Several months ago I produced one these periodic postulations and began to answer the question, “What kind of Baptist are we?” In looking at that very valid query, it was decided that we were, at the very core, both biblical Baptists and purposeful Baptists; that is, we are Baptist for reasons that are important to us and our purpose as a church.
These things are still true. If either of them ceased to be true for Elim, we would not be the church that we are today. And nobody wants that! In fact, most of those who have made Elim Baptist their church home seem to be enthralled with what Elim is becoming, excited regarding where she is headed, and encouraging her as she is trying to get there!
Actually, there are several who enjoy worshiping here who have spoken to me in recent weeks with a similar request. They have wanted to know if I could write down a list of what makes Elim unique. Or more to the point, a list of what biblical earmarks can be found to distinguish that which is truly a church from that which simply usurps the name. And while that sounds like a fairly simple task, it is far more involved than a first glance might reveal.
The priority and existence of the church (both the church universal and its visible expression in the local church) are easy to establish from Scripture. Where the difficulty comes into play is in the attempt to determine what that church is to look like, what it is to do, and how it is to do it. Not that the Word of God is silent on these points. Oh no! But so many have adopted methods and measures contrary to the Bible that they seem “normal.” In many ways, the adoption of worldly measures and goals and standards are so accepted that an attempt to bring a biblical standard to bear is met with incredulity.
However, such difficulties should not hinder our gaining of a biblical understanding of what the church is and is to become. After all, as wonderful as we believe Elim to be, we know that she is not perfect. If we can gain a clearer picture of what God wants the church to be, then we have all the more opportunity to live up to that description.
A biblical church is a called-out assembly
It is truly unfortunate that so many “Christian organizations” have sought to remove any mention of separation from the vocabulary of God’s people. For, in fact, the very name “church” indicates this first great earmark of a biblical congregation.
The word that we translate church is, in the Greek language of the New Testament, the word ekklesia. It is formed by combining the word ek, which means “out of” and kaleo, which is “to call.” So, literally, the church is that which has been “called out of” the group of which they are naturally a part. The church has been called out of the world. The church has been called from the mass of humanity.
The word is used twice in the Gospels, once of the whole body of believers or the “universal church” as we know it (Mt 16:18), the other of the local body (Mt 18:17). Interestingly, Stephen uses it in Acts 7:38 of the congregation of Israel in the wilderness (they were called out of Egypt), while in Acts 19:32 it is also used to describe a near riot in Ephesus (the crowd was called out of the city at large).
However, one of the most telling uses of the word is found in Acts 8:3 where it records, “Saul began ravaging the church, entering house after house, and dragging off men and women, he would put them in prison.” Note that even though the misguided man was “entering house after house”, the author of Acts terms it “the church” that is being persecuted. Plainly the church is not just an assembly, but the organized body which is still “the church” even when scattered about or in their own homes. It is, after this fashion, “an unassembled assembly.”
This is important to grasp. Many have a notion of the church being in existence only when it meets for corporate worship or fellowship events or Bible studies. But that is not the Bible’s notion! The church is always made up of those who have been called out of the world, and those who make up this body are always called upon to live as though they have been called out! God’s Word is so plain about this that it refers to those who are not part of the church as those who are “outside the church” or “outsiders” (1 Cor 5:12; 1 Tim 3:7).
This is not to say that we treat those who are not in the church as pariahs or that we are some sort of elite, spiritual, snobbery society! Of course not. However, it should make clear to us that God intends for His people to be different than those who are around them. Different in our take on life and how to live it. Different regarding what is important. Different. A biblical church will teach, train and, by God’s Word, transform those who have been called out of this world by the grace of God into those who are citizens of the kingdom of Christ.
A biblical church practices the centrality of Christ.
Once again, this is not a difficult position to defend biblically. It is, however, a difficult practice to find among the congregations that claim to be churches. This has become especially true in the past couple of decades. Churches have built themselves around a variety of different things: baby boomers, baby busters, generation X-ers, new music, old music, no music, media presentations, multi-faceted ministries, racial reconciliation, racism, team-based leadership, an individual with charismatic leadership abilities, the practice of “gifts”, relevancy, acceptance, etc. The list could literally take up this entire sheet of paper. Such places pride themselves on their label and their supposed ability to be on the “cutting edge.” But the Bible calls the church to a place where the Lord Jesus Christ is its life and breath.
Consider the picture given to us in Colossians 1 and Ephesians 5. The apostle Paul wrote in Colossians 1:18, “He (Jesus) is also head of the body, the church; and He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that He Himself will come to have first place in everything.” The picture is greatly expanded and expounded upon in the Ephesians passage. But I quote from Colossians purposely. Many take the context of Ephesians 5, which is the relationship of husband/wife in Christ, and believe that the phrase “head of” refers to power or priority. But that is not the point being made by the Holy Spirit.
In both passages Paul is trying to get across the point “He is also head of the body, the church.” The picture is the one you get looking in a mirror. Jesus is the “head on the shoulders of the body” if you will allow the expansion. He is the decision maker. He is the control center. He is the one who can see and decide and decipher and direct His church! He is everything the body needs. The church that focuses on Christ as her Head in everything will flourish as the Head nourishes her. But the church that seeks to focus on other parts of the body is foolish and doomed to experience illness and death. Why? The head of the body cannot be ignored and the body live well for long. It really is that simple. Man-centered or ministry-centered groups may exist for a long while, but they are not biblical churches.
A biblical church has the proper concerns.
The point we just discussed mentioned many of the modern concerns of churches. If it were not so eternally tragic it might be funny to realize that God never gave the church so many directions to follow. While it is true that there can be many applications of the principles I am about to share, it is also true that these three main concerns are those which God has given to His church in the New Testament. Most of the rest of the things which are attempted by churches are not really God’s work through the church, but rather the church’s attempt to work for God. And that is backwards. Biblically, God has called His church out of the world to be concerned with doctrine, discipline and making disciples.
The church is to be concerned with doctrine. This is so clearly established throughout the New Testament that it seems a person or an organization that misses this point must either be willfully disobedient or supremely ignorant of God’s Word. Notice just a few examples of what is clearly stated:
- In pointing out these things to the brethren, you will be a good servant of Christ Jesus, constantly nourished on the words of the faith and of the sound doctrine which you have been following. (1 Timothy 4:6)
- Pay close attention to yourself and to your teaching; persevere in these things, for as you do this you will ensure salvation both for yourself and for those who hear you. (1 Timothy 4:16)
- All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; (2 Timothy 3:16)
- But as for you, speak the things which are fitting for sound doctrine. (Titus 2:1)
- Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord; seeing that His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence. (2 Peter 1:2-3)
- I have no greater joy than this, to hear of my children walking in the truth. (3 John 4)
Again, these are but a few examples of the many commands and illustrations that could be culled from the pages of the New Testament. But on top of these we have been given a description of what the church is to be about and it is tethered by doctrine! In 1 Timothy 3:15 Paul writes that he is giving instructions to his young disciple “so that you will know how one ought to conduct himself in the household of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and support of the truth” (emphasis mine). Note what description the Spirit-inspired Word gives to the church! It is that which holds up the truth of God in this world of falsehood. The church must be about doctrine.
The church is to be concerned with discipline. You will not find the phrase “church discipline” in any reliable translation of the Scriptures, but the concept is clearly and plainly taught throughout the New Testament. In fact, the instruction we are given about this sad but necessary component of church life was begun by the Savior Himself.
Jesus tells us in Matthew 18:15-20 that the church is the instrument God uses when a member refuses to repent of his sin after being confronted and called to repentance. And the Lord gives His divine seal of approval on such actions in vv. 18-20. When the proper procedures are followed, the person who has been disciplined can be sure that this is no arbitrary act of vengeance on the part of man; it is the very chastening of God.
The one who has been disciplined in this way is to be “as a Gentile and a tax collector” (v. 17). This does not mean that we seek to immediately bring the person back into the church as we might do in seeking to evangelize the unsaved. This would undo the effect of disciplining, and would contradict Paul’s command to put the sinning member out of the church (1 Corinthians 5:13). But it also does not mean that we withhold our personal forgiveness of the person, as Matthew 18:21-35 vividly shows.
What it does mean, however, is that fellowship with such a person must change. No longer is a person a viable member of the community of faith when he or she has been disciplined. Paul tells us clearly that we are “not to associate with any so-called brother” who is unrepentant, “not even to eat with such a one” (1 Corinthians 5:11). This means that we are not to be in any socially affirming situation with a disciplined member. The contact we have with the person should be for the sole purpose of lovingly but firmly warning them of the consequences of their sin — one of which is the loss of the privilege of fellowship. If we continue to carry on normal relations with him, we are actually being unloving, as we are not allowing him to suffer the consequences designed by God to bring him back to the place of blessing. After all, a person who refuses to repent of exposed sin before the church that loves him certainly gives no evidence of being regenerate, and needs to be warned to test himself to see if he is truly in the faith (2 Corinthians 13:5).
The purpose of discipline is the correction, the improvement, the obedience, the faith and the faithfulness of God’s child. The outcome is a happiness, a blessedness, that we see in the assurance of Revelation 3:19, “Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline …” A biblical church is concerned with discipline within its membership, and that concern extends all the way to how such discipline is carried out.
The church is to be concerned with making disciples. When our Lord gave His Great Commission in Matthew 28 He used language that was very specific. The command to “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations” is a command that centers on the action — the process involved — in seeing people become full fledged followers of Jesus Christ. It is not a goal to be achieved but rather a lifestyle for the church. The Savior made it clear that His true people will be about the business of helping themselves and others know what it means to be a disciple.
Let me put it bluntly: churches that are concerned with numbers, growth charts, building projects, programs begun and grown, achieving an optimal demographic mix, fiscal solvency, or any other thing in the place of making disciples is not a biblical church! Jesus set the bar and His command was to be about the business of helping people become disciples of Him.
Some will argue that they are not really about the things mentioned (or other visible sidetracks), but that these things are tools to be used so that more people may be “reached.” However, Jesus did not say to “reach the unreached” or “church the unchurched”, but to make disciples. And He told His church how to do it! The commanded process of making disciples is accomplished by doing the work Christ left the church to do in the way He commanded. This concern of the church has a God- given pattern: doctrinal practice (“baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit”) that flows from doctrinal preaching (“teaching them to observe all that I commanded you”). Biblical churches are concerned with making disciples, and this concern is the undercurrent that flows throughout every thing the church does.
A biblical church has particular characteristics
Finally, it should be noted that there are attributes commonly inherent to churches that are striving to be biblically based and balanced. This is not to say that every one of these qualities must be present, but I would state that each of these qualities should be desired and even worked toward in a biblical church. Again, not all churches will possess each one of these at any given moment but every biblical church will have at least some of these as they strive for the others.
In looking at these characteristics of a biblical church, it is important that we understand that these are traits built into the church by God Himself. These are not “Guaranteed Growth Getters” from the latest seminar touting business principles under the guise of spiritual application. No, the are directives taught by the Holy Spirit to the church (every church) so that she might truly be what God has called her to be.
- There is a primary thrust on worshiping God. Beginning with Paul’s great doxology in 1 Tim 1:17 the person, power and plan of God serve as the basis for all that the church is and does. Any church that approaches God from a man-centeredness, regardless of intention, is not worshiping biblically.
- There is a plurality of godly leaders. Everywhere you look in the New Testament, and especially in the pastoral epistles, you see the church led by several individuals. God sees to it that there are multiple leaders within each body so that the load may be shared, the joy may be increased, and all the gifts may be exercised. This does not require a church to employ several people for one does not have to be paid in order to be a leader. Nor does it require each leader to have an “official” position. But, to be a leader of God’s people, one does need to be godly.
- There is a strong bible-teaching ministry. It has been said that this is the pulse that carries the body of the church. Each of the items discussed in this paper are the result of taking God’s Word seriously and seeking to live it out. A church that does not possess and seek to strengthen its Bible-teaching ministries — beginning in the pulpit — has no God-given direction or message! After all, it is the Word of God that is “inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work.” What else could a church truly need?
- There is a strong emphasis on discipleship. While this has already been discussed as a concern of the church, it bears stating that this will result in any church with a strong Bible emphasis as mentioned above. When there is a proper emphasis on teaching the Word it brings God’s people to spiritual maturity, helping them in applying truth to life and leading in biblical means of problem solving. What a great way to produce disciples!
- There is an aggressive, active, ministering congregation. This has nothing to do with the number or size of programs a church has (or the size of the church!), but rather refers to the church body using its gifts. It is God’s desire that every one of His people be “a vessel for honor, sanctified, useful to the Master, prepared for every good work.”
- There is an intense concern for “one another”. Few things are repeated more often in God’s Word than the directive of God’s people to care for, love and minister to one another. The church is the place where the world is given the chance to see the love of God demonstrated among His people. The following verses are a small sample of God’s mind on the subject: Rom 12:10,16; 13:8; 14:19; 15:5,7; 1 Cor 12:25; Gal 5:13; 6:2; Eph 4:2,32; 5:21 Php 2:3; Col 3:13,16; 1 Thes 3:12; 5:11; Heb 10:24,25; 1 Pet 4:8,10; 1 John 3:11; 4:7,11. (Question: how can such love be carried out if the people in a church do not know one another?)
- There is a devotion to the family. God has established two institutions upon the earth through which He directly works. And before He established the church, He created the family unit! It would seem clear that these two should work in harmony, with each providing something of life that the other cannot and both supporting the other. Sadly, many churches seek only to divide the family into departments and ministries largely disconnected from one another and taking all the time that a family might share together. A biblical church will strengthen families in what it teaches them from God’s Word and in its function toward the family.
- There is a strong emphasis on penetrating the world with the gospel. Once again, this has very little to do with programs, and everything to do with the people of God living like His people! By this I mean all the people, not just a few or just the “hired professionals.” Evangelism (sharing the life-giving truth of Jesus) is best done by taking the opportunities that God brings our way and telling what Jesus has done for us. Sometimes this opportunity is in sending someone else to a place where we may never get to go (we call it “missions”). But whatever the opportunity, a biblical church continues to be concerned with taking advantage of it and telling others of Christ, of what He has done for them. And this is done by “penetrating” the darkness with the light. It is not done by sitting and waiting for others to come and ask if we have a candle!
This, then, is a brief description of what a biblical church is to be focused on, doing and for what it strives. I trust it is an outline of what Elim Baptist is all about. If so, then we will be taking great strides toward fulfilling what Paul wrote about the church in Ephesians 3:21 — “to Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever. Amen.”
Posted on August 9th, 2007 by Pastor Larry
Filed under: Pastor's Occasional Papers