As I read and reread the New Testament I appreciate with greater clarity what a healthy church looks like (her priorities, her philosophy of ministry, her overarching passions, her chief goals, her doctrinal standards, etc).
Is it too elementary for me to remind you of what some of those defining marks are? A healthy church is a Word-driven, Christ-centered, teaching and preaching community of believers wherein sound doctrine is highly prized, Spirit-filled obedience is actively pursued, and where evangelism and discipleship is both modeled and practiced.
We don’t have time to read every biblical proof text but I do want to highlight a few passages: Every local church that is on point is shaped by the following New Testament passages. These verses are the spiritual life blood of healthy congregations.
Let’s begin with the most obvious: 1) The church’s great commission
The grammar here suggests that the participle going is the prerequisite for making disciples (which is the main verb). Baptizing and teaching are the means which disciples are made. The great commission includes proclamation and application, evangelism and discipleship, and covers both justification and progressive sanctification. When a sinner receives Jesus as Savior and Lord the great commission mandate isn't fulfilled. No, Jesus said it really has just begun (the church is to teach disciples the full counsel of God). The Master told his apostles to teach them ALL that I have commanded you. Making mature disciples remains the church's great commission.
And
Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, "All authority has been given to
Me in heaven and on earth."Go therefore and make disciples of
all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the
Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am
with you always, even to the end of the age (Matt. 28:18-20)."
The grammar here suggests that the participle going is the prerequisite for making disciples (which is the main verb). Baptizing and teaching are the means which disciples are made. The great commission includes proclamation and application, evangelism and discipleship, and covers both justification and progressive sanctification. When a sinner receives Jesus as Savior and Lord the great commission mandate isn't fulfilled. No, Jesus said it really has just begun (the church is to teach disciples the full counsel of God). The Master told his apostles to teach them ALL that I have commanded you. Making mature disciples remains the church's great commission.
As you turn over to Acts 2:42 we’ll observe, 2) the church’s chief priorities
Does this list match the corporate commitments of your local church? Has your leadership kept the main thing(s) the main thing(s)? Is your church known in the community for these priorities? Is your ekklesia truly committed to 1) sound doctrine/teaching, 2) to true biblical fellowship, 3) to the regular celebration of communion, 4) and to prayer? Many churches are known for a lot of different things (sadly these corporate commitments are often way down the list). If the apostles were alive today would they even recognize our respective ministries? When is the last time you heard an American evangelical speak glowingly about there church in relation to these four priorities? Is it just me or have you noticed (for example) that prayer meetings have gone by the wayside because not enough people are interested or because the church is too busy doing ____?)
In the interest of time we need to direct our focus now to Ephesians 4 and Colossians 1. These meat and potato texts highlight 3) the church’s overarching mission
The apostle Paul's (inspired) philosophy of ministry statement is presented in Colossians 1:28-29. "And we proclaim Him, admonishing every man and teaching every man with all wisdom, that we may present every man complete in Christ. And for this purpose also I labor, striving according to His power, which mightily works within me." Unlike many church leaders today (whose primary aim seems to be pastoring a large congregation), Paul's aim was to "present every" professing Christian in his care "MATURE in Christ." This flies in the face of so many evangelical congregations today that are a mile wide but only an inch and a half deep. A biblically illiterate congregation is almost always a byproduct of misplaced priorities and goals; (many evangelical leaders have highlighted this crisis. Note Dr. Mohler's article here; and this article here).
In the power of the Spirit Peter and the apostles began to proclaim the gospel. "And with many other words he solemnly testified and
kept on exhorting them, saying, "Be saved from this perverse generation! So
then, those who had received his word were baptized; and there were added that
day about three thousand souls. And they
were continually devoting themselves to the apostles' teaching and to
fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer (Acts 2:40-42)."
In the interest of time we need to direct our focus now to Ephesians 4 and Colossians 1. These meat and potato texts highlight 3) the church’s overarching mission
The apostle Paul's (inspired) philosophy of ministry statement is presented in Colossians 1:28-29. "And we proclaim Him, admonishing every man and teaching every man with all wisdom, that we may present every man complete in Christ. And for this purpose also I labor, striving according to His power, which mightily works within me." Unlike many church leaders today (whose primary aim seems to be pastoring a large congregation), Paul's aim was to "present every" professing Christian in his care "MATURE in Christ." This flies in the face of so many evangelical congregations today that are a mile wide but only an inch and a half deep. A biblically illiterate congregation is almost always a byproduct of misplaced priorities and goals; (many evangelical leaders have highlighted this crisis. Note Dr. Mohler's article here; and this article here).
So how then do Christians go from spiritual infancy to spiritual maturity? Paul explains how in Ephesians 4:11-16. This text by the way, may be the single most important passage concerning the church's overarching mission in all of Scripture. "And He gave some as apostles,
and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers
(the Lord of the church gives gifted servants as gifts to His church- For what
purpose?), for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ; until we all attain to the unity of the
faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the
fulness of Christ. As a result, we are no longer to be children, tossed
here and there by waves, and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the
trickery of men, by craftiness in deceitful scheming; but speaking the truth in
love, we are to grow up in all aspects into Him, who is the head, even Christ from
whom the whole body, being fitted and held together by that which every joint
supplies, according to the proper working of each individual part, causes the
growth of the body for the building up
of itself in love (Ephesians 4:11-16)."
The primary goal of the pastor is equip God's people for the work of the ministry (you might think of him as the "equipper in chief"). When the church is full of Spirit-filled, Word-governed members who are actively involved in the Lord's business (see 1 Peter 4:10-11; 1 Cor. 12-14) the body will mature and grow! What role do you play in your spiritual families maturation?
A mature congregation is neither theologically anemic or biblically illiterate; as a result, they will not be like spiritual children tossed here and there by every fad and wave of trickery. In other words, they'll discern the good from the bad and the right from the almost right. They won't be duped into following one commercialized Christian fad after another (Think 40 Days of Purpose {market driven methodology}, the Prayer of Jabez, the recent hyper-grace {Tullian T, Elyse Fitzpatrick} sanctification paradigm; the Shack fad; Mark's Driscoll's, "hipster Christianity;" Hillsong's celebrity churchianity, etc, etc).
Thus far we’ve identified 1) the church’s great commission, 2) the church’s chief priorities, 3) the church’s overarching mission, and now fourthly, 4) The church’s sacred trust
This fourth heading flows out of Paul’s first epistle to Timothy. Among many things, the church of Jesus Christ must safeguard the truth, defend the truth, proclaim the truth, and live out the implications of the truth. Notice how Paul identifies the local church t in 1 Timothy 3:15. "I am writing these things to you, hoping to
come to you before long; but in case I am delayed, I write so that you may know
how one ought to conduct himself in the household of God, which is the church
of the living God, the pillar and support of the truth." (note also 1 Timothy 4:16; 6:20)
God's truth saves sinners and it sanctifies believers (John 8:32; 17:17). Church members and church leaders alike are called to fight for it. Notice what the apostle Jude says in Jude 3, "Beloved, while I was
making every effort to write you about our common salvation, I felt the
necessity to write to you appealing that you contend earnestly for the faith
which was once for all delivered to the saints."
Please pay close attention to what I’m about to say next: In our community the need for churches with biblical commitments like this is so great, in large measure, because the supply and the demand is so low. In many American contexts consumer orientated, market-driven, theologically anemic ministries are the norm, rather than the exception!
Many churches have compromised these four New Testament commitments on the altar of “relevance” and “success.” I don’t think that it is uncharitable or inaccurate to suggest that far too many church leaders operate under the illusion that if there parking lots full “everything must be alright!”
I would encourage you to spend some time this week in Revelation 2-3. Consider what the Lord of the Church has to say to seven real churches (these churches represent the kind of congregations and Christians that exist in every generation). What does Jesus praise and commend? What does he condemn? How much emphasis does Jesus place on numbers (on budgets, buildings, and parking lots)? When it comes to a biblical ecclesiology(the doctrine of the church) what matters most to Jesus?
In stark contrast to the wisdom of this age, God’s standard of success is always measured in direct proportion to our ministry faithfulness. One professor put it like this, “To be a minister, is to put it bluntly, to be a servant, and the virtue most highly prized in a servant is not originality, but fidelity.” The apostle Paul makes this very point in 1 Corinthans 4:2, Moreover, it is required of stewards that they be found faithful.
Faithful to who? Faithful to our Triune God and to the Master, Jesus Christ. Faithful to what? Faithful to the Word of God (all of it). {See also Acts 20:18-35}
As most of you know the revealed will of God has been preserved for us in the Scriptures (see 2 Tim 3:15-17). What Jesus wants your local church to be is not a mystery. The church's blueprints are here (in the Book of life).
In this vein, the Bible is sometimes referred to as the Christian “canon.” Have you ever heard that term used before? What does the word "canon mean? It means measuring rod, the Divine standard. God has not left us without a witness! Measure your own Christian walk and your home church against the inerrant measuring stick. Be honest. Is making mature disciples for the good of your community and the glory of God the overarching goal of your church? Are His chief priorities your church's chief priorities? Is the American church today defined by these four things or have we been living in a "fool's paradise?"
In this vein, the Bible is sometimes referred to as the Christian “canon.” Have you ever heard that term used before? What does the word "canon mean? It means measuring rod, the Divine standard. God has not left us without a witness! Measure your own Christian walk and your home church against the inerrant measuring stick. Be honest. Is making mature disciples for the good of your community and the glory of God the overarching goal of your church? Are His chief priorities your church's chief priorities? Is the American church today defined by these four things or have we been living in a "fool's paradise?"
TO BE CONTINUED...
