How Do We “Do” Church? A Proper Ecclesiology
ByI wanted to take a few moments tonight and reflect on my family at the Bridge Church, and the way my family “does family.” Before I get into how my family does family I should probably define my fancy word, so that we can understand each other. Ecclesiology? What is that? Ecclesiology is the fancy theological word that comes from the Greek word “eklhsia” (eck-lay-see-ah), which is a combination of two words that are more literally translated into English as “called out.” Through a process of translation, slight alteration, and several centuries of tradition, “the called out,” as a description of the local congregation of Christians would eventually be abandoned altogether in favor of another word, “church.” But where does the word “church” come from? The Greek word “kurios” (cure-ee-oss), which means “Lord,” would eventually be the word used to describe the local Christian congregation. It would change through Latin translation, and then take on the Middle English Saxon “chirche.” This word would eventually come to be more commonly understood as “church.” In a nutshell the word church means, “belonging to the Lord.”
If you were to take modern church “conventional” names and render them into a “conservative” third century Christian vernacular, then these are some of the church names you might read as you walked down Main Street: First Baptist Called Out, or Second Presbyterian Community of the Called Out. However, with the decree of Constantine that Christianity was the official religion of the empire, some enterprising group of Christians started building assembly houses or meeting houses where the ”called-out” could gather. In some cases temples that were devoted to pagan deities were also converted to “called-out” meeting houses. Third and fourth century Christians started to get confused about how to refer to these new buildings and structures which were now devoted for the assembly of the “called-out.” Somewhere someone came up with a great idea. The congregation would continue to be known as the “called-out,” but the meeting house would be designated as “belonging to the Lord.” Over a period of time, the distinctions between meeting house and congregation began to blurr and eventually fade. As a result, some group of enterprising Christians in the third century broke out of the rut of calling their church “Alliance Called Out” and changed their church’s name to “First Community Belonging to the Lord.” These early Christians actually changed their designation from what was given in scripture. Over a period of fifteen hundred years we have now irrevocably inherited the name “church” as the proper Biblical designation, and there is no turning back. This is why you read the word “church,” which truly means “belonging to the Lord,” in your Bible as the designation for a Christian community when, in point of fact, the actual Greek used in scripture to designate congregations of christians is a word that truly means, “the called out.”
Why is this significant to me? What’s in a name? If a rose were known by any other name, would it still not be a rose? Here’s my concern: God refers to us in His word as a community, a congregation of people. We abandoned His designation for us in favor of our own: “belonging to the Lord.” In my estimation, this underminds everything about our role in God’s kingdom. Let me ask a question: what belongs to the Lord? Answer: everything. What is significant about belonging to the Lord? Nothing… because the entire universe belongs to the Lord. If I say that I belong to the Lord, then whoopty-do! Who cares? God himself says that, “Behold, all souls are mine!” (Ezekiel 18:4). There is absolutely nothing significant about belonging to the Lord. If you belong to the Lord, then you’re special -just like everyone else. We all belong to the Lord. It has been observed by friends that when witnessing or attempting to share the gospel with others, a common rebuff to evangelistic efforts has been, “But aren’t we all God’s children?” Frequently when we attempt to share the joy of God’s redemption and salvation, and offer to invite them into a special community as members of God’s family, they decline the invitation with the claim that since we all belong to God, then it shouldn’t really matter what church we go to, or what particular religious exercises we participate in. While I disagree with the latter, their former question deserves a proper answer, and the short answer to that question is: yes. We are all, indeed, God’s children. But we are not all a called out community, and we are not all going to heaven. Only those who are a part of the called-out community have the priveledge of claiming adoption into the personal family of God. This is the community of God’s family, His called out little children. This is the special nature of that community. In a nutshell, it is Ecclessia.
So Ecclesiology is the term that fancy theologians use to categorize the Bible’s teaching of the purpose and function of the church, or the local community of Christians. I think this is an important topic worthy of our reflection, since our ecclesia is what seperates us from the rest of the world. It is our ecclesia that makes us different. Apparently there have been an awful lot of attempts at church-planting in Kamloops. I heard from a friend in the Chaplain’s meeting at TRU the other day that there had been fifteen failed church planting attempts in as many years here in beautiful Kamloops. I heard another brother say just a few weeks ago that everyone has their own “niche” and performs their ministry and service to the Lord in different “nuanced” ways, and this came on the heels of a speech addressing the various denominations of “churches” in Kamloops. As we have conversations with friends and brothers in the ministry, I can’t help but notice that everyone seems to believe in a slightly different way of “doing” church. It is this observation that has left me introspective on the how and why of church.
Donnie made a powerful statement the other day as we were driving in the car that really resonated with me and has fueled this blog post. He said, “We dont need to do church different or better. We just need to do it right.” So what is the “Right” way of “Doing” church? I’ve pondered carefully, and studied the scriptures seriously, and I’ve arrived at several unalterable principles.
(1) A new church cannot exist without an understanding of and participation in a covenant. Christ declared that He would build His church, and that His church should be involved in the ministry of “binding and loosing.” Most properly understood the church should recognize what Christ has bound and loosed, and be engaging a lost world by giving testimony to Christ. This ministry is rooted in the New Covenant (Hebrews 8-9), and therefore subject to the dictates of Jesus. Covenants are usually written and are made between the people and God on biblical principles. The covenant must affirm at least three things: a) the Salvation and Lordship of Jesus Christ over the church and its members, b) the divine inspiration, inerrancy, sufficiency, and authority of the Bible as the singular and exclusive expression of God’s Will for the life of every believer, essential to the well-being of any soul, and c) a church consisting only of redeemed and authentic believers who have given witness and profession to their faith in the lordship of Jesus by baptism through water immersion. These three things are essential to any covenant that will recognize an individual as “having been bound in heaven,” (Matthew 16:19) and therefore accepted into the local congregation. There may be additional requests and responsibilities expounded in the covenant based upon biblical precepts, but the former three are essential. It is only through an understanding of covenant that proper Biblical discipline can be achieved, and the church can take seriously its responsibility to recognize the activity of Christ and to ”bind and loose on earth what has already been bound and loosed in heaven.” (Matthew 18:18). You simply do not have a church without a covenant.
(2) The church’s regular activitiesshould include: a) the regular worship of God, b) the observance of the ordinances of baptism and the Lord’s Supper, c) the edification of believers through worship, Bible study, and varieties of service through which Christ’s commandments are fulfilled and the gifts of church members are exercised, d) meetings to bring the church’s business in conformity with the will of Christ, and e) evangelistic and missionary efforts to reach the lost. In this category I would like to clearly stress that the “doing” of church includes worship and preaching. By worship I mean that the congregation lifts their voices in as delightful a sound as possible as they sing praise, adoration, and songs of gratitude to God. By preaching I mean that the preacher opens the Good Book, and makes his best effort to declare “thus sayeth the Lord,” to the people of God who have gathered together to hear what the Lord has to say. You aren’t “doing church” without either of these two activities occuring. I don’t have the time or the space here to elaborate and defend my position on this statement. I will probably follow this blog posting with another one in which I will draw a careful distinction between an evangelistic Bible Study and a called-out community of believers who have covenanted together to be on mission for the truth of Jesus Christ. Sadly, many churches are Bible-study clubs, and nothing more. This is why I spent so much time defining the term “ecclesia,” at the beginning.
(3) Adoption of a structure of church governance which is in accord with some form of democratic congregationalism with every member of the covenant being responsible to the Lordship of Jesus Christ as revealed in His inerrant Word and having significant voice in the congregation to determine the focus and ministry of the church, the church itself being autonomous and independent of any other ecclesiological body. The church is to honor her Lord, and to conduct the gospel ministry with an understanding of His individual direction for them as they assemble together as a church. This autonomy cannot be exercised in such a way as to exclude any of the seven activities in this list.
(4) Recognition that a church is not complete without the biblical pastoral leadership of multiple elders, and most significantly the lead teacher of the congregation responsible for the proclamation of the Word. Therefore diligent effort should be made by the congregation to secure plural elder leadership upon the loss of elders, and the church must hold as its highest priority to retain at all times a preacher who can accurately expound and proclaim the Word of God. This is the single most important mission of the church. Faith in Christ comes through hearing the Word of God (Romans 10:17), and therefore it is this proclamation of the Scriptures which provide the first efforts of the church in binding. The officers of the church are elders and deacons. The scriptural qualifications for the selection of officers should be followed, since it is those individuals identified by scripture who will provide the most exemplary leadership of Christ’s church.
(5) Baptism in the Trinity must be understood as an act of public confession in obedience to Christ which follows a person’s profession of faith in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. Baptism has within it the visualization of personal and communal identification with the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Baptism must be given by the church in accord with Biblical principles and received by the individual prior to church membership and participation in the Lord’s Supper. Baptism is a public visual portrayal of the doctrine of Justification by Grace alone through Faith alone in Christ alone, and the recipient declares his allegiance to this doctrine that salvation is by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone. Baptism is the initiatory act of the Church in publicly recognizing and “binding” a new believer into the community of God’s family.
(6) The Lord’s Supperis to be regularly observed by the church membership and understood as a time of introspection and recommitment to progressive sanctification and as a remembrance of the atoning death of Jesus Christ. Progressive Santification involves the Christian’s continuous progression in the Christian life advancing towards Spiritual maturity through the assistance of the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit. The Christian who participates in the Lord’s Supper signifies their commitment to a walk which will result in progressive and continuous sanctification. The Lord’s Supper, also known as communion, is the church’s opportunity to come together for the purposes of “discerning the body,” to evaluate the growth and maturity of the body into the likeness of Christ’s image. The Lord’s Supper is a public visual portrayal of the church’s union with Christ. It is to be denied to anyone who is not thus united with Christ, and in this way it serves as the Church’s public declarative function of “loosing that which has already been lost in heaven.” (Matthew 18:19)
(7) The church must undertake to meet regularly on the Lord’s Day in order to celebrate the bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead through both corporate and private worship.
Please consider this posting merely an introductory article on “how we do church.” I made some bold statements that warrant a further and more detailed examination, and I will attempt to write more clearly on each of these seven principles in time. I just throw this out for public consumption for the time being. God bless.
In Christ,
Josh Claycamp
