Church: Core Issues

TROWEL & SWORD

Resources - Leadership

October 2000

SWORD - DEFENDING

Church: Core Issues

David Groenenboom

There has never been a more important time for Christians to consider the church’s calling. I say this for several reasons.

One: over the years we in the CRCA have recognised a malaise in our own ranks. Some Forum 2000 material studies indicated an “arrivalist” attitude: schools are set up, the RTC is running, congregations are stable – what else is there to do?

Second: our last decade has shown that in the CRCA we sometimes concentrate on the wrong things (Word & Spirit, Worship Wars).

Third: the desire to enjoy “the good life” blocks any desire to live the Kingdom life.

Fourth: the wrong idea about church has many people worshipping for the wrong reasons and leaves them with a faulty and inadequate understanding of what the church is called to do.
What will help us?

Obviously the answer is to start with an accurate understanding of what we mean by “church.” Ask most people today what the word “church” gets them thinking about and they will probably mention the place they go on Sunday, or the building down the road, or the structures that make Adelaide famous. Others may mention sermons, singing, prayer, or reverence.

In God’s Word church is none of these. The NT uses the word “ekklesia”, for people who have been “called out” by God. God’s sovereign calling of people is seen in 1 Pet. 2:9 “But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.” He has called people out of death, and brought them life in His Son (Eph. 5:21-32). The church is the body and Jesus is the Head (1 Cor. 12). The church is the Bride and Jesus is the Husband, or Bridegroom (Eph. 5:21ff). The church is also spoken of as a building, with Jesus as the cornerstone (Matt. 16:18; 1 Cor. 3:9-17; Eph. 2:19-22).

The most important thing to notice about all this data is that the church is always people. God’s people! Saved people! Christians! “Church” or “Body” never describes buildings or even institutions. The church is a human community called by Jesus Christ out of darkness into His Kingdom’s light. This truth is foundational for a proper understanding of what the church is and what it is called to do.

Some may challenge this, reminding us how the OT language of “Temple” does refer to a building. The thing to remember is that in the NT the concept of “bricks and mortar” image no longer applies. Instead, any use of “temple” with regard to Christians also applies either to the people of God as a community (1 Cor. 3:16,17; Eph. 2:20-21) or to individual Christians (1 Cor. 6:19).

So what does all this mean for us?

The most obvious implication is that “church” describes the Christian community. The church is an organism, a living body, God’s people. When you talk about church, you are talking redeemed people, called by Christ’s Gospel into the light of His Kingdom.
The building or place you meet is not the church. I know, it is hard to change language, but it is totally unbiblical to speak of a building as a “church.” The sooner we get rid of this language the better.
The building is not “God’s temple”. How many times have you heard people say “we’re going to God’s house today”? The building is not God’s house! The idea is unscriptural. God doesn’t live there, and His name is not on the letterbox! The only time we can use the language of “God’s house” is when we speak of His people. God dwells in them by His Spirit (see 1 Cor. 6). When people persist in speaking of “going to God’s house” they settle for OT imagery as if Jesus has never come!

It’s amazing that reformed people are so sloppy with their language and their theology when it comes to the church. Is it any wonder that people have arguments about buildings, what’s in them, where it’s placed, what colour it is, and how it can’t be moved or changed ‘because Br VanderSpak built it all those years ago?’

People! People! People! People! People! People! People! People! People! People!

The church is people... the people God has saved through Jesus His Son. And we must give ourselves to finding out what God wants these people, His church, to do.

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