I DO love the Church, but there is so much I don’t know. So much on which I fumble about. So much more I could do to love Her better. There are a great many among your acquaintance who could give you a richly biblical and articulate answer -and even more whose works you could read. But the Lord led you to ask me (perhaps more for my benefit than yours), so I will attempt to give you the best I have.
The person who says, “We ARE the church,” is very right; but the person who prefaces that with “I don’t need to go to church because…” is very wrong. Let me rephrase it like this: “I don’t need to go to the church local because we are the Church universal." This is antithetical to what I believe the true statement is: “Because we are the Church universal, we need to be a part of the church local.” Let me see if I can develop a biblical basis for you. (In general, a great book to study and see both facets of the Church is Acts. It would be interesting to know if there were different Greek words for the Church universal and the church local or if one pulls the distinction primarily from context...)
First, what makes one a part of the Church? (Capital ‘c’ will henceforth denote the Church universal.) I think the easiest answer for this (based on my biblical capacities) is in Jesus’s High Priestly prayer in John 17. Jesus specifically prays for those given Him by God, who believe in Christ -those who have heard His words and believed them and kept them. He also prays for those who will believe in Him through the word of His disciples (you and I). So Christ acknowledges a specific group as those who believe in Him and obey His word. (He even says He’s NOT praying for the world.) The Great Commission (Matthew 28:1820) removes the limit of this group to a specific location or time. And He prays for the unity of us all. So it’s not surprising that Paul tells the Romans, “in Christ we who are many form one body” (12:5). What makes the Church is Christ, and He is the head (Colossians 1:18). A few more verses involving the Church: Acts 9:31, Galatians 6:10, Hebrews 2:11, Acts 14:23.
Now, for the local church… Nowhere in the Bible, that I know of, anyway, does it say, “Thou shall attend church every Sunday morning, Sunday night, and Wednesday night or thou shall be damned to hell.” I don’t even find a conservative variation of that. But we do know the first believers of the Church “devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers,” thus forming the first local church (Acts 2:42). (I’m not sure if there’s a verse which explicitly states an equivalent to “the local church is formed by members of the Church as they meet and care for each other.”) How can one devote himself to teaching he does not hear? (The command for and purpose of preaching is a response in and of itself. 1 Timothy 4:13, for starters.) If the Church is one body (see verses above), how can one be part of a body to which he is not connected? (Perhaps that’s why Paul uses the analogy to begin with -to necessitate connection???) The writer of Hebrews clearly commands against “neglecting to meet together” (10:25). I’m not sure if a guy would need more motivation than that to pursue fellowship in a local body, but… Throughout the New Testament, there is a sense (and direct command!!!) of fellowship for the purpose of edification and encouragement. We are to love as Christ loved, laying down His life for His Bride (1 John 3:16). How can one love those with whom he does not spend time? How can he be loved by them? And the church serves another purpose: exhortation & discipline. Jesus Himself gives the structure for church discipline in Matthew 18:15-17. How can one be held accountable by the church if he does not place himself under that accountability? The Church is an institution of God to convey the love of Christ to the world and grow us to be like Him; under His inspiration, men have written the practical application of its “hands and feet” in the local church. I would take that VERY seriously.
So I would ask Mr. “We ARE the church” to consider how he became a member of the Church. Ask him who his Head is and what the Head calls him to do. Ask him why men, under God’s inspiration and Christ‘s authority, command us NOT to NEGLECT meeting together, but to be devoted to public preaching, exhortation, and rebuking. Ask him why there is time spent in the Bible outlining local church leadership. Then ask him where his biblical basis is for not taking part in a local church body because “we ARE the church.” I think he’ll find his thesis is contradictive and anti-biblical.
As for your first question: “What is church?” -I think it’s answered most simply in the description of the Early Church: Christ-followers who devote themselves to the apostles’ (biblical) teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. And all of that for the glory and proclamation of Christ. Christ is the Head and the Center. Whatever the Church is, it should revolve around Jesus Christ. The rest of what you mentioned (songs, Sunday School, etc) typically has a biblical basis for its profitability, but not in its explicit structure. Church ecclesiology, how the local church is structured, is also an area that isn’t particularly black and white; thus, in part, the variety in denominations. This relates a lot to my recent questioning. Christ was very clear in His emphasis of praying for the unity of the Church, as were the Apostles. What do we do with the many divisions of denominations in the Church? The root issue, I think, involves interpreting the Bible. But that’s another discussion we can delve into another day.
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