The Church In the New Testament
Visit any evangelical church in the United States of America and it is likely the congregants would claim that theirs is a New Testament church. Most would base their assertion on denominational identity and tradition or in some cases, on the fact that they eschew tradition and denominational entanglements. Few would have given thought to what it actually means to be a New Testament Church in terms of identity, faith and practice. This blog will, in this and succeeding posts, attempt to discover the identity, nature, and practice of the church through careful analysis of the New Testament. First, we will look at New Testament images (metaphors) of the church such as the Bride of Christ, the Body of Christ, etc.
Any study of the New Testament metaphors used to depict the church will not in itself automatically guarantee that we will fulfill all the promise of those images. It is possible to have the proper set of doctrinal beliefs and correct practice of religious acts without the power of God (2 Tim 3:5). Israel was often rebuked for going through the rituals of worship without a heart for God (Isa 1:11, Mic 6:6-8, Ps 40:6-8; 51:16-17). The same can be said of the church in Ephesus, who in spite of their abundant good work, was rebuked by the Lord for leaving their first love (Rev 2:1-7). Thus, to recognize and understand the identity of the church as revealed by its images in the New Testament is not an end in itself. We must then live out that distinctiveness with a heart, which is right before God.
If we set our goal to be a New Testament church, the pattern to which we conform must not come from our notion of what a church should be nor from any denominational mandate, but it must come from the New Testament model itself. A number of theologians have attempted to catalog the images of the church found in the New Testament. Biblical scholar Paul S. Minear, the Winkley Professor Emeritus of Biblical Theology at Yale University, lists 96 images in the appendix of his book, Images of the Church in the New Testament, but believes that list might easily top 100.[1] Regardless of their number, our blueprint must always be the Word of God.
Perhaps it would be helpful, at this juncture, to define the word "church." In current usage, it certainly has more than one meaning. Most people associate the word "church" with a building or location. Others think of the "church" in terms of its organizational structure and programming. Still others connect the term with a particular set of beliefs or denomination.
Although our English word, "church" comes from Germanic roots, it is used in the New Testament to translate the Greek word ekklesia. Ekklesia is a compound word consisting of the preposition ek, 'out of,' and the verb kaleo, 'to call.'[2] In ancient secular Greek this term was used to indicate an assembly that had gathered for some purpose, such as a mob or a civic assembly.[3] In the Septuagint (the Greek translation of the Old Testament) this expression was used for most gatherings of people. The emphasis fell upon the act of gathering, rather than who met, or where, or for what purpose. It is in the New Testament that we see this term come to mean a people who have gathered for the purpose of instruction and worship of God.[4]
The concept of the church as a people "called out" by God does not so much indicate separation (though a certain understanding of the church as those who are separated by their changed lives is appropriate) as it does purposefulness. Used in its broadest sense the term church describes all believers in Christ from the day of Pentecost to the rapture "called out" by God to be trophies of His love and witnesses that proclaim His "Good News." It is also used to identify believers in a certain location, such as is done in Revelation, chapters 2-3, where the seven churches are addressed. Ekklesia is "that body of people spiritually united by the common experience of faith in Jesus Christ and physically united in assemblies at various times and places."[5] The word "church" is never found in the New Testament in reference to a building, an organization nor a denomination.
I am committed to Christ and His church. I want the local church that I attend and serve to be a reflection of the church of the New Testament. That is why I am undertaking this renewed examination of the Word. I want to know God's pattern and plan for His church and see it fleshed out right here, right now. I invite you to join me in this journey and share your insights and comments.
[1] Paul S. Minear, Images of the Church in the New Testament, (Philadelphia: The Westminster Press, 1960), 28.
[2] W. A. Criswell, The Doctrine of the Church, (Nashville: Convention Press, 1980), 40.
[3] Russell Boatman, What the Bible Says about the Church, (Joplin, Missouri: College Press Publishing Company, 1985), 114-115.
[4] Robert L. Saucy, The Church in God's Program, (Chicago: Moody Press, 1972), 11-18.
[5] Criswell, 41.
(Comment this)
Father, I want those You have given me to be with me where I am, and to see my glory, the glory You have given me because You loved me before the creation of the world.
Righteous Father, though the world does not know You, I know You, and they know that You have sent me. I have made You known to them, and will continue to make You known in order that the love You have for me may be in them and that I myself may be in them.
What a new dawning it is to discover once again - or perhaps for the first time, the simple basic truth of why I am here and for what purpose I was created. Day after day, year after year we search for this. We look under every available comfort pattern we can find seeking the truth and trying to make it fit into our own individual universe.
What a revelation it is to discover that at the most basic level (and the most significant) You give us Your Son as a model for how to live and how to serve. You show us over and over again in Your Word, as well as in our own wilderness wanderings, how we were created to be like Christ, to serve like Christ, to live each day like Christ. In effect we were meant to become just like Him.
My prayer today is for a deeper understanding of this simple truth. My prayer is to wrap my arms around the significance and infinite possibilities for my own life as I surrender it totally to Jesus. All of my struggles to hold on pieces of my own nature that have served me so well for so long are meaningless.
In fact I acknowledge they are still roadblocks in my way that must be gotten around and totally destroyed. What a revelation it is to me to realize that I was always intended to be like Christ. I was never intended to live according to the worlds standards. Yet foolishly, I admit I still struggle. Over and over You tell us to trust You for all things. You tell us to pick up our cross and follow You and You tell us that Your yoke is easy and Your burden is light.
Today, my God, I thankfully admit I have a new chance to make a new beginning. I have breath to breathe today and strength to move on. So I begin this morning by laying down at Your feet all my dreams and comfort zones and I give them to You.
You give us Your Word that if we surrender our lives and our own version of personal joy to You , we will be freed from the bondage that still holds us prisoner to the world. You have made me to be who I am, special, unique. I will only be able to produce true fruit if I learn to be who You made me to be.
The battle we face is a daily one. It begins in the earliest hours of the day as we first wake up and all the cares of the world come rushing in. For most of my life I have allowed these cares to motivate my day but now I know how much sweeter life can be when I let that still small voice speak His peace to me and in surrender I admit my helplessness without You.
I look to You in the heavenly places for strength, wisdom, guidance and the true hope I have for a future of significance based on Your promises and Your Holy Word. I need to focus on You and to trust in Your divine guidance which is so much better than any wisdom I think I possess.
I do acknowledge that You were speaking truth when You told us the Holy Spirit abides within us. I also acknowledge that I need His guidance at the deepest level of my being - not just as a surface cleansing influence but as a deep and thorough cleansing of my heart and spirit.
If I dont get this right than I will continue to wander aimlessly through my life struggling every day, and I will lose that deep inner peace that only You can give. You created me to be like Your Son and to that goal I set my feet to the path of this new day and trust You to get me there. PRAISE YOUR HOLY NAME!!
(Comment this)
Not an original joke of mine. My wife Sheri had passed it along. It highlights though how our own expectations can cloud our relationship with the Church. Church ain't a building, it ain't a time on Sunday or Wednesday, it ain't Baptist or Methodist. Church is the body of Christ loving the Lord and working in unity on His agenda to share the gospel so that people are saved.
My prayer is that I can focus on His agenda. That I can put myself, my pride, and my own expectations on the side of the road and just walk the path the He wants me to walk. Our God is an awesome God, and His Church is an awesome Church, and we are members of it. (Comment this)