Church Isn't...?

1 Peter 5:1-4 “1 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: 2 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; 3 not domineering over those in your charge, but being examples to the flock. 4 And when the chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading crown of glory.”

Peter leaves almost no stone overturned when it comes to instructions for living as God’s Holy People

He has instructed citizens, servants, husbands, wives, church members,

And the message that I hope we are getting is that being called out and chosen is something that is for everyone who has chosen to follow Christ

It’s not an option

It’s not for “that other person”

It’s not for me, but just on Sunday

It’s not just for “ the preacher”

It’s for EVERYONE

But for the next at least 2 Sunday’s, and maybe 3, I want to spend some time talking about

This whole concept of church.

Reminding us of who we are and why we are gathered here this morning

1.   Church as  a social club

a.  A social club is a group of people that are organized around a common interest

b.  according to the IRS, The purpose of a social club is to provide benefits to members.

i.    It is for the purpose of pleasure

c.   In other words, people join a social club in order to benefit themselves

d.  Around the country, churches are full this morning of folks who are looking for sermons about how be better and do better

i.    They’re looking for self-improvement

e.   Or, folks come to church looking forward to being around others who are just like them:  common interests, common lives, and so on

f.    But is that what  what church is all about?

i.    Even though I hope that you are benefited by being a part of this group, I pray that that is not primarily why you are a part of Fairview Church

g.  But, the temptation is to kind of settle there, isn’t it?

h.  I need to feel comfortable and feel like I’m getting my needs met

i.    We don’t have to look very far to see this thought pattern at work do we?

i.    How many times have we seen people moving from church to church saying things like

1.   Well, the music at that church, it just wasn’t my kind of music

2.   Well, the sermons at that church, that preacher just wasn’t my kind of preacher.  Now, the preacher at my new church…man, can he really preach!

j.    Now I know that I’’m speaking in generalities here.  Not nearly everyone who leaves one church for another is doing it for these kind of reasons

i.    There are times when God moves us from one congregation to another,

ii.  There are times when there might be some serious problems with the teaching or the practice of the church and you have to make a decision

k.  But what I’m talking about is that we have that desire to be comfortable and around folks who are just like us, and church kind of becomes this social club

l.    It’s the tendency to think of our church like a social club that

i.    possibly keeps us from doing much fellowship with other Believers, especially on a Sunday morning

Another picture that would be very close to this would be church as a fortress

i.    In other words, church as a place where I can be safe

ii.  And a place that will keep the world and “undesirable people” out.  Or at least keep them at arm’s length

n.  Well, maybe there are small elements of truth in this picture

o.  But is this the most accurate idea of church

p.  More importantly, is this what Scripture would teach about what God has in mind for His church?

q.  If this picture of church is in our thinking, I think we need to be careful about that

3.   Church as a corporation/business

a.  This is a bit of a tricky one because we have just recently gone through some restructuring in which we had to write up articles of incorporation

i.    So that we could have some structure under which to pay me and so that I can have some structure under which to pay my taxes and so forth

b.  But what I’m talkign about is when church starts to operate like a business

c.   And I think you see this as churches grow huge and have huge operating budgets and huge amounts of staff and assets

d.  And you have pastors that operate like CEO’s or bosses. 

i.    They do the hiring and the firing

e.   Churches have pastors that are called “executive pastors”

f.    I won’t say a lot about this, but I do find myself wondering sometimes as I hear stories and observe, “Is this what Jesus had in mind for his church?”

g.  Is the pastor supposed to act like a CEO or boss?  I’m not so sure.

h.  There’s again some truth in this that the a church leader or elder has some authority in church

i.    But does Scripture teach that he should act like a CEO?

3.   Closely related to this last point is:  Church as a dictatorship

a.  What is a dictatorship?

i.    Well, A dictator is someone who rules a country or controls their sphere of influence by exercising total control

ii.  A dictator acts as if they are above the law and there are no checks to his power at all

iii. Example:  Hitler, Stalin, Mussilini:  Currently you have Kim Jung Il in North Korea

iv.  These are men who control their countries with iron fists.

v.   Their citizens can’t even say one word of criticism without the danger of being arrested and imprisoned

b.  We are well aware of dictators and tyrants that have risen and fallen in our world

c.   But, you know, the church has these kind of men, too

d.  There have been many men who have set about to be pastors, not because they love Jesus and love His Church, but because they love power

i.    They love being in front

ii.  They love being in charge and having people do what they tell them to do

e.   They may have elders or an assistant pastor, but these guys are simply there to do the pastor’s bidding to to make surer he always looks good and has his ego stroked

f.    And when someone does criticize them, they pull a verse out of context and say, “Touch not the Lord’s anointed!”

g.  News reports are full of pastors who are being accused of abusing their power

i.    I don’t want to shout out names, because I hate dragging the names of fellow pastors through the mud

ii.  And I’m sure that there are many false or unjust accusations

h.  But I just want to acknowledge that the temptation for a pastor to use church as his own personal soapbox and area of control is very real and needs to be guarded against

i.    Again church elders I believe are to have some authority, but does Scripture teach that they are to act like dictators and rule their dominion with an iron fist?

j.    Is this what church should look like?

4.   Church as a democracy

a.  Now, here is where I might step on some toes.  But I pray that I can do it gently

b.  But I think that this is a very real dynamic for us…to think of church like a democracy

c.   What is a democracy

i.    government by the people especially: rule of the majority

d.  This is a picture that we are familiar with because we live in a country that has striven to be a democracy.

e.   Our founding fathers were heavily influenced by an Englishman named John Locke who, among other things, proposed that a ruler gains authority through the consent of the governed

i.    BTW, John Locke was not a popular man in England where the King still had much power that was not given to him by the people

f.    But our Founding Fathers took his ideas and created a system of government whereby the people set their leaders in place and remove them from power

g.  And when there are decisions to be made, the peoplecome together to make the decisions, and the majority wins the day

h.  And we, as people, having grown up in a society that functions like that, carry those ideas into church

i.    and we say, “Well, church should function the same way”.

j.    We the people need to make the decisions, and we the people need to decide who are leaders are goign to be, and how long they serve, and all of these things

k.  And we use ballots and have votes and hold elections and so forth

l.    We try to make church look as democratic as we can

m. Which seems to make sense.

n.  For us, it’s an orderly and practical way of making decisions as a group

o.  But, even though it’s practical, and for the most part, orderly, I’ve found myself wondering many times, “Is this the Biblical way?”

i.    If I would have to defend this method from Scripture, could I do it?

ii.  If I would ask you to defend it, or ask you to make a Scriptural case for it, could you do it?

p.  It’s practical, but is it biblical?

So, what are some pictures of church that we find in Scripture?

There was a singing group that was around from the mid to late 80’s until about the year 2000

Acapella Vocal Band (AVB)

They used to sing this sort of tongue in cheek song called

U Can’t Go 2 Church

Chorus:

You can't go to church as some people say The common terminology we use everyday You can go to a building, that is something you can do But you can't go to church 'cause the church is you

It’s important to note that the word ekklesia that is translated “church” was not invented with the coming of the Holy Spirit

It was already a word in the Greek language and

the interesting thing is that some of these ideas that I’m saying church is NOT

It actually was in Greek culture!

Lexham Theological Wordbook (ἐκκλησία)

ἐκκλησία (ekklēsia). n. fem. church, assembly, congregation. A group that meets together for various political, religious, and civic purposes.

So, it was sort of a loose term.  Basically, anywhere that human beings were gathered for a certain purpose

It could have been a social club

Or a business meeting

Or a political rally

Which is a lot different than we think today.  We definitely wouldn’t call a political rally a “church” would we?

But in the Greco-Roman world, they would have used ekklesia to describe a political gathering

Or possibly a gathering  to hear a teacher

But then Jesus comes onto the scene and He also uses this word ekklesia

And when Jesus uses the word, it seems that there is more to it than a social club or a political gathering, or even a regular religious gathering

Especially when He uses this word in Matth. 16. 

Remember that Jesus had traveled to Caesarea Philippi and he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that I am?”

And of course, they responded, ‘Well, some say Elijah, and others say Jeremiah”

And then He asks, “Well, who do YOU say that I am”

And Peter, wonderful, honest Peter says, “You are the Christ (the chosen One, the sent One), the Son of the Living God”

And then Jesus says this:

Matt. 16:17-18 “17 And Jesus answered him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven. 18 And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.”

On this declaration of Jesus being the Sent One, the One who was to deliver His people

On THAT declaration, Jesus says, I am going to build MY church

That is, MY gathering. 

It is not a

            Social club

            A fortress with walls to keep people out

            Neither is it a Dictatorship, but rather a kingship

And this is exactly what Jesus did

But after Christ died, rose again, and returned to Heaven, and after the HOly Spirit came

There arose a new kind of gathering:  It was the disciples of Christ

The Believers in Jesus as Lord and Messiah

They were known by various names:

Many times—Believers

Christians—as they were known in Antioch in Acts. 11—a title given to those who worship Christ as the Messiah

“Followers of the Way”—Paul before Governor Felix in Acts 24.

But people were added to this number on the basis of

Their belief that Jesus is the Messiah, the Christ, the Son of the Living God

Baptism

And, especially in the early days, their number grew exponentially by the power of the Holy Spirit and through the witness of the Apostles.

It was a unique group

Nothing like it had been seen before

in Acts 2:42- 47 we read a description of them

English Standard Version Chapter 2

42 And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. 43 And awe came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles. 44 And all who believed were together and had all things in common. 45 And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need. 46 And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts, 47 praising God and having favor with all the people. And

And when the writers of Acts and the writers of the Epistles used the word “Ekklesia”, it became clear that they were talking about, not just any kind of gathering

Not a social gathering

Not a political gathering

Not a business corporation

Not a democracy

But a very unique type of gathering of very special people.

And being part of such gathering is a concept that the Jewish people were not altogether unfamiliar with

They knew from their history how God had called them out of bondage, out of slavery in Egypt, to be His chosen people

They knew that they were unique among the nations of earth

A Nation that had almighty God as their King and their Shepherd.  As their Father

God, who would come to their aid when they remembered to cry out to Him and repent

But because of their sin and their rejection of Him, they found themselves being conquered, being taken captive, eventually returning, in part at least, to their land

But because of their rebelliousness, the Glory of the Lord had departed from their temple, and thus departed from their land

And now, hundreds of years later, once again, they were under bondage.  This time to the Romans

And they must have been wondering as a people, “Has God forsaken us?  We long for the day when God will once again redeem His people”

“When God will once again call His people and lead them out of bondage”

“When once again we will be assured that God is with us and that we are His people?”

And this is what they found with the advent of the Church as we know it.

As they put their faith in Jesus as Lord and Messiah, the Promised One sent to redeem His people from bondage

They were joined to a new community of people who had been called out and made Holy

A people who have a special and unique place in the eternal plan of God.

This was a community that became known as the Ekklesia, or The Church

And the NT writers used this word to talk about two concepts:

1.   The local community of believers

a.  Those who meet in a certain house or those believers from a certain city

b.  One of the many examples of a local Church in the NT is in Philemon 1-2   Paul writes to Philemon and addresses his letter to   To Philemon our beloved fellow worker 2 and Apphia our sister and Archippus our fellow soldier, and the church in your house:”

c.  

2.   The global community of Believers

a.  The Church can refer to all those people around the world who have entered this new community of those who have been called out and made holy

b.  Colossians 1:18 “18 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.”

c.   Is this talking about just us here at Fairview?  No, this is talking about God’s global church, ALL of those Believers around the world

d.  Jesus is the head of that Church.

And they use a number of word pictures to help describe what this Church is like and how it should function

We talked about  some ways that we can think about church which aren’t very biblically accurate.

But what are some ways of thinking about Church which are more accurate?

We are going to talk about that next Sunday

But as we close here this Sunday

I just want to remind you again, that

English Standard Version Chapter 2

1 Peter 2:9