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(March 8, 2008) on visas, weddings, how to get free food & funny hair dos (March 4, 2008) Warm greetings! (February 12, 2008) A Whole New World (February 5, 2008) Newness in the New Year (January 6, 2008) The Feast of Life (November 23, 2007) Our Paris (November 11, 2007) A Freezing Wilderness Retreat (October 22, 2007) Reflections from a Recovering Bride (October 8, 2007) Mr. and Mrs. Brumme (September 29, 2007) One Month and Counting (August 22, 2007) Everything French (July 19, 2007) Open Wide Your Mouths! (July 9, 2007) Learning from Trees (July 3, 2007) A City of Lights - The Paris of Central Europe (June 25, 2007) Brumme's Descend on Europe (June 8, 2007) I Said Yes! (May 13, 2007) Liaisons and Goodness Abound (April 22, 2007) Gourmet Cuisine Catastrophe (March 21, 2007) It Really Has Been Too Long This Time (March 15, 2007) The French Postal System, V-Day, and Other Tidbits (February 21, 2007) Celebrating in Paris, Working in Oxford & Relaxing in the Alps (January 29, 2007) With Ma Petite Amie at Last! (January 11, 2007) Hanging on for the Ride (December 31, 2006) A New Life (December 18, 2006) I've Gotta Go See About a Girl (November 23, 2006) On France (November 10, 2006) Liberating Love, an Awkward Transition and Christmas Candy (November 1, 2006) The Western Bible (October 20, 2006) The Whole Church Gathered (October 3, 2006) On Steve Irwin (September 7, 2006) Lewis on Happiness (August 10, 2006) The Tragic "Unthinkable Crisis" (July 27, 2006) Not My Life (July 6, 2006) The Two Year Reunion (June 10, 2006) A Fishy Story Set Right (May 26, 2006) Response to "The Wedding Planner" by Sagers (April 30, 2006) White Bunnies and Bloody Lambs (April 14, 2006) Flexing Our Political Muscle (March 22, 2006) For Your Viewing Pleasure (March 7, 2006) Come to Our Church! (February 21, 2006) Peanuts and Airplanes (February 15, 2006) Confessing My Ignorance (January 30, 2006) The Jewish Kid Jesus (January 16, 2006) Friends...A Dime a Dozen? (January 9, 2006) Old Test Article Here (January 2, 2006) So Much to Say...That Others Have Already Said (December 23, 2005) Narnia - at last! (December 8, 2005) Lewis on our Eating Disorder (December 1, 2005) North Korea - Revealing the Darkness (November 20, 2005) Shining - Like You've Never Seen it Before (November 15, 2005) Are You Emerging? (November 3, 2005) A Life of Profound Significance (October 26, 2005) The Earth at Your Fingertips (October 18, 2005) A Surprise Appointment (October 15, 2005) Wars and Rumors of Wars (October 3, 2005) Laughing in the Rain (September 20, 2005) Random Tid-Bits and Happenings (September 15, 2005) Life and Death and Terrorists (August 30, 2005) Girls and Boys and God (August 25, 2005) Feasting and Worship (August 17, 2005) Blogger's Block (August 6, 2005) The Harvest in China (August 2, 2005) Counting the Cost (July 24, 2005) Absolutely Outstanding Bit of Writing (July 18, 2005) Burning Alive (July 14, 2005) Jesus and the Glory Golf Balls (July 10, 2005) Those Things We Hold On To (July 7, 2005) Grape Juice, Poured Out for the Forgiveness of Sin (June 30, 2005) He Will Ruin Your Life (June 28, 2005) A Bit of Perspective (June 25, 2005) The Wedding Planner (June 22, 2005) A Lesson in Patience Amidst Absurdity (June 16, 2005) Fans of Hitler (June 15, 2005) Crash and Stories (June 12, 2005) Pastors and Leaders - Different Views (June 10, 2005) Senior Pastors (June 5, 2005) Ask and You Shall Receive (June 2, 2005) What If (May 27, 2005) The "Bible Study" (May 24, 2005) The Future of Pixar (May 19, 2005) The Mess We Christians Have Made (May 14, 2005) Narnia Coming to the Big Screen (May 10, 2005) Europe - Through the Lens of My Camera (May 7, 2005) Same Sex Families (May 6, 2005) Photos of Mercy (May 3, 2005) Across an Ocean... (April 21, 2005) The Picture, The Pope, and The Past Few Days (April 12, 2005) In the Car with My (air) Guitar (April 6, 2005) The Pope (April 4, 2005) Resurrection Day (March 27, 2005) Killing People (March 23, 2005) Weekend of Surprises (March 22, 2005) The Fray - Listen to this (March 12, 2005) Akiane....This is Amazing (March 11, 2005) Jesus Christ (March 8, 2005) Worthy Thoughts on The Passion (March 7, 2005) Dream Days at Church (March 3, 2005) Peace Amidst Ambiguity (March 1, 2005) A Verse I Hadn't Noticed Before (February 25, 2005) McLaren and Hotel Rwanda...another perspective (February 19, 2005) Brother Andrew is on to something (February 16, 2005) My Valentine (February 14, 2005) Homecoming...strange (February 13, 2005) Hotel Rwanda (February 10, 2005) The Update (February 6, 2005) Malibu...Thailand...Palm Desert (January 1, 2005) Get Ready Thailand...I'm Coming! (September 25, 2004) God Speaks? Really? (May 29, 2004) Life Beyond Graduation (May 1, 2004) God's Faithfulness in Morocco (October 8, 2002)
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Our Thoughts
| April 30, 2006 | | Response to "The Wedding Planner" by Sagers |
The Past Year
Nearly one year ago, in June 2005, Robert Sagers wrote “The Wedding Planner”. This article was written in response to some of my thoughts about the church posted here on this website and shared in other discussions. I sincerely appreciate Robbie taking the time to articulate his own views on the church in such an understandable way.
But with his thoughts so clearly laid out, I was able to see our points of disagreement more plainly than before. Indeed, his article “The Wedding Planner” gave me great cause for concern.
In order to give an adequate response, I needed to convey arguments based on Scripture, as Robbie’s claims centered on this point. As he stated in his preface:I have found that one’s antagonism towards “traditional” church often seems to be…a result of his/her misunderstanding of what a New Testament, Christ-honoring church actually looks like. And we have so denigrated “church” that, for many professing believers, it is either something to be vehemently fought against or completely redefined in a way that has no basis in Scripture. It is time to reclaim a New Testament understanding of how we “do” church. At the time of reading Robbie’s article, I was unprepared to give a strong, biblically based argument. I certainly had a good sampling of biblical passages to base my views on, as well as practical understanding based on years in the church. But never before had I carefully searched the Bible, specifically seeking the Father’s heart for His church. What did the Bible really say, and not say, about the church? I knew that only after a careful study could I give Robbie the response his article deserved.
I endeavored to study the New Testament in light of the church. And so, nearly a year ago, I began with Matthew. Nine months later, with literally over 100 pages of copious notes, I finished with Revelation. In these final months I have poured over my notes and have begun to pull them together into initial conclusions. I chose to focus on the New Testament, since (as Robbie pointed out) the church was actually “born” at Pentecost in the book of Acts. I believe the Old Testament holds wonderful revelation about the church, for the law serves as a “copy and shadow” of the things to come. Perhaps my next study will look at the Old Testament, but at least initially, I chose to focus my response on what the New Testament says about the church.
Throughout this study, I did my best to look at the New Testament alone, not opening commentaries, books or other articles dealing with the church. My hope and prayer was that God might truly show me His heart for the church through His written word. It is easy to find a well-articulated argument that supports your point of view and simply repeat the points as your own. This is what I sought to avoid. So I used only Strong’s Concordance, an exhaustive cross-reference of every word in the King James Version back to the Greek or Hebrew word in the original text. This served as more of a dictionary than anything else, but also enabled me to track the translation and application of key words in this discussion about the church. Other than Strong’s Concordance, I studied only the New Testament. I used the English Standard Version primarily, but also used the King James Version, New International Version and The Message (which my friend Robbie would claim is more of a commentary than a translation).
My New Testament study was a fascinating, delightful journey with the Lord. I confess, there were times when I had to put aside the study until my heart was right before God. Coming to Scripture with an agenda is anything but a way to hear accurately from the Lord. I prayed and worked hard towards humbly, objectively approaching the New Testament – truly seeking to be open to whatever I might find in the study. I certainly didn’t accomplish this perfectly, but He met me in such a powerful way as we walked through the New Testament together. Naturally, I learned about much more than the church. Yet I held fast to the stated purpose. I was truly astounded at some of what the Lord showed me, confirmed at other points, and frustrated with other passages. In the end, the revelation of the church unfolded throughout the New Testament was more glorious and thrilling than I had ever understood.
I know that in reading through it one time, however carefully or “complete”, one can never understand all that is revealed. And I certainly hope to continue this study for the rest of my life here on earth. But now, one year later, after a careful study of the New Testament, I am ready to respond to Robbie’s article. I will begin by responding generally to his key points, and over the coming months more specific responses are likely to be posted here on various related topics that Robbie touched on in his original article.
Thank you all for your patience these past months, and a special thank you to Robbie. When I first asked him to write an article on the church, he certainly did not take a year to get it to me. So forgive the lengthy delay – and thank you so very much for writing “The Wedding Planner”. For it was your article that propelled me into this study which has blessed me in such an immense way. I praise God for my friendship with Robbie, and for his intense commitment to Christ and the written Word. You sharpen me as “iron sharpens iron” my friend, and I pray that the sharpening may be mutual. I pray also that this discussion will be ongoing, and as Robbie prayed, that it will “bring glory and honor to our Lord Jesus Christ, who alone is worthy to be praised.”
The Response
In “The Wedding Planner”, Robbie sought to answer the question “What exactly is the church?”. I believe he actually came very close to a good definition in his fourth paragraph when he said:“…the church is made up of those who have been bought ‘with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot’ ” If he had simply omitted “made up of” from that sentence, we might actually be in agreement! For I believe the New Testament says the church is “people in intimate fellowship with Christ and one another.” The historical use of the word “church”, the use of “church” throughout the New Testament and the metaphors used to describe “church” point to this answer.(For a full explanation of how I arrived at this definition of the church, see my article “What is the Church?”. ) Christ-followers have been “called out” from the world into new life in Christ. It’s a life of intimacy with Him, and with those who share in this new life. In fact, if you are “in Christ”, then you are in the church.
I think Robbie gets off track in his article when he defines the church by its practices, the form of its gatherings and its leadership structure, among other things. While I believe the New Testament does give us guidance about each of these things, and each is important, they are not part of the answer to “What is the church?”.
The clearest answer in Robbie’s article to the question at hand is when he quotes from the Baptist Faith and Message. At this point he is referring to a local church instead of the universal church, but the application is the same. A local church is simply a grouping of Christ-followers in a particular region or place, where the universal church is all Christ-followers everywhere throughout time. So Robbie lifts up this definition of the church:“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.” Again, the elements highlighted in this definition are important and the New Testament gives us guidance about them, but they are not an answer to “What is the church?”. This definition partly answers the question “What does the church do?”, but what the church does must flow out of what the church is: people in intimate fellowship with Christ and one another.
All of the doing will naturally flow from those truly in intimate fellowship with Christ and His followers. As I grow in intimacy with Christ, I will be baptized, I will be exercising my gifts, and I will seek to take the gospel to the ends of the earth, among other things. And my life will be intimately connected with those on this same journey of intimacy with Christ. We will encourage one another along and share in the journey, delighting together in celebrations of Christ’s death and resurrection – the very thing that enabled us to have this intimacy with Him and one another.
By focusing our definition of the church on its practices, we loose sight of the centrality of being “in Christ” and by extension, intimately connected to one another. Our intimate connection to Christ and one another will result in the doing. This is more than a chicken vs. the egg or a faith vs. works distinction. More than determining which comes first, defining the church by its practices makes it far too easy to have the form without the substance.
From Robbie’s article, I gather that his main concern is if we focus on this intimate connection with Christ and his followers, the doing will not happen. It seems he fears that people will just “hang out” and maybe pray together at best – but they will not be engaged in all these vital practices or operate within the required structure which, in his view, define the church. Here is how he articulates this concern in no uncertain terms:“The idea of a ‘church’ as simply ‘a group of five or ten people who love the Lord, live geographically close together, spend a lot of time together and meet together – but not on a regular basis, who don’t have a particular leader except Christ, and who meet together to have very meaningful fellowship’ has no Scriptural warrant or basis. While this ‘group’ of friends can share in Christ-honoring worship and fellowship, it is not a New Testament church of the Lord Jesus Christ—because they are not in covenantal relationship with one another—and has no business claiming to be one.” Strong words indeed. Yet Robbie is again focusing on the form of gatherings, the leadership structure and a formalized “covenantal relationship”. But if a group of people are intimately connected to Christ and to one another, then they will celebrate and remember Christ’s death and resurrection together. Their spiritual gifts will be recognized, cultivated and exercised. Those with gifts of leadership will lead, pastors will pastor, teachers will teach, prophets will prophesy and so on. They will be so filled to overflowing with the fullness of Christ that they proclaim the good news of Jesus Christ in word and deed wherever God has places them. This will result in new people joining themselves intimately to Christ, in turn desiring to publicly proclaim their new life through baptism. And the lives of those in this intimate fellowship will certainly intersect far more often than “on a regular basis”.
In fact, all who are “in Christ” are in relationship with Him by the new covenant of His blood. That same covenantal relationship binds together all who are “in Christ” into one body. As Robbie points out, Paul’s favorite metaphor for the church is the body of Christ. Each person who is “in Christ” is a body part, connected intimately to the other body parts (one another) and the Head of the body (Christ). The eye cannot tell the hand “I don’t need you” (1Co 12), because if you are “in Christ” then you are in the church – and in covenant with Christ and fellow Christ-followers. As Robbie writes:“…it is utter absurdity for someone to say, “I love Jesus; it’s just… it’s just that it’s His body that I can’t stand.” And yet, those who profess no love for the church of the Lord Jesus Christ are communicating that, and there is a word for people who truly believe such things: lost.” I absolutely agree with what Robbie wrote here explicitly. It is impossible to be intimately connected to Christ and yet not love other Christ-followers. As one of Robbie’s favorite musicians sings from the perspective of Christ, “If you love me you will love the church.” But unfortunately, this is not Robbie’s point here. Implicitly, Robbie is stating that those who do not love the definition of church in the Baptist Faith and Message are the same as unredeemed sinners, wallowing in darkness and destined for eternity in Hell. In other words, unless your doing happens within a formalized structure, you do not know Christ. I could not disagree more.
To bring us back to the simple question at hand: What is the church? As I have outlined here, I believe Robbie is defining the church in terms of its practices and a formalized structure. This is our central point of disagreement, as I believe the New Testament defines the church as “people in intimate fellowship with Christ and one another.” The church need not be more complex than this.
So as we look around at different “expressions” of the church, let us keep this simple definition in mind. Are people intimately connected to Christ? Are they intimately connected to one another? Then praise God – we have found a healthy grouping of the church, in other words – a local church. We do not need to run down the extensive checklist outlined in the Baptist Faith and Message. While those elements are some of the natural results of intimate fellowship with Christ and one another, they are not the definition or proof of church.
Certainly, the Bible gives guidance about what this intimate fellowship should look like when Christ-followers gather together (church gatherings), how certain individuals especially help facilitate this intimate fellowship (church leadership), and other aspects of this life of intimacy. But it is absolutely crucial not to loose sight of this simple definition of the church. There is a constant temptation to make it more complicated, but I believe the New Testament says it simply is not. What a joy it is to be in this intimate union with Jesus Christ and those who also follow Him – this is the church – nothing more, nothing less.
This article was specifically written in response to Robert Sagers “The Wedding Planner.” While it was based on my study of the New Testament in light of the church, it is by no means a complete presentation of my findings. In fact, I have written an article titled “What is the Church” (not based on Robbie’s article), making the case for my definition of the church that I used in this response to Robbie’s article. In addition, I hope to share more of the fruit of my study in more specifically focused articles on particular topics. Some of these will deal with issues that Robbie raised in his article, which I did not specifically address, such as: church leadership, church membership, baptism, communion, denominations, and church gatherings. In addition, I hope to address other topics that emerged through my study, including: church discipline, worship, spiritual gifts, signs & wonders, spiritual maturity, giving/tithing, gender roles, church life and tradition.
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