It is no secret in 2006 that everything which can be traced back to God is under attack. Creation is under attack. The sanctity of human life is under attack. Morality is under attack. The local church is under attack.
George Barna has become the official pollster of new evangelicalism. He recently became an author with a book, REVOLUTION: Finding Vibrant Faith beyond the Walls of the Sanctuary. The book is an attack on the place of the local church in 2006. His conclusion is that the local church is not really necessary. The book was reviewed in “Christianity Today” for January 2006, pp. 69-71. Barna’s picture is published in the review and under it are the words, “Local Church optional says George Barna.” The magazine heads the review with the words, “No Church? No Problem,” and then gives the sub-title: “George Barna wants commitment to the local congregation to sink lower than ever.” The review goes on to state: “Unlike the Great Awakenings, which brought people into the church, this new movement ‘entails drawing people away from reliance upon a local church into a deeper connection with and reliance upon God.’” (The regular quotation marks indicate quotes from the review and the single quotes indicate words the review has taken from Barna’s book.)
“Are you worried about the church where you were baptized, taught, married, and given Communion? That’s only a ‘congregational-formatted ministry,’ one of many ways to develop and live a faith-centered life. We made it up.” Writes Barna, “Whether you become a Revolutionary immersed in, minimally involved in, or completely disassociated from a local church is irrelevant to me (and, within boundaries, to God).”
Can you believe those words, “We made it up,” when used of the local church? If believers do not need a connection to the local church, what then? The review continues:
“So where are the Revolutionaries going? To ‘mini-movements’ such as home schooling, house churches, Bible studies at work, and Chris Tomlin worship concerts. What matters is a godly life, so ‘if local church facilitates that kind of [godly] life, then it is good. And if a person is able to live a godly life outside of a congregation-based faith, then that, too, is good.’”
I might easily use the space of this article to refute Barna. I am not going to do that. All of us who pastor recognize the large group of people in 2006 about whom Barna is speaking. They claim to be Christians, give a testimony, attend Bible studies, get involved in Christian work, listen to Christian radio stations; but keep themselves apart from the local church. They justify their actions with an assortment of ignorance, injuries, and injustices which they have received or heard about in a local church. I do not expect to change the minds of many of these determined wanderers; but I would like to help the people in our local churches to understand the importance of the body of which they are members.
The word “church” is a New Testament word which does not occur in the Old Testament. The word is used three times in the Gospel of Matthew but nowhere else in the Gospels. The church as we know it was born on the Day of Pentecost. From that day in Acts 2 the word is used 106 times in the rest of the New Testament. The point I hope to make in this article is that the local church is Christ’s body for this age. I considered several words instead of “body.” I considered organism, organization, assembly and several others with which I was not satisfied. I will justify my choice of word by citing Ephesians 1:22,23 where Paul uses the words, “the church, which is his body.”
Christ’s Body for Worship
The local church is Christ’s body for worship. In Acts 2:47, on the Day of Pentecost, we read, “And the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved.” That certainly speaks of the universal church but it also speaks of the first local church, the Church at Jerusalem. If you read the surrounding verses (41-47) you will find baptism, the breaking of bread (communion), prayer, and praise. Those are all elements of worship, and both continuing ordinances are included. The local church is God’s chosen venue for the exercise of united worship.
Christ’s Body for Teaching
We read again in Acts 2:42, “And they continued steadfastly in the apostles doctrine…” The word for teaching is not used but it is clearly implied. Who were saved on the Day of Pentecost? Three thousand Jews were saved. They were people familiar with the old covenant. They had to be introduced to the new covenant in Christ Jesus. That had to have been done with teaching. As Paul wrote about the church in I Timothy 3:15, “…the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth.” Peter and his cohorts held up the truth of the Gospel and taught it. Think of your own life as a Christian. What would you know had it not been for a local church? That is where you were taught in Sunday school, youth groups, worship services, and in-church Bible institutes. You were taught your Bible, and then it was organized for you as doctrine. Many of those who have kept themselves out of the local church may know their Bibles; but most of them do not have a grasp of theology. That teaching usually comes from exposition of the doctrinal statement of the local church. In Acts 20:28, where Paul speaks
to the elders of the Church of Ephesus he charges them, “to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood.” That feeding was teaching from the Word of God. The person who chooses not to be connected to the local church has chosen to be disconnected from God’s provision for teaching.
Christ’s Body for Government
One of the cherished ideas of the natural man is his supposed right to do his own thing. Sinful people doing their own thing reduce any organization to chaos. The church, even thought it is made up of redeemed men, must have a framework of leadership and supervision. Again in Acts 20:28, as Paul talked to the Ephesian elders, he said, “Take heed therefore unto yourselves and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers…” That last word clearly implies supervision of the body. Some of us might interpret the titles in these verses differently and thus would have differing types of church government; but all would see that there must be a structure of government so that the church may elect its officers, choose its teachers, conduct its necessary business, and pay its bills. Christian people still need government and the local church is the place where God has chosen for that to reside.
Christ’s Body for Safety and Purity
You will notice that I put two things together here. I did so because of the way they are side by side in Acts 2:29,30: “For I know this, that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock. Also of your own selves shall men arise, seeking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them.” The first part of the matter is protection. The elders are to be the shepherds who protect the flock from attack. This would cover the attacks of apostasy and new evangelicalism with which we are familiar. The second attack would be from within the church. These attacks might be the result of self-will, false doctrine, or immorality. The first attack from within the church came from the dishonesty of Ananias and Sapphira in Acts 5. The church was to be honest. Under Peter’s leadership that was settled within the church. In I Corinthians 5 Paul instructs the church at Corinth to settle a matter of immorality within the body of the local church. Just as a military force would station sentries at crucial points, the elders are to be alert for the safety and purity of the church. In his book George Barna pictures Christians outside the local church as a noble body of true believers obeying the Lord. As a Pastor, I have found that the army outside the local church is sometimes flawed by self-will, immorality, or
some perverted doctrine, which would keep them from being useful in the local church. I do not wish to slander Christians outside the local church but not all have the marks of a noble body. Paul knew that and added, “Therefore watch.”
Christ’s Body for Service
I will not labor this point. Rather, I will give a quiz. How does evangelism get done? How does Sunday school get done? How does calling get done? How do buildings get built? The quiz is easy because the answer is the same in all cases—local church. It is true that sometimes those outside the local church organize rallies, missions, evangelistic meetings, camps, and charitable efforts. Examples might be such things as Campus Crusade, World Vision, Promise Keepers, and the Graham Crusades. Most of the time such things are compromised so that they are problems, not blessings, to the local church. And, almost always, such entities do not want the principles of the local church; but they are not bashful at surrounding it with both hands out.
Christ’s Body for Missions
In Acts 1:8, before the church was born, Christ gave a missionary commission: “But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.” How was that carried out? The new Church at Jerusalem preached the Gospel to Jerusalem and Judea. The persecuion of Saul forced Philip out of that church to Samaria to preach, and other men moved as far as Syrian Antioch. From the Church at Antioch God sent out Paul, Barnabas, and Silas. Periodically they reported back to the church which sent them. And so it has always been. The enterprise of missions revolves around the local church. It rears the missionaries through its Sunday schools, youth groups, Christian schools and services. It sees them called through its preaching. It provides the funds for them to go, and the prayer support to uphold their ministries. Where would missions be without the local church?
Mr. Barna, You Are Wrong
And so, Mr. Barna, you are dead wrong. The local church is Christ’s body for worship, teaching, government, safety, purity, service, and missions. The local church may be irrelevant to you; but it is not to God. It is Christ’s body in 2006. The “Revolutionaries” you picture need to cease their self-willed crusade and be a part of God’s plan. On the other hand, those faithful members of the local church need to see again that they are in the right place. Doing God’s work in God’s way will always bring God’s blessing.
February 2006
