There seems to be an increasing number of articles talking about people leaving the church or leaving the faith. Most of these articles attempt to explain the different reasons for this exodus. Some try to offer ways to reverse course and either bring people back or at least prevent more from leaving. When I read these articles I do see that some of the criticism is valid and there are certainly issues that need to be addressed. However, out of the articles I’ve read, all of them seem to be missing the biggest issue of all. That issue is the understanding of what the Church actually is.
The Church is known as the Bride of Christ and also as the Body of Christ. Which is it? Both. The Bible uses the marriage relationship to explain this. “For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become on flesh.” This is a great mystery, but I speak concerning Christ and the church.–Eph. 5:31-32.
There has been so much talk about Jesus Christ being our “personal” Lord and Savior, that the true doctrine of the Church has been either misunderstood or lost altogether for many Christians. The Greek word that is translated as “church” in the Bible is ekklesia. This word is made up of a prefix and a root. The prefix is ek or ex, which means “out of ” or “from.” The root word is a form of the verb kaleo, which means “to call.” Thus, ekklesia means “those who are the called-out ones.” (This explanation is found in an article by R.C. Sproul. That article can be found here: http://theaquilareport.com/ekklesia-the-called-out-ones/ )
The Church is made up of those who have been called out. We are saved as individuals, yes, but we immediately become part of the Body of Christ. And as such, we have responsibilities towards the rest of the Body. Consider the exhortation found in Hebrews 10:24-25: “And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching.” We are the Church and for us to “leave” the Church puts us in sin. I say “leave”, because the reality is, if you are truly redeemed, you can’t leave the body. All you can do is forsake the assembling of yourselves. Which puts us in opposition to God even more so than the Church.
As I mentioned before, the true doctrine of the Church seems to have been lost in the idea of having a “personal” Savior in Jesus. The tragedy of that is that the term “Personal Savior” is found nowhere in Scripture. And while there are lots of valid theological terms used today that aren’t actually used in the Bible, the concept of “Personal” the way many perceive it, actually stands in contradiction to the vast and overwhelming teaching regarding us being united in One Body. For example: Eph. 4:4-6: “There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.”, not to mention the explanation about unity in our diversity found in 1 Corinthians 12:12-31, and the instructions given to Timothy with the reason clearly stated in 1 Timothy 3:14-15: “These things I write to you, though I hope to come to you shortly; but if I am delayed, I write so that you may know how you ought to conduct yourself in the house of God ,which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth.”
These passages just scratch the surface. The church belongs to God (Matt 16:18) and WE are the Church. If we belong to God, we belong to the Church.
The purpose of this blog was to clarify the identity of the Church. The articles I’ve read have had the tendency to speak of the Church as an institution that people regard as something where you can take it or leave it. That somehow it’s a separate entity from individual Christians. The idea that the Church is regulated to the physical meeting places and the leadership found there, is one not found in Scripture. Unfortunately, the leadership–the Elders–the Shepherds, have in many cases failed to either understand or at the very least, communicate this truth to the flock. The predominant view of a “personal Savior” has led to a very self-oriented view of faith, theology, and the church. And that is a fundamental error that has begotten other errors that have helped lead to the predicament we see today.
While this blog is by no means exhaustive study of the identity of the Church, I hope it has helped to jog our thinking regarding who we are in the Church and now how should we conduct ourselves in light of this. My next blog will be on the subject of what exactly is the Church supposed to be doing.