THE CHRISTIAN LIFE
Lesson 4
THE CHURCH
Now that I'm a child of God - a Christian, a member of Christ's church - I have
a great concern and interest in the church that Jesus built. The Bible says:
"Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up
for her to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the
word, and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or
wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless." (Ephesians 5:25-27)
As a Christian following Christ, I love what He loved, and Christ loved the
church so much that He died for it. The church is important to me because it
meant so much to Jesus. I am a part of the church - a member:
"Just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all
have the same function, so in Christ we who are many for one body, and each
member belongs to all the others" (Romans 12:4-5).
As a member of the church, I am much concerned with the church. This means now
that I am a child of God, I want to know what the New Testament teaches about
the church, the body of Christ. God
"Placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over all
everything for the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills
everything in every way." (Ephesians 1:22-23)
As a child of God, I need to understand that Christ has all power over the
church, because He is its head. I need to know how and when the church started,
and just what the church is, so that I can serve my Lord in the church. The
church began in the city of Jerusalem, on the day of Pentecost in the very
year that Jesus arose from the dead and went back to heaven. In Acts 2, I read
how the apostles of Christ waited on Pentecost in Jerusalem, as Jesus had told
them to do, until they received the power from on high (Luke 24:49). The power
came on them as Jesus had promised (Acts 2:1-2) and the apostle Peter, along
with the eleven, preached to the people. He told them of Jesus crucified,
buried, and resurrected from the dead. Peter said:
"God has raised this Jesus to life, and we are all witnesses of the fact.
Exalted to the right hand of God, he has received from the Father the promised
Holy Spirit and has poured out what you now see and hear...Therefore, let all
Israel be assured of this: God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both
Lord and Christ." (Acts 2:32, 33, 36)
Some who heard Peter preach were convicted of sin and asked the apostles,
"Brothers, what shall we do?" (Acts 2:37). Peter replied, "Repent and be
baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of
your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit" (Acts 2:38). The
Bible says:
"Those who accepted his message were baptized, and about three thousand were
added to their number that day." (Acts 2:41)
"Praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to
their number daily those who were being saved." (Acts 2:47)
This is the beginning of the church of Christ in Jerusalem, on Pentecost Day
following the resurrection of Christ from the dead.
The church of Christ is not like those large religious denominations that are in
the world today. These religious bodies came along after the church of Christ
began. In the church of Christ, there are no powerful religious leaders who rule
over people as in most denominations, but each member of the church stands on an
equal place with other members of the church. Jesus said to His disciples:
"But you are not to be called 'Rabbi,' for you have only one Master and you are
all brothers. And do not call anyone on earth 'father,' for you have one Father,
and he is in heaven. Nor are you to be called 'teacher,' for you have one
Teacher, the Christ. The greatest among you will be your servant." (Matthew
23:8-11)
As the local congregations - churches of Christ-grew, God saw fit to place some
mature men in each congregation to accept spiritual oversight: these leaders
were called elders or bishops (Acts 20:28). These bishops or elders did not rule
over a number of local churches of Christ, but they - always in a group of more
than one - had oversight of the local church where they were members. Their
oversight did not extend to any other congregations. Paul the apostle, in the
New Testament, tells us what kind of men these elders were, and are to be, as he
writes to the preacher Timothy in 1 Timothy 3:1-7. He wrote similar instructions
to the preacher Titus in Titus 1:5-9. These elders are not lords over the other
people in the church, but they are mature men in the faith of Christ, who guide
by their teaching and example, by the way they live and talk. Peter the apostle
wrote:
"To the elders among you, I appeal as a fellow elder, a witness of Christ's
sufferings and one who also will share in the glory to be revealed: Be shepherds
of God's flock that is under your care, serving as overseers-not because you
must, but because you are willing, as God wants you to be; not greedy for money,
but eager to serve; not lording it over those entrusted to you, but being
examples tot he flock. And when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the
crown of glory that will never fade away." (1 Peter 5:1-4)
To assist the elders in their work, a group of men (more than one) called
deacons were to be recognized in each congregation. The kind of men these
deacons were, and are, is found in 1 Timothy 3:8-13. The word deacon means
servant and deacons are to be the servants of the Lord in the church. The
deacons work and serve, and like elders-bishops, they do not exercise power over
the other members of the church of Christ.
The New Testament shows that there was more than one elder in each local church
and that each local church took care of its own work and service. Nothing in the
New Testament even hints that any congregation or any elder had any power or
control over other local churches or elders. Each local church was complete in
itself under the oversight of its own elders, and served by its own deacons.
In the church of Christ, the preachers were not the pastors of the churches;
they did not rule the churches as lords either. Their work was to preach the
Gospel and teach the people the Word of Christ, because that Word of Christ is
the authority in all things in the church. Preacher - evangelists - guide and
direct churches, along with elders and deacons, by preaching and teaching the
Word of Christ, but preachers are not church lords. Paul wrote that preachers
should "Preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct,
rebuke and encourage - with great patience and careful instruction" (2 Timothy
4:2).
All authority belongs to Jesus Christ, because "And he is the head of the body,
the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that
in everything he might have the supremacy" (Colossians 1:18). Authority to rule
and govern the church is in the Word of Christ, which is found in the New
Testament of our Lord Jesus.
As a child of God - a Christian - a member of the church, I love the church
because I am in the church and it is Christ's body. I love the church because I
want to love what Christ loved, and He loved the church so much that He "loved
the church and gave himself up for her" (Ephesians 5:25). In the church of
Christ, there are bishops, elders, pastors, and these are all words that refer
to the same men. There are deacons, who are servants of the church. There are
preachers, who preach the Word, but who do not rule over churches as lords.
There are all the members in the church, who work and serve together to save
other people and to glorify God our Father, following the example of Christ the
chief Shepherd, and the example of Christ the chief Shepherd, and the example of
the local church elders. In Christ's church, there are no great, powerful church
officials who bind their ways and set their rules over the Christians. In the
New Testament there is no such thing as "chief" elders and "chief" preachers. In
fact, the greatest ones in the church are those who serve the most; they are
"servants." The Lord Jesus said:
"Jesus called them together and said, 'You know that the rulers of the Gentiles
lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. Not so
with you. Instead whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant,
and whoever wants to be first must be your slave-just as the Son of Man did not
come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many."
(Matthew 20:25-26)
I am a child of God, and I have the privilege of serving God, Christ, and the
church. Let me pray that God will make me a great servant.