THE CHURCH
A. ORIGIN OF THE CHURCH
Where does the church begin? Some believe that the bible defines church from the very beginning or from Adam and so on. Therefore, they include O.T. traditions in their practices. Others use the definition derived from N.T., where church started from the Day of Pentecost. They distinct N.T. church from the O.T. church which is Israel. The basis of the definition is primarily from Jesus’ teaching on the church, the epistles, and Rev 1-3. [McCALDeL02]
Why Pentecost? It’s because that God uses it as the turning point to change the way God relates to us. He relates to us personally, not only through priests like the Old Testament era. The Church that was pictured in the New Testament can be described as a body, a Body Of Christ. According to the passage, the people in this body are filled with the Spirit. This phenomenon only exists after the Day Of Pentecost.
Distinction Between OT (Israel) and NT (Church) [RUSJAY01]
| O.T. Israel | N.T. Church | Possible consequences of misapplication | |
| Symbol of God’s dwelling | Physical temple/tabernacle (Exodus 25:8) | Soul of every believer (1 Cor 3:16, Eph 2:20-22) | God lives in a building (God in a box) |
| Medium | High priest(Lev 8-9) | Jesus Christ/Holy Spirit(Heb 3:1) | The unordained Xn becomes insignificant secondary and passive, unable to be used by God |
| Religious Calendar | Prescribed ‘holy’ days (Lev 16, 23) | Salvation once and for all, everyday is made holy by God(Gal 4:1-11) | legalism; formalistic approach to God; getting acceptance from attending the ‘holy’ days.(Xmas, Easter) |
| Rituals | Physical circumcision(Gen 17) | spiritual circumcision (Deut 30:6, Col 2:11) | spiritual regeneration or conversion through rituals not personal commitment |
| Law | Emphasized in codes of law and God’s judgement (Exodus 18:16; Lev 19) | the law of grace, emphasis on God’s grace through’ Jesus Christ (Rom 2:17-29) | legalism, acceptance from God through good works, self righteous. |
| Worship | Liturgical/ritual worship; highly regulated and prescribed(Exodus 20:8-11) | worship is holistic dedication of every aspect in everyday life(Col 3:17) | Impersonal and artificial relationship with God |
| Outreach | Separated from unbelievers, passively witnessing | in the midst of unbelievers, actively witnessing.(1 Cor 9:19-23) | Isolation from the world, ignorance of the great commission. |
B. DEFINITION
Many people think that church is a building, or at least people indicate it to be so. The Greek word that is translated into “church” is ecclesia, which means “the called out ones”. But, the English word “church”, does not come from ecclesia, it comes from kuriakon. Kuriakon means “dedicated to the Lord”. Kuriakon was commonly used for a holy place or a temple. When the Greek bible was translated into Latin, it was commonly used to substitute ecclesia with kuriakon. Thus, this translation, which was not accurate resulted in a wrong interpretation of the word “church” into a sacred building, instead of “assembly” or “the called out ones”. Ecclesia was customary to be used as “come together” or “gathering” also. [SAUCY01]
John Havlik puts it this way,
“The church is never a place, but always people; never a fold but always a flock; ever a sacred building but always a believing assembly. The church is you who pray, not where you pray. A structure of brick or marble can no more be a church than your clothes of serge or satin can be you. There is in this world nothing sacred but man, no sanctuary of man but the soul.”[HAVLIK01]
We rarely think church as people, but instead, it is a building, “statement of faith”, worship service, etc. The church is just simply God’s people, divinely called, not because of an infallible doctrine or an incorruptible organization. [GIBMOR01]
- Universal Church
“God placed all things under His (Christ’s) feet and appointed Him to be head for the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills everything in every way.” (Eph. 1: 22 –23)
The universal church is a complete body of Christ as existing in every place. Every believer is part of the universal church. Universal church has its definition from the baptizing ministry of the Holy Spirit. The key verse on this is:
“… by one Spirit we are all baptized into one body.” 1 Cor. 12: 13a,
We can see that from this passage that the church is like the physical manifestation of Christ, i.e., his body. Some other passages that discuss about the same topic are Rom. 12:4-5, 1 Cor. 12:11,18,27. The point is that every born again Christian or the ones that have been baptized by The Holy Spirit are members of the Body. We are spiritually united with Christ and with each other, thus we need to relate to each other in a mutually interdependent way. (Eph. 4:15-16) [McCALDeL01]
- Local Church
The local church is simply the physical, outward expression of the universal church. Paul addressed several of his epistles to specific local churches. (“To the church of the Thessalonians….”, 1 and 2 Thessalonians 1:1; also 1 Corinthians 1:2; 2 Corinthians 1:1)
Galatians 1:2 we find, “ To the churches [note the plural] in Galatia.” In Revelation 1: 1, John was instructed to write to “the seven churches.” Paul referred not just to specific churches, but to many local churches in many places when he wrote, ”He [Timothy] will remind you of my way of life in Christ Jesus, which agrees with what I teach everywhere in every church” (1 Cor. 4: 17).
It is fundamentally a local community of believers of diverse age and socioeconomic strata that band together under a designated leadership structure for fellowship, teaching, worship, and outreach to the lost. It is not the building or the organizational structure. In this view, the term “church” came to be used of the universal church, that is the complete body of Christ as existing in every place (1 Cor. 15:9; Gal. 1:2, 13; Matt. 16:18), of local churches in any one place (Col. 4:16; Phil. 4:15; 1 Cor. 1:2, etc), of single meetings, even where two or three met together (Matt. 18:19; Col. 4:15; Phil. 1:2; Rom. 16:5). [KUSKUR01]
In general, local church can be constituted as any part of the universal church that somehow local can be said to be a local church. We would suggest this holds even down to the level where “… two or three have gathered together in my name…” (Mt. l8: 20). This seems to be Christ’s version of what is necessary to have a local church. But of course, a church of two or three would be a very good church, since it can not fulfill all the functions that are appropriate for a local church according to the New Testament, but this does not mean that it is not a church. A distinction must be made between that which determines the “being” of the church versus the “well-being” of the church. [McCALDeL01]
C. FIGURES OF CHURCH IN SCRIPTURE [KUSKUR01]
1. The Body
A. The Relation of The Church to Christ, Who Is The Head
Eph 1:22, 23; Col 1:18; 2:19 (Christ is the head of the body, the church), there is a vital relationship between Christ and the church, both partaking of the same life, just as there is between the physical head and the body. We must be partakers by faith of Christ’s life before we can become members of Christ’s Church. Christ with His fullness is the source of church life as Ephesians 1:23 said “…his body is the fullness of Him (Christ here) who fills everything in every way.” Christ also the center of church unity and the Cause of its growth (Eph. 4:15).
- The Relation of The Members (One Another)
Rom 12 and 1 Cor 12 explain that each one of us has a physical body with many parts and each part does not have the same function. In Christ, we form one body and each one of us also does not have the same function, but we are still one body and member of one another. We are one and “…fitted and held together…” and “each individual causes the growth of the body”.
“… we are to grow up in all aspects into Him who is the head, even Christ, or from whom the whole body, being fitted and held together by what every joint supplies, according to the proper working of each individual part, causes the growth of the body for the building up of itself in love.” Eph 4:15-16.
2. Temple, Habitation, Dwelling-Place for God’s Spirit
Many of the Scriptures in the bible wrote about the figures under the church. Early from the beginning we have talked about the more in-depth meaning of a church that church is not necessarily a place. The building called a church is just as simple as a media/place for us to be together to grow in Christ as a whole. (1 Cor 3:9-17, 1 Tim 3:15, 1 Cor 6:19, dan 1 Pet 2:4-8)
3. The Bride of Christ
Ephesians 5:25-27 says about Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her like husband to love his wife. Christ is the Bridegroom (John 3:29), and the Bride becomes the wife of the Lamb (Rev 21:2). All these represent the church as the bride of Christ. The church and Christ has a special and personal relationship.
D. THE CALLING/VOCATION OF THE CHURCH
- To Worship God and To Glorify Him On Earth
“For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will – to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves.” Eph. 1:4-6
- To Evangelize The World With The Gospel
“Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” Matt 28:19, 20. Acts 2; 5:42; 6:5-8; Eph 3:8; Acts 15:7
- To Equip The Member of The Body of Christ
Eph. 4:11-15. Hence the gift of pastoral, teaching, etc. Herein lies the value of church attendance, it promotes growth in corporate fellowship; failure to have fellowship leads to apostasy (Heb. 10:25-28), I Thess 5:11; 1 Cor 12
- A Constant Witness For Christ and His Word
“But you will receive the power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth” Acts 1:8
- The future glory of the church
Eph 3:10,21; Rev 21:9-27.
E. HEALTHY CHURCH [DEVER01]
- Expository Teaching
It is a careful explanation of meanings of particular portion of God’s Word and applying it to the body. If a teacher only take a portion of Scripture and advise strongly on a subject that is important to the body without really teaching the point of the passage….it makes the teacher and the body only hear in Scripture what they already know or maybe like. By expositional preaching, or taking the point of the passage of Scripture, we hear things from God we did not intend to hear when we began.
- Biblical Theology
Expository teaching is good, but it is still need to be tested. Is the teaching reliable and accurate? This is more to the understanding of the doctrines of the teachings, the doctrine of salvation, the doctrine of Jesus Christ, for example.
“If anyone teaches false doctrines and does not agree to the sound instruction of our Lord Jesus Christ and to godly teaching, he is conceited and understands nothing.” 1 Tim 6:3, 4a
- A Biblical Understanding of The Gospel
The Good News of Jesus Christ is the gospel, and it is the heart of Christianity. When the church understands and has a heart for the gospels, it means the church has a heart for the truth, and therefore, shares the gospels.
- A Biblical Understanding of Conversion
We have conversion/turning because we are deeply convinced of our guilt and helplessness and of the way of salvation by Christ. How did that happen? To answer this,
“It is by grace you have been saved, through faith-and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God.” Eph 2:8
The change each person needs, no matter how he may appear outwardly, is so radical, so near the root of us (sinful human beings) that only God can do it. We need God to convert us, not by our efforts. The true conversion goes to a sincere commitment, a self-conscious decision, transforming mind, and life given to our spirits.
- A Biblical Understanding and Practice of Evangelism
Biblically, evangelism is presenting the good news freely and trusting God to convert people (Act 16:14), and salvation comes from the Lord. The church is more concern to know and teach the gospel itself than to teach people methods and strategies to share it.
- A Biblical Understanding of Church Membership and Fellowship
The practice of church membership among Christians has developed as an attempt to help us grasp hold of each other in responsibility and love, serving to one another and encourage in discipleship. Church membership means being incorporated in practical ways into the body of Christ, it means traveling together as aliens in this world as we head to our heavenly home (as a fellowship/koinonia).
- A Plurality of Elders
Elders take part in leadership in a church. Teacher or pastor is also fundamentally one of the elders in his congregation. Pastor is the main teaching elder, but all the elders should work together for the improvement of mind and characters of the church. Having elders in the church is started by recognizing ones that are godly and mature, discerning, trusted laymen to help the body to grow together, and they are needed in the church. (Acts 14:23, 16:4, 20:1, 21:18; Titus1: 5, James 5:14)
- A Biblical Church Discipline
Each local church has a responsibility to judge the life and teaching of its leaders, and even of its members (2 John, 2 Peter 3, James 3:1). Biblical church discipline is simple obedience to God and a simple confession that we need help. Its purpose is positive for the individual disciplined, for other Christians as they see the danger of sin, for the health of the church as a whole, and for the corporate witness of the body.
- Working to Promote Christian Discipleship and Growth
Have a continuous concern with church growth, both in quality and quantity. Growth is the sign of life. When something stops growing, it dies. The church sincerely disciples one another to grow together and concern of increasing godliness in the lives of its members (Eph 4:16, Col 3:16, 1 Thess 5:11).
F. PRIESTHOOD OF ALL BELIEVERS [RUSJAY01]
“Priesthood of All Believers” means that each one of us, who believe in Christ as their Lord and Savior, has a direct access to God of the universe, which enabled by the Death of Christ (Heb 10:19-20). The word “ecclesia”, which meant, “to be called out” is the word used in NT for “CHURCH”. Thus, the Church is being called out by God to be distinct, to be distinct from what? From the world and its system, values, and view (1 John 2:15-16). This distinction exists between the world and the church, but not within the church itself. The bible has never made a distinction between clergy and laity nor between the people who has a theological education and who doesn’t. Yes, there are some differences inside the Body of Christ (1 Cor 12 and Rom 12) but each one is still a member of one another, thus the differences are for functional purposes.
“Nevertheless, within the undifferentiated unity of the people of God differences do exist – differences, which relate not to their standing before God but to their function in the community”[STOTT01]
The root problems of clergy-laity, where laity as God’s people also are not being empowered, is a misconception within the church itself. In the NT, God designed the Church is a unified church, with no favoritism (Rom 10:12-13). The One who empowered us to profess that Jesus is Lord is The One Holy Spirit (1 Cor 12:1-3), the same Spirit who gives us the spiritual gift(s) (vs. 4-11), as we are being baptized in the same Spirit also (vs. 12-13). The church is not a religious society, but instead, it’s a lay society, since it is made from the men and women of God. [GIBMOR01]
There are some perversions of this:
1. Clericalism and Dualism
Clericalism is due to a distorted image of the Church. Clericalism has too often kept the laity in subjection and condemned them to a position of inferiority and inactivity. The “priestly” people do all ministries. The word “Laity” comes from the word Laos which, in Greek, originally means people or any crowd of people. This word is then evolve to mean the mass of people in city-state, distinguished from kleros, the magistrate, chief priests, suggesting that the kleros is not part of laos. This word also evolved in the English language as a synonym of amateur or not professional, unqualified to be called expert. This caused the rest of the people in the Church to be passive and not participating in the work of the Kingdom of God.
“What does the layman really want? He wants a building which looks like a church; a clergyman dressed in the what he approves; services of the kind he’s been used to, and to be left alone”[ROBINSON01]
Laity did not get a chance to be a minister in the areas that are involving “big” decision making process, especially for the important stuff. They were perceived as “less spiritual” and have less understanding of God’s Word. In the beginning, they were never equipped by the clergymen to be ready.
There are two types of this kind of perversions:
– Autocratic Clericalism, where the clergy dominates the entire ministry.
– Dualism, a separation between clergy and laity, where there are some ministries that are reserved by the clergies or ordained ministers.
An example of dualism is Roman Catholic, where there is a clear distinction between the clergy and laity, and according to them, together, they make the fullness of church. This is a distorted view and it can produce an empty and shallow fellowship. Each division (clergy and laity) has their own job description, but there is no accountability and care for one another, thus there are no partnership in their ministry and worship.
Here are a view characteristic of clericalism:
- Churches spend their money on clergy
- Decisions are made primarily by clergy
- Standards are determined by the clergy
- The laity is not trained to make theological decisions, just pragmatic ones
- Education for clergy is the major financial investment
2. Anticlericalism
The second possible scenario is the anti of the first one, an attitude that hates clergymen. This is obviously a wrong response to clericalism. This kind of attitude forms a slippery slope of liberalism. If we see God’s design of church, there are some pastoral ministries that God appointed for His Church, even though it can be in many forms. In Paul and Barnabas’ ministry, they appointed elders in every church. IN Philipi, Paul addressed his letter to the deacons, and in Titus, he specifically said,
“…that you might amend what was defective, and appoint elders in every town as I directed you.” (Tit 1:5).
There are two words that are being used in the bible to describe clerical leadership;
– Proistemi
“…to respect those who labor among you and are over you in the Lord…”
1 Thess 5:12
In 1 Tim 3:5, this word was used to describe a role of a manager, or man’s management inside the house. In 1 Tim 5:17, “who rule well…”. All of these passages describe that there is such thing as authority in the Church. The other meaning of this word is headship and “to be concern about” (Rom 12:8). The ministry of these people is for equipping, teaching or preaching (1 Tim 5:17).
– Hegeomai
In Hebrew 13, this word was used three times and translated into “you leaders”. The same word also used when Joseph was appointed as a governor of Egypt. We must be careful in interpreting the meaning of authority that God has given. Even though the Church is instructed to be subject to the leaders.
“Obey your leaders and submit to their authority…” Heb 13:17
Jesus teaches about servant leadership, where who wants to be the first has to be the last.
SERVANT LEADERSHIP (the biblical version of leadership) [RUSJAY01]
So, how can we have a balanced view? This can be pertained by an understanding that all laity believers are the Church, and the ordained ministers are part of the laity themselves with a special mandate as to serve the Church and equip them to be a witness to the world.
“You know that those who are supposed to rule over the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great men exercise authority over them. But it shall not be so among you; but whoever would be great among you should be your servant (diakonos), and whoever would be first among you must be slave (doulos) of all.” (Mark 10:42-44)
The Church main purpose is to worship God (Ex 19:4-6), and the duty of the clergy to the laity is to help them worship, equip them, and lead them in worship in every area of their life. The second purpose of the Church is to be witness. Thus, the clergy have to empower the laity to be able to do become an effective witness to the world.
This relationship between clergy and laity is described clearly by Paul;
“And his gifts were that some should be apostle, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers, for the equipment of the saints, for the work of ministry, for building up the Body of Christ.” (Eph 4:11-12)
In KJV, some commas were deleted, thus the leaders should do;
- Equipping the saints (the laity)
- Doing the work of ministry
- Building the Body of Christ.
The correct interpretation is that clergy should primarily do the 1st part, and laity should do the rest. Since clergy is a part of the laity also, therefore they should do the work of the laity too. If only clergy should do them all, so why need equipping after all?
All believers are priests, ministers, and servants, but, some function as pastors and teachers. We need to remember that equipping doesn’t stop at the point where only pastors and teachers are the ones who are doing the equipping. This will result in a manner of “master-apprentice”. Equipping needs to be done in order to make laity (apprentice) to be a teacher (master) who is able to teach and lead others to Christ and become an active minister to them.
Stott exposes this point Paul brought up to the Ephesians well;
“They were saying “I belong to Paul,” “I belong to Apollos,” or “I belong to Cephas.” In other words, they were defining themselves in relation to their leaders. Paul told them that the opposite was the truth. “All things are yours, whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas,…all are yours.” (I Cor 3:22-23). So if anybody belongs to anybody in the Church, it is not the laity who belong to the clergy, but the clergy who belong to the laity. We are theirs, their servants for Jesus’ sake. In olden days it was customary for a lay person to conclude a letter to his bishop with the words, “I have the honor to be, sir, your obedient servant.” It would be more biblical, however, for a bishop (or any pastor) to sign himself a lay person’s obedient servant!” [STOTT01]
ELDERS AND DEACONS [McCALDeL03]
In NT Church, there were never mentioned about ordained priest nor a single guy who is the master of everything (expect Jesus of course). But instead, the leaders of NT Church were always plural, and they were called elders/bishops and deacons. If we _____________________________________________pay a close attention, the NT indicates that elders and deacons are to formed in a plurality context (Acts 14:23, Tit 1:5, 1 Pet 5:2).
Does the selection or qualification of elders and deacons emphasize on gifts? No, as a matter of fact, Paul emphasizes on spiritual maturity. This is a pitfall that we may get into. We need to believe that it’s the Holy Spirit that will change us inside out and along in our maturity, He will put us in a role that fits.
If we emphasize on gifts;
- We’ll tend to forget about being spiritually mature, instead we’ll be more focus on getting or discovering gifts.
- We’ll tend to make a maturity level based on gifts.
- A very gifted man can be spiritually immature also.
What are the differences between deacons and elders?
There are some differences reflected in 1 Tim 3 and Tit 1;
- Deacons can be a new convert or young Christians. This doesn’t mean all new converts should be or eligible to be a deacon, but they should be tested with regard to their motivation, consistency, and character in serving.
- Elders must have a skill of teaching.
- Elders must refute/rebuke those who contradict or reject the truth (false teaching).
Qualification of Elders and Deacons
Let’s analyze 1 Tim 3:1-7 for elders’ (overseers’) qualifications; [McCALDeL04]
Vs. 2
- Above reproach, taken from a Greek word “anepilempton” or “anegkleton” which means good reputation, unaccusable. Paul put this as the first qualification for a reason, because it’s a summary of all things we would mention latter on. This qualification is vague, but the positive things are evident.
- One-woman man or “husband of one wife”. This qualification does not mean that only man can be an elder, but it puts more emphasize on sexual morality in the present stage.
- Sober, or temperate. Taken from a Greek word “nephalion” which means sober. This is pretty clear, an elder has to be spiritually healthy or orientation in order to have a clear perspective on life.
- Prudent, or sane, self-controlled, from a Greek word “sophrona”. This means “not crazy”, mentally healthy (2 Cor 5:13, Mark 5:15), or sensible, reasonable (tit 2:6, 1 Pet 4:7).
- Respectable, from the Greek word “kosmion” which means well ordered, orderliness, stability.
- Hospitable, “philoxenon” or “philexenia”, which literally translated to “lovers of strangers”. Interest to do an outreach to people, with a genuine heart.
- Able to teach, “didaktikon”, where we have “didaktik” as a teaching skill. An understanding of the bible is a requirement to be able to encourage and admonish, including “refuting those who contradict”. This goes further that elders must able to teach the Word to others, explain, and discerning (Heb 5:11-14, Heb 4:12).
- Not addicted to wine, this doesn’t mean only wine or liquor, but all substance abuse, no dependency. Have to be able to apply and use freedom respectively & wisely and not becoming a stumbling block to a weaker believer (1 Cor 8).
- Pugnacious, “me plekten” which means a striker. This means that the person is not an abuser, either physically or verbally.
- Gentle, or kind, from Greek word “epieke”, which means gracious, emphatetic. If we see from the structure of verse 3, we can see that what Paul meant here was that “not pugnacious and addicted to much wine”, not quick tempered, rigorous, rigid in his interaction with others, understanding, thoughtful about others’ feeling.
- Peaceable, “amachon”, lover of peace, positive and constructive thinking.
- Free from the love of money, not greedy, from the word “aphilagruron” that mean to be content with what he has (1 Tim 6:8), simple lifestyle, have a generous giving attitude. Motivation is the big thing in this qualification, … is it overshadowed by financial gain.
- Manages his household well, from the Greek word “prohistemenon”, which means to lead, to manage, to be stand for. In family life, it means to be able to lead one’s household, whether in a family or other circumstances. This includes applying biblical principles and being an example in it.
- Not a new convert, “me neophuton” is the Greek word. This means that the person has been tested by God in his Christian life and has experiences in his walk with God without being conceited.
- Have a good reputation with those who outside, which literally means “with unbelievers”- “exothen”. The person is not a hypocrite, people who knows him speak well of him generally, little discrediting, and has an awareness of his comfort zone and able to resist it.
Vs. 3
Vs. 4-5
Vs. 6
Vs. 7
There are some additions from Titus 1:
Vs. 7
- Not self-willed, from Greek words, “me autade”, not egocentric nor selfish. Able to work with others and surrender one’s will for the benefit of others. There’s an aspect of humility here, able to apologize, not rebellious.
- Not quick tempered, “me orgilon”, not violent and plunge into bitterness. Anger itself is not the thing (Eph 4), but the quickness of getting to it is the main thing in this verse, rather he should be patient, avoid outburst. This has a lot of thing to do with self controlled, ability to forgive people and drop offenses.
- Loving what is good, “philagathon”, “agathon” means goodness, that’s where we get a name Agathon, who is The God of Goodness in Greek. He is able to demonstrate a lifestyle that reflects an enjoyment of living in godly perspective. Enjoy doing ministry, even though things may go hard.
- Just, from a Greek word “dikiaon”, means fair, no favoritism. He must be able to show no favoritism in dealing with people and managing ministries. Able to resist one’s bias and tendencies to be selfish and set forth for God’s plan and will.
- Devout, “hosion”, seriousness, in approaching and knowing God and His will to be applied in ministries and his life.
Vs. 8
Deacons, from 1 Tim 3:8-12, have the same criteria as elders without the things listed in the differences between elders and deacons. Here they are: [McCALDeL05]
Vs. 8
- Dignity, respectable, as the elders.
- Not double tongue, means consistency in saying, not a liar.
- Not addicted to much wine, not having a substance abuse.
- Not fond of sordid gain, not selfish, nor trying to have a personal gains/biases. Willing to sacrifice possessions/money to an enhancement of the gospel regularly.
- Holding fast to the mystery of faith with a clear conscience. This means know the bible/scripture and apply it in real life.
- Beyond reproach and already tested. Deacons have to be able show the work of ministry effectively and recognize them as a deacon if they are beyond reproach.
- Not malicious gossips. This is very clear, deacons must be able to show ability to keep secret, and not involving in slanders.
- Temperate, sober, spiritually healthy and emotionally stable.
- Faithful in all things, reliable.
- Husband of one wife, literally one-woman man, emphasized on sexual morality.
- Manages his household well
Vs. 9
Vs. 10
Vs. 11
Vs. 12
G. GOVERNMENT OF THE CHURCH [SAUCY01]
The church must have some forms (wineskins) for communicating its mission (wine, the gospel). It seems that Jesus Himself never really prescribed a specific direction about this issue. But He did promised that He will reveal His progressive revelations through the Holy Spirit, which indeed happened in the apostolic period. There are three major suggestions and practices of church government in NT, episcopal, presbytarian, and congregational.
EPISCOPAL
Definition: derived from the term “episkopoi” or “episkopos” which means “bishop” or overseer”. Episcopal has three forms or three-fold ministry of the church; bishops, presbyters (or priests) and deacons. Bishop is the only one who can consecrate other bishops or priests or deacons. The succession of bishops can be traced back to apostolic period, thus it’s called “apostolic succession”. There are some ways of understanding apostolic succession concept;
- “In the face of Gnostic heretics who claimed a secret tradition handed down from the apostle, Iranaeus appealed to the open and public succession of the bishops in center founded by the apostles. True apostolic teaching was transmitted only through these.”
- Others view bishop as carrier of the apostles’ works, including leadership and doctrine purity. In this sense, bishop is a successor in their function.
- The third one is succession in doctrine, so it stresses on continuity on maintaining apostolic doctrine.
- Ordination. Apostles ordained bishops as their successors, and they, in turn, ordain their successors, and so on.
Example of episcopal government churches: Orthodox, Anglican, Roman Catholic, and Methodism.
PRESBYTERIAN
Definition: the government consists in the rulership by the elders (presbuteros). An assembly that is composed of elders that are elected by the membership, with the teaching elder as the leading officer governs the local church. The higher court of local church is the Presbytery that includes all ordained ministers or teaching elders from each local church. Above the presbytery are the synod, and then the General Assembly, the highest court. The synod and the general assembly consist of ministers and laymen. The scriptural basis of authoritative body was taken from the Jerusalem Council in Acts 15 and 16.
CONGREGATIONAL
Definition: this form rests the government in the church as an autonomous single unit. There is no corporate body that governs above it except Christ as The Head. There is also a big emphasis on building a democratic structure in the church; thus the authority is vested in the members themselves. Leader’s authority also included in this emphasis, where the authority rests in their relationship with the body/congregation and is less extensive in practice than episcopal dan presbyterian ministers. Usually, congregationalist express this government in a form of elders who oversight and deacons who have a ministry of service. In congregational view, the basis of their autonomy is that there was no biblical evidence about an organization above a local church. This practice of the autonomy of each congregation is evident in NT (Matt 18:15-17, 1 Cor 5:5, 2 Thess 3:6, Acts 6:3-5, Acts 14:23, Tit 1:5, 1 Thess 5:21, 1 Cor 11:23). Congregationalism does not mean isolation from other churches, but as described in NT it necessitates the importance of cooperation for seeking counsel and understanding. (1 Cor 1:2, Tit 1:4, Jude 3, 2 Pet 1:1, Col 4:16, Gal 1:2, 2 Jn 9-11, 1 Thess 1:7-9, 4:9-10, 2 Thess 1:3-4, Rom 1:8, Col 1:4).
H. CHURCH DENOMINATION
Brief history of denominationalism[FRAME01]
False teachers, heretics, church dividers attracted people and formed new churches.
- Marcion – A.D. 80-160, rejected OT and most of NT, formed new churches that dedicated to his philosophy.
- Montanus – late second century, claimed that he had a new revelation from God.
- Novatian – mid third century, after excommunicated from the Roman synod, he formed his own church.
- Donatus – A.D. 303, believed that the people who have denied their faith under persecution were treated too leniently by the church.
- Council of Chalcedon – 451, about the Deity of Christ, some churches like the Egyptian and Syrian denied that statement and went into separation.
- The Orthodox and Roman Catholic – 1054, a disputation over papal authority.
- Martin Luther – 1521, Protestant from Catholicism.
Other denominations arise when they sought the denomination they were joining currently compromised the biblical truth/doctrine.
There is nowhere in the bible that says God created denominations, but instead He wants us to share gifts and love to one another as a member of The Body of Christ. Denomination is a result of human sin nature, and it plays no role in the NT church government. Therefore, denominations should not be a boundary of our ministry and one should not limit one’s ministry within a denomination only. One must be careful not to become a denominational chauvinism.
Interdenominational Cooperation
Usually Christians always disagree over non-essential doctrines. Some believe in baptism for the whole body, some only the head, some Christians believe in predestination, some believe in human free will, tithing, etc. Most of these doctrinal believe are less important or minor in importance, means people can tolerate the absence or the existence of its practice/teaching. But there are also some that are important enough so that we would not want to get involve in a church that does not agree with us about them. In this case, it is better to involve in a church that has a basic agreement about those issues.
In a cooperation where denominations can not merge, we should try to do as much as possible to share one another, counter differences, highlight common grounds, and not stop doing ministry together. John Frame puts it this way,
“If two denominations cannot merge, for one reason or another, certainly the next best thing is that they fellowship together as much as possible to get to know one another, break down stereotypes, persuade one another when that is necessary, and so on. Often, where conscience permits, this would include joint ministries of various kinds.” [FRAME01]
So, how can we build this type of relationship? There are some basic principles: [DeLASHMUTT01]
- Realizing that it is a non-essential doctrine. This is different from arguing with a Mormon, but disagreement on when will tribulation happen is not as important as other essential doctrine, such as the gospel.
- Sometimes the problem is not discussing doctrinal differences, but rather the way we discuss them. A sincere Christian should be able to discuss without any deceit or anger and fight spirit.
- We also can learn from one another in areas we agree on.
- In serving God, other Christian groups are not enemies. We may use a different strategy or form of ministry, but still, they are also serving the same Lord. We can find ways of working together without dishonoring our differences.
- Don’t emphasize spititual gifts superiority over another. Spiritual gifts are not the proof of spiritual maturity. Instead use of one another’s gift to build up the Body of Christ by serving one another.
- Do not take our differences in personal and cultural preferences as the key feature of our identity. We should be able to surrender our personal and cultural preferences in order to achieve a higher goal, which is God’s plan.
Further Studies:
– Wayne House, Charts of Christian Theology and Doctrine
– Loren B. Mead, Five Challenges For The One and Future Church
– Jim Peterson, Church Without Walls, NavPress 1992
– Paul Little, Know What You Believe, Victor Books 1989
– Howard Snyder, The Problem of Wineskins, IVP 1975
– Bruce Milne, Know The Truth, IVP 1982
– Mark Gibbs and Ralph Morton, God’s Lively People, The Westminster Press 1971
References:
– [DeLASHMUTT01] Gary DeLashmutt, Loving God’s Way, Kregel 1996
– [DEVER01] Mark E. Dever, Nine Marks of A Healthy Church, Center of Church Reform 1998
– [FRAME01] John Frame, Evangelical Reunion, Baker 1991
– [GIBMOR01] Mark Gibbs and Ralph Morton, God’s Frozen People, The Westminster Press 1965
– [HAVLIK01] John Havlik, People-Centered Evangelism
– [KUSKUR01] Christiana Kuswanti and Andreas Kurnia, “CHURCH-part 1: an SGPA paper”, ICF Columbus 1999
– [McCALDeL01] Dennis McCallum and Gary DeLashmutt, “The New Testament Definition of the Church”, Xenos Christian Fellowship
– [McCALDeL02] Dennis McCallum and Gary DeLashmutt, “The Origin of the Church and Its Relationship to the Old Covenant”, Xenos Christian Fellowship
– [McCALDeL03] Dennis McCallum and Gary DeLashmutt,“Leadership or Polity in the Local Church”, Xenos Christian Fellowship
– [McCALDeL04] Dennis McCallum and Gary DeLashmutt, “Character Qualifications for Elders”, Xenos Christian Fellowship
– [McCALDeL05] Dennis McCallum and Gary DeLashmutt, “Deacons”, Xenos Christian Fellowship
– [RUSJAY01] Leonard Rusli and Enrico Jayawiyanto, “CHURCH-part 2: an SGPA paper”, ICF Columbus 1999
– [SAUCY01] Robert L. Saucy, The Church In God’s Program, Moody 1972
– [STOTT01] John Stott, One People, Revell 1972