BFM 2000 Series #6: The Church

Introduction

Whenever we went through the BFM 2000 a couple of years ago, no one could’ve expected what we’ve lived through during the last 16 months. For all of us, Church has looked a little bit different in recent days and the way that people look at church has shifted and continues to shift. How many of you have heard the expression, “I don’t need to go to church to be a Christian?” This expression has been around long before COVID, but it has resurfaced in recent months to the point where a large percentage of Americans genuinely believe this statement. Church, the local gathering of the saints, does not matter. I can be a Christian, I can love and follow God just the same alone as I can if I attended and joined a local body of believers. Did you know that the New Testament shares with us that Church - the local gathering of believers in Jesus Christ - matters? If it matters so much, why do some think that it’s optional and not necessary? Thanks for asking.

In recent months Christians have been tempted to think that you and I can follow Jesus completely on our own and that we don’t need to belong to a local church. What are the risks of this mindset? Isn’t this true in one sense? Yes, you are supposed to follow Jesus Christ and your faith with Him and your relationship with Him is a vertical relationship between you and Him. You aren’t saved because you come to church - you aren’t saved because your parents are born again Christians. You are only saved if you have faith in Jesus personally! So, if this is true, I really don’t need to attend church, right? You’re right. Whenever we think of Church there is a temptation to think that church is just something we attend once a week… If that’s all it is then yes, it’s not that big of a deal. But what does the New Testament share with us about Church? Paul shares that Jesus died for His church

Ephesians 5:25 CSB

25 Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself for her

Ok, but why should we physically come to church? Jesus died for the church - I’m a Christian, why does church matter?

1 Corinthians 12:12–14 CSB

12 For just as the body is one and has many parts, and all the parts of that body, though many, are one body—so also is Christ. 13 For we were all baptized by one Spirit into one body—whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free—and we were all given one Spirit to drink. 14 Indeed, the body is not one part but many.

Whenever you became a Christian, you were adopted into the Family of God through the work of Christ on the cross. This means that you are now apart of His Church - His family. This means that your vertical faith results in horizontal friendships and family members because you now have brothers and sisters in Christ. This means that you are not a lone-ranger in life - this means that you belong to the body. This means that the body needs you. This means that you need the body.

So, why does Church matter? What is the Church? Why are some churches different than others? These are the questions that we’ll tackle tonight as we study the 6th BFM article entitled: The Church.

This article says: “A New Testament church of the Lord Jesus Christ is an autonomous local congregation of baptized believers, associated by covenant in the faith and fellowship of the gospel; observing the two ordinances of Christ, governed by His laws, exercising the gifts, rights, and privileges invested in them by His Word, and seeking to extend the gospel to the ends of the earth. Each congregation operates under the Lordship of Christ through democratic processes. In such a congregation each member is responsible and accountable to Christ as Lord. Its scriptural officers are pastors and deacons. While both men and women are gifted for service in the church, the office of pastor is limited to men as qualified by Scripture. The New Testament speaks also of the church as the Body of Christ which includes all of the redeemed of all the ages, believers from every tribe, and tongue, and people, and nation.”

What does the Bible say about the church, leaders in the church, and its overall purpose? The Bible says a whole lot about such things!

We see that Christians gather and do unique things when they do:

Acts 2:41–42 CSB

41 So those who accepted his message were baptized, and that day about three thousand people were added to them. 42 They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching, to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread, and to prayer.

We see that Christians are apart of something initiated by Jesus

Matthew 16:15–18 CSB

15 “But you,” he asked them, “who do you say that I am?” 16 Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.” 17 Jesus responded, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but my Father in heaven. 18 And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overpower it.

We see that Christians have the Holy Spirit living in them and are united with others as a result

Ephesians 4:1–4 CSB

1 Therefore I, the prisoner in the Lord, urge you to walk worthy of the calling you have received, 2 with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, 3 making every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. 4 There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to one hope at your calling—

We also see instructions in the Bible of how leadership within the church should operate

1 Peter 5:1–4 CSB

1 I exhort the elders among you as a fellow elder and witness to the sufferings of Christ, as well as one who shares in the glory about to be revealed: 2 Shepherd God’s flock among you, not overseeing out of compulsion but willingly, as God would have you; not out of greed for money but eagerly; 3 not lording it over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock. 4 And when the chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading crown of glory.

Acts 6:3–4 CSB

3 Brothers and sisters, select from among you seven men of good reputation, full of the Spirit and wisdom, whom we can appoint to this duty. 4 But we will devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word.”

1 Timothy 3 lays the basic qualifications and expectations for elders and deacons in much more detail if you’d like to check that out as well.

Tonight let’s start looking at What the Church is, then Why the Church Matters, and finally, Why are Churches so Different?

What is the Church?

In the Greek New Testament, we see the word Ekklesia appear often and ekklesia refers to the congregation, gathering, assembly, or as we call it: the church. In 1 Thessalonians, Paul writes his letter to an intended audience and it isn’t just for individuals, but for a local church

1 Thessalonians 1:1 CSB

1 Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy: To the church of the Thessalonians in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Grace to you and peace.

In the early years of Christianity, church looked much different than it does in our world. In our world we think of church as being a separate building and activities taking place there that don’t take place in other places. In the early years, this was not the case. Churches primarily met in homes or public settings. Whenever persecution became rampant, churches would meet in secret - meaning we couldn’t broadcast on Facebook or have a sign outside! As the centuries went on, churches began buying buildings and doing things that they couldn’t have done before.

The church included Christians of all ethnicities, ages, and backgrounds and this is how local churches should be in our world today! Church isn’t a social club for people who look a certain way or do a certain thing. Church, as the BFM 2000 says, “is a local congregation of baptized believers.” This shares with us that our church is supposed to welcome people from all walks of life and our prayer is that they would come to faith in Christ as Lord. Our focus at church isn’t ourselves - this comes as a shock to some people because they’re charter members of churches who are used to things being done their way - but church isn’t primarily about old time things, it’s about glorifying Jesus and making Him known.

Whenever Christians would gather in the early years, they would do certain things on a consistent basis.

They would gather on the Lord’s Day and celebrate this day to worship our resurrected Savior as 1 Corinthians 16:2 shares. The early church would also take the Lord’s Supper every week. Now, what was the Lord’s Supper in the ancient world? Was it a disposable cup? No. Was it a waffer that was passed by deacons in church? Also, no. The Lord’s Supper, if we really want to get technical, wasn’t even close to how we think of it today. It was a full blown meal that was often done before the worship service began. This was apart of church. Next would come Scripture reading, prayer, music, and teaching of the Word. Now, how does our image of church match with this? There are many similarities, but there are also some differences. What we have to ask ourselves is simply this: Is the center of everything we do at church and as Christians Jesus Christ? Are we doing things just to do things or are we doing things to share the Gospel, to glorify God, and to make disciples?

Some Churches have drifted from their original purpose, sadly. Some have traded conviction with convenience. Purpose for power. Missions with millions. Gospel for Motivational Speeches. Do you know why the early church flourished and exploded? It’s not because they had the 1st world conveniences that we have today. We have more resources today than they had back then. You can go on Amazon and order a Bible and it’ll arrive in 2-3 days in whatever translation you want. You can go online and look at Greek and Hebrew resources that previous generations would only find in a distant library. You can go hear some of the greatest preachers of our day on YouTube at any moment whereas previous generations would have to travel many miles to do this. We have things much easier in many respects, but why are churches floundering instead of flourishing? How could the early church have so little but grow so much? Because of the center of church - Jesus Christ. As Barna research shares, “The early church leaders didn’t have the things we now consider essential for our faith. They didn’t have official church buildings, vision statements or core values. They had no social media, radio broadcasts or celebrity pastors. They didn’t even have the completed New Testament. Christ-followers were often deeply misunderstood, persecuted and some gave their lives for their faith. Yet they loved and they served and they prayed and they blessed—and slowly, over hundreds of years, they brought the empire to its knees. They did it through love.”

Church isn’t so much about methods and stuff, it’s about the message and the substance. Church must be about Jesus Christ.

Why does Church Matter?

Again, some say that church does not matter. Why do we argue that it does? Because we believe that the Bible is truth and our supreme authority, we must affirm what it says. The Bible argues that Church matters. The most popular verse in recent months about the church mattering has been Hebrews 10:25 as the preachers argues

Hebrews 10:25 CSB

25 not neglecting to gather together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging each other, and all the more as you see the day approaching.

What does this verse mean and not mean? This verse shares with us that the church matters and that we are not supposed to neglect meeting together as some are in the habit of doing. Simply put: Are some professing Christians not in the habit of meeting together right now? Yes. Why? Many reasons and some genuinely valid ones but others are not valid. Some refuse to meet because they feel like the local gathering of the saints does not matter. To these people, in love, we rebuke them and point them to Scripture.

What is the purpose of the church?

Some would say that the primary purpose of the church is to worship God. This is what we do, certainly, but can you worship God outside of church? Yes. We are called to worship Him in every aspect of life and to live as a new creation and bring Him glory as Romans 12 shares

Romans 12:1 CSB

1 Therefore, brothers and sisters, in view of the mercies of God, I urge you to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God; this is your true worship.

True worship takes place inside and outside of church. What is the purpose of church that can’t be done outside of the local gathering? One commentator argues that it is “Edification.” What does this work mean? The building up and the growth of believers. How does the local gathering of God’s people edify Christians? We grow in our understanding of the Word. We encourage one another. We study Scripture. We give back to God. We are united with one another through the Spirit. These things help us grow! We do these things with one another and we need one another to be built up and encouraged. The New Testament picture of the Christian life involves corporate worship - “You cannot claim to love Jesus and be divorced from His bride - the church.”

Now, the million dollar question in our world is this: Why does physically attending church matter? I’ll give a couple reasons why it matters and why I’m thankful for technology in this season of life.

Physically coming to church matters because:

You are held accountable - no one knows if you’ve worshiped with us online, but we know if you’re not physically here.

You see physical smiles - in our world that is dark and depressing at every turn, seeing a friendly face genuinely makes a difference in our outlook.

There are fewer distractions - there are distractions at church. Being honest, we have distractions every Sunday and it’s not wrong to call other people distractions. But, distractions are fewer in person than online whenever our internet can glitch, phones can ring, dogs can bark, and laziness can win the day.

It’s the model of the New Testament Church - so many things we do in church do not resemble the New Testament church, but gathering in person does.

Why technology has helped in this season

Sick people can be encouraged and worship from home

We can use technology for good

We can use technology as a witnessing tool

Why are Churches so Different?

The Baptist Faith and Message 2000 is clear that we affirm that the officers of the local church are pastors and deacons and that the office of pastor is limited to qualified men. Now, that statement in and of itself will naturally set us against many different churches in our world. Why is this the case? Because there are some who believe that there are 3 officers in the church: Apostles, Elders, and Deacons. Based on the qualifications of an apostle according to Acts 1 we disagree with this

Acts 1:21–22 CSB

21 “Therefore, from among the men who have accompanied us during the whole time the Lord Jesus went in and out among us— 22 beginning from the baptism of John until the day he was taken up from us—from among these, it is necessary that one become a witness with us of his resurrection.”

There were qualifications for the early church to be called an apostle: You had to be a follower of Jesus Christ during His earthly ministry - this means that there aren’t any modern apostles. This sets us against other churches, but we do so based on the teaching of God’s Word.

Second, there are some denominations who believe that women can be pastors. Here is where we come into some confusion. The word pastor doesn’t show up in the Bible… Sorry to be the bearer of bad news - literally the New Testament word is an elder. Sometimes we see the word overseer show up. This is what we think of as a pastor - a shepherd of sorts. The qualifications for such a person in 1 Tim 3 are this

1 Timothy 3:1–2 CSB

1 This saying is trustworthy: “If anyone aspires to be an overseer, he desires a noble work.” 2 An overseer, therefore, must be above reproach, the husband of one wife, self-controlled, sensible, respectable, hospitable, able to teach,

The husband of one wife. This is in the definition for an overseer or an elder or a pastor. Some argue this and say that this was simply Paul’s letter to Timothy and it was for a specific congregation in the 1st century and was not meant to be taken as a description for pastors of churches 2000 years later. This is an argument that can be made, sure, but as Southern Baptists we stand on what the Bible says that the role of a pastor/elder is to be that of a qualified male based on what follows in this text. So, some churches have a children’s, youth, or music leader who is on staff and is a woman. Are these churches wrong? Here’s where things get a little messy in SBC life. The BFM 2000 clearly states that the office of pastor is limited to men qualified by Scripture. So, does this mean that women can’t serve in the church? No. The Bible shares with us many women who served in the church in amazing ways! I know of many women who have been on staff at churches as full-time children’s, preschool, and music directors who have done a tremendous job and have been called by God to that task. Where we draw the line is on the office of pastor, based on Scripture. This is a clear difference between a SBC church and an Assembly of God church or even some Methodist Churches. Men and Women are used by Christ to build His church and He has called both men and women to unique and special tasks. We do not believe that men are superior to women or anything like that as some other denominations like to speculate about Southern Baptists, we just find this position to be restricted according to the New Testament.

We, in SBC life, are an autonomous church. We don’t take orders from Rome like the Catholics do. We are free to cooperate in fellowship as long as we choose to do so, but we have the freedom to make our own decisions on hiring people and giving to missions.

The way that we do missions is different from other denominations as we fully fund missionaries through the Cooperative Program whereas missionaries of other denominations have to come home every so many years in order to raise their own support.

There are differences in doctrinal thing and practical things as well and by no means are we perfect - we have warts - but we’re trying to follow through with what the Bible says and that is a noble cause.

Conclusion

A couple months ago I had to formulate a personal mission statement for seminary and I would argue that this statement would serve the universal church well as a mission statement too. Our function if 4 fold

Exalt the Savior - corporately and individually bringing God praise and living a life that honors Him

Equip the Saint - through Bible study and corporate worship giving Christians tools to grow deeper and understand God’s Word

Evangelize the Sinner - through preaching the Gospel and building meaningful relationships

Encourage the Sheep - through being present in good and bad times and pointing everyone to Scriptural truths

Our purpose as a church is to make much of Jesus and to be His hands and feet - to be His body and to work together to accomplish the work that He has in store for us in the weeks, months, and years to come. I pray that we would be obedient to that call regardless of what it looks like.