An independent church

There seems to be a misunderstanding about what it means to be an independent fundamental baptist church.

It almost feels like it’s a bad word or something we should be ashamed of.

With a proper perspective, being a part of an independent fundamental baptist church ought to be one of the most liberating experiences ever.

This is realized when we live up to our name.

This is lost when we start to deviate from how we identify ourselves.

Names have to mean something or they worthless.

If you went in to tractor supply and found out they didn’t have tractor parts or supplies, you would be confused.

When I go to Home Depot, I expect to find a depot of Home goods.

When people come to this church, an Independent, fundamental Baptist church, they expect to find that our name means something.

Unfortunately, for many IFB churches, it doesn’t.

We want to define, over the next few weeks, what our name means about who we are.

Tonight we will start with the independent part.

Biblical support for independent churches.

We see a strong case for independent churches in the New Testament.

Paul told a group of pastors that they were to tend to the unique flock that God had given them oversight of in Acts 20:28.

Acts 20:28 KJV 1900

28 Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood.

Peter told his readers nearly the same thing in 1 Peter 5:2.

1 Peter 5:2 KJV 1900

2 Feed the flock of God which is among you, taking the oversight thereof, not by constraint, but willingly; not for filthy lucre, but of a ready mind;

The responsibility of church leadership is limited to the church where God has placed them.

Oversight is given to the church leadership of that local church.

It is not granted to the leaders of another congregation.

Accountability is given to Jesus, Himself.

He is the head of each church, according to Ephesians 5:23.

Ephesians 5:23 KJV 1900

23 For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church: and he is the saviour of the body.

The New Testament writers were specific about who they were writing their letters.

Some letters were written to the saints of a city.

Some letters were written to specific churches within a city.

Galatians was written to churches in a region.

James was written to believers regardless of location.

When a specific church is addressed, that church is responsible for acting upon the truths that have been pointed out.

We see this succinctly in the letters to the 7 churches of Asia in Revelation 1-3.

Each church that was addressed had specific things to either change or continue.

You will not find any denominations, formal fellowships, or conventions in the New Testament.

You will only find individual, self-governing churches.

God deals directly with these churches without any hierarchy between Him and the local assembly.

This is seen in Revelation 2:1.

Revelation 2:1 KJV 1900

1 Unto the angel of the church of Ephesus write; These things saith he that holdeth the seven stars in his right hand, who walketh in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks;

The local church is referred to in terms that promote the idea that it is a complete and independent unit.

A body.

Like a baby, church bodies start connected to another, more mature body.

Once it is birthed, the church is expected to become autonomous and self-supporting.

We are going to talk more about this in just a second.

But our church is a single body with many members.

We are united in Christ and accountable to Christ alone.

What does independence mean?

I can tell you what it doesn’t mean...

It doesn’t mean that we don’t cooperate with other churches.

It doesn’t mean we don’t participate with fellowships, schools, and other organizations.

It doesn’t mean we aren’t friends with other churches.

It doesn’t mean that we can’t learn from the examples of other churches.

It does mean...

We are not accountable to another church.

In 1955 the Tulsa Baptist Temple sent a group of families to Collinsville to start our church.

Once the Baptist Tabernacle chartered, we were no longer under the authority of TBT.

Since that day we have been accountable to only one and that is Jesus.

Jesus is the only head of this church.

We follow Him above all else.

His word is our primary and ultimate guide for our church.

It means we realize that we are a unique church.

We are in a unique community.

We are a unique collection of people.

Our ministry will and should be unique from someone else’s.

When we cooperate or fellowship with other churches, we stay in the driver’s seat.

We don’t lose ourselves in what other people think we should do.

We keep in mind that our loyalty ultimately lies with Jesus.

This frees us to tailor our approach to ministry.

What worked for someone else may not work for us.

Just because something works for us, doesn’t mean it would work somewhere else.

As an independent church we are able to focus on what is most needed to reach our community.

This also frees us up from needless distractions and drama.

It may be that the independent nature of our church applies to me personally than anyone else at this church.

Sometimes, pastors struggle with their identities in ministry.

They don’t feel accepted or approved by their church.

They don’t look to God for these things.

So they look to these organizations outside of their church for acceptance and approval.

Approval from their alma mater.

Approval from the fellowship.

Approval from the convention/denomination.

It also affect you too.

Your friends go to other churches.

Your family goes to other churches.

You get together for a holiday and they tell you how their church does xyz.

Your church doesn’t do xyz so you must add xyz.

Not you personally mind you...

This is where independence becomes practical.

Do I give up our independence because I’m seeking approval and acceptance from men?

Can I live and minister in freedom knowing that God approves and accepts me.

Do you desire for our church to maintain our uniqueness, or would you rather us jump into the homogenous pool of the mainline denominations?

Is Jesus able to guide our church or do we need a man-made hierarchy to tell us what we should do?

This doesn’t work on the personal level, and it doesn’t work on the church level.

The people who don’t like the idea of independent churches are not the people we want to follow.

God is still dealing with independent churches.

In the judgment, we will give an account for what we did together as the Baptist Tabernacle.

We won’t give an account for someone else.

No one else will give an account for us.

We are an independent congregation.

We are directly empowered and guided and accountable to Jesus our head.

In the great commission Jesus said in Matthew 28:18

Matthew 28:18 KJV 1900

18 And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.

He does not share that power with any other organization.

We are loyal to Him and Him alone.