UNAVOIDABLE

God has provided us with some unavoidable church principles in the bible. While the following is not an exhaustive list, each one is important to the health and vitality of the church.

Jesus Christ is the One and Only Head
A Family/Community of the Redeemed
Home Get-Togethers
Kids Present!
Everybody Active and Needed
Calling All Nations
The Poor and Needy
Mutual Edification
Home-Grown Elders
The Importance of Eating

Unavoidable: the Importance of Eating

I'm going to end this series on an enjoyable topic: eating. Almost everybody likes to eat.

Eating was very important to the life of the early church. When they gathered they often shared a full meal together: the Lord's Supper. I'm referring to a literal complete meal, not a ritual ceremony with tiny glass of juice and tasteless cracker.

In Acts 2:42 we read, "And they devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers." The breaking of bread describes a full meal Lord's Supper.

Later in Acts (20:7) we see this, "On the first day of the week, when we were gathered together to break bread, Paul talked with them, intending to depart on the next day, and he prolonged his speech until midnight." This verse actually gives a purpose statement for why they got together (at least on that occasion): to break bread. They met to eat.

Why is eating important to church gatherings? Four reasons come to mind. In no particular order:

1. Eating keeps the atmosphere informal.

2. Eating meets a basic need (nutrition).

3. Eating keeps everyone equal.

4. Eating is enjoyable.


Sharing the Lord's Supper together as a full meal is a wonderful experience. I hope it is something that you get to do frequently. Not only is it a great time, but it is also an unavoidable principle provided to us in scripture.

Unavoidable: Home-Grown Elders

The modern pastorate is a thing foreign to the bible. The professional pastor (he who dominates the preaching, leading, and decision making) stems from man's traditions and not anything we find in scripture.

What do we read about in the bible? We see elders. Where do these elders come from? They come from within.

Below are some descriptions of elders in the New Testament:

Acts 14:21-23

"When they had preached the gospel to that city and had made many disciples, they returned to Lystra and to Iconium and to Antioch, strengthening the souls of the disciples, encouraging them to continue in the faith, and saying that through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God. And when they had appointed elders for them in every church, with prayer and fasting they committed them to the Lord in whom they had believed."

Titus 1:5

"This is why I left you in Crete, so that you might put what remained into order, and appoint elders in every town as I directed you."

James 5:14

"Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord."

I Peter 5:1-3

"So I exhort the elders among you, as a fellow elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, as well as a partaker in the glory that is going to be revealed: shepherd the flock of God that is among you, exercising oversight, not under compulsion, but willingly, as God would have you; not for shameful gain, but eagerly; not domineering over those in your charge, but being examples to the flock."


Based upon the above passages, especially Acts and Titus, it is clear that elders come from within the body. This flies in the face of the modern pastor who is almost always an "expert" brought in from the outside in exchange for a salary; this is the exact opposite of what's been modeled to us by the apostles and the early church as a whole.

Who were these NT elders? They were simply mature Christian men who were already serving actively within their local bodies. Their character and behavior were recognized for what they were: mature in Christ. Their appointment was based upon what they were already doing. There is no sense that their behavior changed at all once they were appointed as elders.

Their behavior did not change because they were already a part of the church family.

Modern, professional pastors often struggle to feel as if they are actually a part of the church where they preach. Even after years of employment in one church, they feel like an outsider. This is because they are, in fact, an outsider.

The scriptural model is unavoidable: elders come from within. Many of today's church problems stem directly from the rejection of this paradigm by institutional churches.

Unavoidable: Mutual Edification

According to scripture, why does the church come together?

I challenge you to ask your Christian friends the above question. How do you think they will answer? My guess is that the vast majority will answer with the same response: to worship. This is fascinating and disheartening because their answer is wrong.

Why, then, does the body meet? According to the bible the purpose is mutual edification.

In I Corinthians 14:26 Paul writes,"How is it then, brethren? Whenever you come together, each of you has a psalm, has a teaching, has a tongue, has a revelation, has an interpretation. Let all things be done for edification."

As the church comes together as a family, meeting simply, the goal is the edification (some translations use the term "building up") of the entire church. The end goal is the maturation in Christ of the whole group. Everyone benefits through interaction with everyone else.

The I Corinthians 14 passage as a whole deals with the issue of spiritual gifts (actually, that is the topic of chapters 12-14). In chapter 14, one of Paul's main points is that use of spiritual gifts is specifically for the purpose of the upbuilding of the body. Gifts are not for personal aggrandizement; rather, they exist to help others grow closer to Christ.

So then, why does the church gather? What's the point? It's an unavoidable truth that according to the bible the purpose is mutual edification. It's a sad thing that so few Christians know this.

Unavoidable: the Poor and Needy

In our modern, wealthy, capitalistic society the poor and needy are often ignored. The reality is that life here in the USA is busy. Many of us struggle just to make it through the work day, get home, and spend a little time with family before collapsing on the couch in a stupor. The idea of caring for the poor and needy doesn't even cross our minds.

What we cannot ignore is that God cares for those in need and expects us to do the same.

We see this modeled in the early church. In Galatians 2 Paul writes of his meeting with Peter, James, and John, "...they gave the right hand of fellowship to Barnabas and me, that we should go to the Gentiles and they to the circumcised. Only, they asked us to remember the poor, the very thing I was eager to do."

In James 1:27 we read, "Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world."

From the beginning to the end of the bible we see that God looks out for those in need. At a spiritual level we are all in great need. While God certainly cares about this, he also cares about the physical sufferings of those who don't have the basic essentials of life. In this country, which is increasingly becoming a welfare-state, we often rely on the government to care for the poor. This ought not be.

God cares for the poor and needy. The early church did the same. This is an unavoidable principle for church life. What will we do about it?

Unavoidable: Calling All Nations

The Book of Acts is invaluable for church life. What we see, among other things, is believers with a zeal to share the gospel with the lost wherever they are. Some people traveled far and wide (Paul), while others remained close to home. The common thread was a desire to see the good news spread to locations where it has not yet been heard.

Jesus Christ made his expectations clear enough. He told his followers that they would be his witnesses to the ends of the earth. He expected them to make disciples of all nations. This is not optional.

While the specific methods we use for reaching the lost may vary widely, the key is the end result. That result must be local bodies that work together to get the message to even the difficult to reach places. Christ's expectation that we do this is unavoidable.

Unavoidable: Everybody Active and Needed

I Corinthians 12:12-16

12 For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. 13 For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and all were made to drink of one Spirit. 

14 For the body does not consist of one member but of many. 15 If the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body. 16 And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body. 17 If the whole body were an eye, where would be the sense of hearing? If the whole body were an ear, where would be the sense of smell? 18 But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as he chose. 19 If all were a single member, where would the body be? 20 As it is, there are many parts, yet one body. 

21 The eye cannot say to the hand, “I have no need of you,” nor again the head to the feet, “I have no need of you.” 22 On the contrary, the parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, 23 and on those parts of the body that we think less honorable we bestow the greater honor, and our unpresentable parts are treated with greater modesty, 24 which our more presentable parts do not require. But God has so composed the body, giving greater honor to the part that lacked it, 25 that there may be no division in the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another. 26 If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, all rejoice together.

It could not be clearer from Paul's writing that all members of the body must be active for the body to be healthy. While today's institutional church model places importance upon the few (the clergy), in reality all are important. Healthy churches value all members equally, and need them to be active. This principle is unavoidable.

Unavoidable: Kids Present!

The bible never hints that families should be segregated by age when the church comes together. Separation, even with good intentions, is a modern and foreign concept for the church. It is also harmful. Just take a look at the droves of teenagers who are leaving the church today.

God has given us the unavoidable principle of families remaining together. Fathers, in particular, are charged with training their children with a knowledge of the Lord. When we read about the body of Christ coming together we see everyone together. The young learn from the old. The old gain as well from modeling for the young. The old can also learn from the young.

Churches did not segregate by age until the last 150 or so years. It is a modern idea that has no basis in anything effective. Quite frankly, it needs to go away.

Children need to be with their parents. They also need to be with the entire body. This is unavoidable.

Unvoidable: Home Get-Togethers

The early church met in homes. They met simply. They met cheaply. They met for edification.

Does today's church have to meet in homes? I don't think so. However, God has given us in scripture a model for gathering simply as his body for the purpose of edification. This can likely occur just as easily in a coffee shop, park, or store front as it does in a home.

What we do not see in the bible is churches coming together in large groups on Sundays for the purpose of worship in large, expensive buildings. What happens today is foreign to scripture.

When we think about the family of God, we must ask ourselves whether or not we have any sort of road map to follow. Has God provided us with any sort of directions, or have we been left to simply figure things out on our own? While we are to follow the leading of the Holy Spirit, it seems as if today more and more Christians are blaming increasingly odd, bizarre, and just plain stupid behavior on the Spirit. What, therefore, are we to do?

We look in the bible. We see a model of church life. We follow the principles we see. It's that simple.

It is unavoidable that the early believers met simply. When they gathered, it was a family meeting. It was usually in homes. It was unstructured. It was for edification.

Home get-togethers is what we read about. The question is, "Will we follow the principle we see in scripture?"

Unavoidable: A Family/Community of the Redeemed

Definitions are important.

How we define the church says a great deal about what we believe the church should be and do. When we look in the bible we see unavoidably that the church is a family. It is also a community. This family/community is composed of the redeemed. While the church we see in the bible certainly had its share of problems (see Corinth for example), it always described a group of saved people.

The book of Acts shows us a people that lived far differently from the world. They stood out both because of their holy living and their care for others. Simply put, they looked totally different from the surrounding culture. They were odd (in the good sense). When we read both Jesus' teachings in the gospels and the NT epistles, we see calls to radically different living.

As we turn our gaze to the American church we see something else. Sadly, what we see is something that looks a lot like our culture at large. Churches are comfortable. Churches are insulated. Churches are self-focused. Churches go with the latest fads. Many within the church (as defined as those whose names are on church membership roles) live as sinfully as the world does.

Is the church composed of the redeemed or is it not?

According to scripture, it unavoidably is.

Unavoidable: Jesus Christ is the One and Only Head

One of the most fundamental truths of church life is that our Lord Jesus is the only Head of His body.

"Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ" (Ephesians 4:15).

"And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent" (Colossians 1:18).

My guess is that the vast majority of Christians, if asked, would agree that Jesus is the Head of His church. However, in practice we see a far different picture. In this country headship within the church has become muddled. This is caused by the unbiblical practice of elevating pastors to positions of authority and prestige within the body. While the bible shows us nothing resembling modern pastors, most churches continue with this practice year after year.

If you attend a typical worship service you might not be able to figure out who the head actually is. On the one hand, Jesus will probably receive some form of verbal praise. On the other hand, one man will likely be front and center for the majority of the gathering. The pastor does most of the "important stuff" while pretty much everybody else sits quietly. This typical situation provides the strong message that the pastor is actually the head.

The bible states clearly and unavoidably that Jesus Christ is the one and only Head of His own church. Since this is the case, we ought to gather in ways that model this. No one person should be preeminent. Everyone ought to be involved. All must be on equal footing before God. The only person who should be recognized as being in authority is Christ.

Any deviation from Christ as Head is extremely problematic. This is why God made this truth unavoidable.

Unavoidable Church Principles

When I look around the church landscape in this country I see a mess.

This mess stems directly from Christians trying to live church life as they see fit, generally disregarding the bible whenever they feel like it. This phenomenon of ignoring scripture has opened a Pandora's box of all sorts of problems. When Christians try to do things according to their own wisdom, apart from what we see in the bible, the results are predictable. In the end what we have in this country is a church that is largely ineffective in either edifying the saints or proclaiming the gospel to the lost.

Most Christians look to the bible to inform what they believe about God and the gospel. And yet, these same people act as if what scripture says about the church is unimportant. This despite the fact that God has given us in scripture numerous unavoidable principles for church life. They are unavoidable in the sense that they are right there in writing. A fair reading points them out. In fact, the only way they can be avoided is by actively doing so.

Over the next few posts I'm going to be discussing these unavoidable church practices. I do this because the American church as it currently stands generally does whatever it wants whenever it wants. It is like a boat adrift. It needs to return to its mooring. That mooring is the bible.