The Purpose and Centrality of the Local Church Part 6

This is the final part of a series on the centrality of the local church in God's redemptive purposes in the world. It has not been attempt to bring us back to a Rome-like view of the church or salvation but, rather, an attempt to do away with our Western individualism and help you to get a vision of and passion for the local assembly that God has given you. I hope it has been helpful.

The centrality of the church can be seen in that the responsibility for missions is given to the church.

This point is very relevant for me because I have seen first-hand both the lack of passion for missions in the local church and the lack of passion for the church in missions organizations. That is all besides the fact that most churches misapply their mission, turning church services into productions that are meant to draw in lost people with everything but the biblical gospel.

And Jesus came and said to them, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age." Matthew 28:18-20

This is the probably the main text that comes to most Christian minds when thinking about missions. Often called "the great commission" this text makes it clear that the gospel was meant to be effectively preached in all nations.

There is, however, much debate over what Jesus intended to be the eternal result of his words. Was this only a commission for the original disciples to fulfill? Does this obligate every person to serve a term of some length as a missionary?

Without going into a long exegetical study of the passage I will tell you my own conclusions. Just by knowing the rest of the New Testament we can know that this commission is meant to drive Christians during the entire church-age; that is, until Jesus comes back. The grammar of the commission tells us that the emphasis is not on "go" but on "make disciples." Therefore, every Christian is called to be a part of the fulfillment of this commission, but not every Christian is called to go on a "missions term." However, this commission clearly has global aspirations. Therefore, global missions is necessary to obey Jesus' commission.

So what we should really be asking is how Jesus intended this commission to be fulfilled and how the early church obeyed him. So let's see what we can learn from the book of Acts about these two things.

1. How did Jesus intend for this to be done?

In Acts 1 Jesus tells the disciples to wait for the Holy Spirit to come upon them and then gives a statement similar to the great commission cited above (Acts 1:8). He wasn't urgent for the disciples to start on a missionary journey as soon as he ascended. Instead, it seems that Jesus wanted the church to officially be started. He wanted things to go in their proper order and the Holy Spirit to empower their evangelism, which would happen in an incredible way in Acts 2.

2. How did the apostles work to fulfill the great commission?

The reason I use the "apostles" rather than "the church" in the title for this point is simply to avoid circular reasoning. The fact is 1st century Christian missions was church-centered to the core. The best example I can give for this is Acts 13-14 where we see how Paul and Barnabas went about their missionary journey.

In Acts 13:1-3 we see Paul (Saul) and Barnabas being set apart as missionaries in the context of the local church at Antioch. The congregation fasted and prayed about it and then layed hands on them and sent them.

The rest of Acts 13 and into 14 describes the missionary journey. To summarize, the fruit of the journey was church plants (Acts 14:21-25). They made many disciples of Christ and encouraged them, appointing elders for the new local churches.

After all this what did they do? Return to Antioch to let their sending church share in the joy of their labors (Acts 14:26-27). They then did something that we don't see much nowadays with missionaries, "And they stayed there a long time with the disciples." (Acts 14:28).

So we see three things: (1) the local church sent the missionaries, (2) the missionaries planted local churches, and (3) the missionaries returned to the local church to report and commit themselves to their own congregation once again.

We could look at a lot more but I think this gets the point across. Love your church, love the gospel, and love the lost enough to preach the gospel to them. I don't think para-church organizations are the God-ordained means for this task, they are only helpful inasmuch as they seek to work alongside God's church. Sending a para-church orginization to fulfill the great commission without the church is like sending the Boy Scouts to war...they may be entheusiastic about it but they lack the power and authority to win.

Grace, Peace, and much love,
Stephen

The Purpose and Centrality of the Local Church Part 5

The centrality of the church can be seen in that the biblical description of discipleship is centered in the church.

This is perhaps the most important function of the church. It is where we see biblical discipleship carried out. There are two things I want to focus on in this post to show the Bible's picture of church-centered discipleship.

1. The preaching of the Word in the church.

All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work. (2 Timothy 3:16-17)

Does this mean that all a person needs is his Bible and he is all set in the Christian life? That might be the impression we would get if we didn't continue reading the passage.

I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom: preach the word...^AM)"> reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching. (2 Timothy 4:1-2)

The Word is not only meant to be meditated on in one's personal life but it is also meant to be preached in the church community. We see this happening in the book of Acts' description of the early church, "And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers." (Acts 2:42)

2. The living of the Word in the church.

Local churches are not meant to be clubs for people who really like to talk about Jesus. They are about applying the teaching of Scripture to our lives. This is very well described by the author of Hebrews:

And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near. (Hebrews 10:24-25)

This is why Paul describes the local church as a body in 1 Corinthians 12. We work together for a common goal and we each have certain gifts and functions that add to that common mission.

Grace and Peace,
Stephen

The Purpose and Centrality of the Local Church Part 4

The Centrality of the Church can be seen in that the Bible gives instructions as to how the church should function.

In systematic theology the doctrine of the church is called "Ecclesiology." Though this seems unimportant to most Christians, the fact that a doctrine of the church exists is extremely relevant to the Christian life. Consider that when the most precise students of theology seek to break down the contents of the bible into branches of theology they spell out doctrines such as:

Theology Proper (the doctrine of God)

Pneumatology (the doctrine of the Holy Spirit)

Anthropology (the doctrine of man)

Christology (the doctrine of God the Son)

Soteriology (the doctrine of salvation)

and many others...

But we never find a doctrine of the lonely saved individual or a doctrine of parachurch ministry (though there are biblical principles that can apply to such subjects).

My point? The Bible invests a lot of its space prescribing the church's role in the world. This isn't only relevant to the pastor who wants to know how to lead his flock, but also to the Christian who wants to see what God's priorities are in His revelation to man.

Paul described his reason for writing 1 Timothy as "so that... you may know how one ought to behave in the household of God, which is the church of the living God, a pillar and buttress of the truth" (3:14-15).

You might say, "isn't the Scripture the pillar and buttress?" And that is a good question to ask. Scripture is the very Word of God by which He sustains His church.

The church is where one goes to hear the Word preach, see the Word lived out in a community, and worship God in a way that is informed by the Word. So the Bible and the church are not at odds as pillars of truth; rather, they work together. The Word creates and sustains the church and the church proclaims the Word. This is the way we find God working in Scripture.

Praise God that He has sustained His church and is purifying her even this day.

Grace and Peace,

Stephen

Creation and the Gospel

Recently I was supposed to preach at a local juvenile detention center. Due to an unfortunate set of circumstances involving a fire alarm and multiple Sham Wow's our group wasn't able to go inside and talk to the young men and women. However, my preparation left an impression on me that I would like to share with you.

Every time I get the opportunity to preach the gospel I feel the weight of a new truth that I should try to press on the lost person. This time was no different. For the greater part of this year I have been thinking about the importance of God's role as Creator and how that should play a big role in my presentation of the gospel. It flies in the face of the secular worldview to tell a person that they must do anything in order to please someone they have never seen.

My intention last Friday was to go to one of my favorite passages- especially lately- Colossians 1:15-17, 19-20:

[The Son] is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together...For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.

It is one thing to tell a person that they were created by intelligent design, therefore they should believe in a god, and while they're at it they might as well go for Christianity. It is quite another thing to tell that person that Jesus Christ created them with a purpose for himself. It doesn't matter if you think you are a great person or the lowest of the low, if the rulers and authorities (demons) were created for Christ, you are no worse than they.

This is what is so offensive to a Christopher Hitchens or Richard Dawkins. This is the truth they want to suppress. If they were created with a purpose, rather than haphazardly, they have no rights over their own life, whatever they do that is not for Christ is rebellion against him and fully deserving of the appropriate response for cosmic treason.

But this passage doesn't stop there! It doesn't only tell us that we were created for Christ, allowing us to realize how far short we have fallen, it also tells us how this is accomplished despite our rebellion. Verse 20 tells us that Christ reconciled all things through his death on the cross. This is how rebellious sinners become the adopted children of God. This is where all things find their purpose, including those who are infinitely and eternally evil, never to find repentance. They find their purpose in being shamed by the cross (Colossians 2:14-15).

This is a wonderful passage for reflecting on the gospel and sharing it to those who don't know Christ. I encourage you to give it a read today and thank Christ for creating, redeeming, and ultimitely restoring you. If you don't yet believe in him I plead with you to trust in the only Savior of the world.

Grace and Peace,
Stephen

The Purpose and Centrality of the Local Church Part 3

The centrality of the church can be seen in that the authority of Christ resides in it.

"...the gates of hell shall not prevail against [the church]. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven." (Matthew 16:18-19)

"Again I say to you, if two of you agree on earth about anything they ask, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven." (Matthew 18:19)

It would be easy to dismiss these passages as being about the universal church and say that any couple of Christians contain this authority from Christ. What we see in Matthew 18 is that this authority rests in the local church as they make important decisions. This doesn't mean that the church has the right to make decisions that are unbiblical in nature but that is because a true church is defined by true biblical doctrine (Matthew 16:16-18).

When God’s church assembles it is through them that He speaks His will. The example Matthew 18 provides is that after the long process of calling a member of the church to repent of his sin the church finally has to pronounce that this person is not one of God’s people and they ought to then move to treating them as they would a lost person and pleading them to repent and believe the gospel.

This is one of the great truths found in the Bible. God is using the body of his people in this world to accomplish His purposes. I want to encourage you to love your church. If you aren't a member of a church stop missing out. If you are a member of a church but haven't given yourself to it like you should there is no better time than now.

Grace and Peace,
Stephen