Church

Why put so much effort into writing about the church? Because it's something that's on my heart and because several things about modern church life bother me. I will outline a few points here. The links at the end will take you to articles with more details on specific topics.

1. We put too much emphasis on building the church. Jesus said in one place, "...seek ye first the Kingdom of God..." and in another, He said, "...I will build my church..." So, a Christian should actively be a disciple of Christ. A disciple will want to learn from Jesus how to live and how the Kingdom works. A disciple wants to let Jesus live His life through him. A disciple seeks to become the kind of person that automatically acts the way Jesus would if He were in her situation. Don't bother with the church if you are unwilling to be a disciple seeking the Kingdom. It's not worth the drama. On the flip side, if you are a disciple, you don't have to "make church" because as you fellowship with, learn from, and have communion with other disciples, you will find that you are in church. Our emphasis should be seeking the Kingdom, which is the same as being a disciple of Christ. We should stop trying to make church for Jesus.


2. Somehow, we hold the wrong definition of church. Intellectually, this is an easy problem to fix, but it seems more tricky in the heart. For example, let's say you have a friend who spends a lot of time dining with people, discussing things of God and His Kingdom, and regularly has communion with other believers. Yet, he decides that attending a Sunday meeting and hearing the preacher every Sunday isn't helpful, so he doesn't. What do you think of that? Is he part of the Church? The question is not whether you agree with his choices but whether you believe his church life is relevant. Let's take the other extreme; a person watches football every night and generally spends time building his personal kingdom. Yet, he does spend a few hours at church every Sunday to hear the preacher. What do you think of that? Is he part of the church? Ok, I set up 2 "strawmen" to make a point. My point is this, Biblically speaking, the word church was translated from ekklesia. In the Christian sense, ekklesia is a group of Christians gathered to worship God together. Or, in the worldwide sense, God's ekklesia is all His people worldwide. I am not saying that either situation is ideal. Instead, I'm arguing that Sundays sitting on a pew don't define whether you are part of the church or not. There are multiple ways that someone can be part of the church, as defined by the simple definition of ekklesia. If your definition of the church gets more specific than that, then you are beginning to speak where scripture has not. That's not a good idea. Keeping the definition simple and not adding to it specifics that line up only with our preferences and culture allows us to move with the Holy Spirit in how we meet. It also keeps us from feeling guilt or putting guilt on others if we or others aren't churching the way we prefer.


3. There is a clergy-laity divide that should not exist. In the New Testament, we see examples of deacons, elders, and bishops being appointed or ordained to go ahead with things. Yet, they were not given special privileges over the non-leaders. Many modern Christians view their clergy as "in ministry" and expect them to work themselves to death for their congregants. Many people seem to think the clergy has special rights or privileges. Like, "we can't have communion without the bishop"...where did that come from? Is that in the New Testament? I have yet to find it. What about teaching, are men ordained by other men the only people qualified to give a sermon? Who qualifies a person? God or man? Biblical leaders are those who are wiser and have been disciples longer. Not those on who we decide to bestow unique titles or privileges. Also, the laity should be in ministry as well. All who are obedient disciples in the Kingdom are in ministry for God.

-Loren Yoder

Kingdom Discipleship:

Church Defined:

Leadership & Administration:

What The Bible Really Says About Church Leadership