Some close friends and i have been talking a lot about what it means to be a church. What things are required? What things are optional? Is music required? Is prayer required?
I recently heard a pastor define church in this way: “the local church is a community of regenerated believers who confess Jesus Christ as Lord. In obedience to Scripture they organize under qualified leadership, gather regularly for preaching and worship, observe the biblical sacraments of baptism and communion, are unified by the Spirit, are disciplined for holiness, and scatter to fulfill the great commandment and the great commission as missionaries to the world for God’s glory and their joy.”
Now, conversely I’ve recently heard of an author that defines church using Matthew 18:20 – “Where two or three come together in my name, there i am with them.” – essentially arguing that “two or three” gathered “in His name” is all you need to call it church. It could be in a home, a park, or a bar – the only criteria is two or three in His name.
So which is it? Are both correct? Can both be simultaneously correct? What is required to call something a church? I think this is important as it relates to our identity as the body of Christ. Also, our definition of church impacts how we relate to those that don’t know Christ. To be honest, I had never thought through this until I graduated from college. I had just sort of looked for what seemed like a good solid church – whatever that meant. I mean I know what it meant to me, but who is to say that those were the same things God looked for in a church that He liked? It has occurred to me that if I don’t know what the bible says about church, then my criteria for what makes a good church could be, well, “unbiblical.”
Any thoughts?
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July 25, 2008 at 9:41 pm
Hey James, I’m really digging the church thought, it’s something I wrestle on a weekly basis. I do believe the verse in Matthew 18:20 can legitimately be called “doing church”, however I do feel your pastor’s definition hits most of the requirements or “doings” the church is supposed to accomplish. I think a church’s foundation or starting point is when they proclaim that Christ is the Messiah, Son of the Living God (See Matt. 16:13-20). There are also a ton of things the church should be doing, i.e. laments, a system of shepherding, caring for those who can’t care for themselves. It’s all over Scripture what we have to do, however I don’t think one local church body can fully accomplish them all. When it’s all said and done, the perfect church will be the one that happens during our resurrection and fullness in God during the end.
July 29, 2008 at 12:03 am
Good thoughts Jesse. I agree that the church will probably never be perfect until it is fully redeemed through Christ at the end of this age. I personally tend to favor the first definition I gave of church only because i feel like such an open-ended definition of church as “two or more gathered” feels like it could result in two guys hanging out at a bar calling that their church service. I do not think we should call something church where God’s truth is not proclaimed from the Scriptures and His mission for us in the world is not championed. Not to say there is something wrong with Matthew 18:20 – certainly God’s word is never lacking in truth, I’m just leery of taking any one verse and forming a theology around it because the scriptures can be taken so out of context when we do that. (i refer you to “The Prayer of Jabez” phenomenon a few years back).
It’s interesting to think of the church through the eyes of what the Bible says – that the church is the Bride of Christ and the body of Christ. What a vivid metaphor for people in community worshipping and serving God as one. When I look at examples of believers gathering for worship in the new testament, I see men proclaiming God’s word with authority to people who are coming together to bless those in need and worship God with passion and vigor. As a result, followers of Jesus are empowered by the Holy Spirit to spread His fame and live out the mission He has declared for us all.