THE CHURCH

Introduction

"...I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it."— Jesus Christ (Matthew 16:18)

Jesus Christ established His Church and gave it a mission. The Scriptures indicate He intended it to be a warm and loving fellowship of His faithful disciples, a source of strength and purpose for them. However, church for many years has become a physical structure; which is always the focal point of church leaders. An excellent example is the cathedral of Notre-Dame de Paris. It represents, for many, the essence of the meaning of church. Begun in 1163, its construction continued through several lifetimes until 1345. Its 115-foot soaring interior, flying buttresses and great rose windows obviously were all designed for otherworldly purposes. Throughout history people have ascribed religious significance to places and buildings where they, and often their ancestors, felt closer to God or to the god or gods they worshiped. Church buildings, cathedrals, temples, altars and shrines have long been the focal point of worship. The cathedral of Notre-Dame suffered through the centuries. After being damaged during the French Revolution, the church was sold at auction to a building-materials merchant. Napoleon came to power in time to annul the sale, and he ordered that the edifice be redecorated for his coronation as emperor in 1804." There is a question as to what to do with enormous church edifices that are no longer used enough to justify the high costs of their maintenance. Is a church building that is no longer used for church services still a church? An even more important question: What does the Bible mean when it talks about the Church?

What is Church?

1.     A church is a creation of Christ. He builds His church and arranges the members in according to His will (1 Cor. 12:18). Therefore, members should have respects for every member God has placed in their church.

2.     A church is a living body of Christ with many members (1 Cor. 12:27). The church is not building or a societal organization. It is a group of people built up into a living body. When the New Testament talks about the Church, it speaks of an assembly of people. In the Bible the word church is a translation of the Greek word ekklesia, meaning "a calling out." It never refers to a building or meeting place, but always to people, the ones "called out" of the world's society by God calling them into His service. The church of the Bible is not a cold, stone building, but a group of warm and loving people specially chosen by God. In the Scriptures church can refer to the group of believers in a particular location, such as a city or region, or to the entire body of believers God has called. For example, the apostle Paul greeted the church—the congregation of people—that met in the house of Priscilla and Aquila in Rome (Romans 16:3-5).

3.     A church is uniquely related to Christ as Head of the body (Eph. 1:22; 4:15-16). All matters in a church are to come under His leadership and authority.

4.     Members of a church are uniquely related to every member of the church. All members are interdependent on one another. All members need each other.

5.     A church is on mission with in our world carrying out the Father’s redemptive purpose (Matt. 28:19-20; 2 Cor. 5:17-20). We are God’s fellow workers (1 Cor. 3:9).

Knowing God’s will as a church

§  God is always at work in and around a church.

§  God pursues a continuing love relationship with His church that is real and personal.

§  God invites a church to become involved in His work.

§  When a church sees where God is at work that is their invitation to join Him in what He is doing.

§  God speaks by the Holy Spirit through the Bible, prayer, circumstances, and the church (members of the body of Christ).

§  A church will face a crisis of belief when God invites them to become involved in a work only He can accomplish. Faith and actin will be required.

§  A church is totally dependent on God for accomplishing tasks of Kingdom value.

§  Apart from God a church can do nothing of Kingdom value.

§  As a church obeys God, they will come to know Him by experience as He does wonderful things through them.

The church as a body

A church functions as a physical body. It functions well and best when all members are able to share what they sense God wants the church to be and do. A church needs to hear the whole counsel of God through its members. Then it can proceed in confidence and in unity to do God’s will. When God wants to reveal His will to a church, He will begin by speaking to one or more individuals. Their job is to bear witness to the church about what they sense God is saying. Other members may then express what they sense God is saying. Then the whole body looks to Christ – the Head of the church- for guidance. He guides all the members of the body to understand His will fully.

Discerning God’s will as a body

The church does not come to know the will of God as individual does. Only when they understand what Christ the Head is telling them. With the coming of Holy Spirit, God came to dwell with the church. In the body of Christ every believer has direct access to God. God speaks to any and every member of the body. It had worked in the New Testament church in making joint decision under God’s leadership

§  The choosing of Judas’ replacement – Acts 1:12-26

§  The choosing of the Seven – Acts 6:1-7

§  Peter’s Witness to the Gentile Conversions – Acts 11:1-18

§  Barnabas and Saul Sent Out – Acts 13:1-3

§  The Jerusalem Council – Acts 15:1-35

When God speaks to a person about the church, the person should share with the body what he or she senses God is saying. The whole body goes to God in prayer to discern His will for the body. When Christ is able to guide each member of the body to function properly, whole body will know and be enabled to do God’s will. The leader does not have to try to convince the church that this is God’s will. The leader does not have to ask the congregation to follow him without question. The leader encourages the body to go to Christ and get confirmation from the Head (Christ). Problems arise when a church does not function as a body. Every member should be free to share what he or she knows or senses as God’s will. One member cannot “know it all.” Opportunity for members to share should be created. It is not to know “who are for it and who are against it.” The right question is: “With all the information and all of the praying that we have been doing, how many of you sense that God clearly is directing us to proceed in this direction? If the response is low, it may be it is not yet time. Good directions from God may be lost by missing God’s timing. We must wait until God’s time. Know this; Holy Spirit is the Christian’s real Motivator.

Equipped members for the body

A church needs to learn to function as the body of Christ. Romans 12:9-21 explains it all. Holy Spirit is the main energy of each member of the body. He gives gift(s) to enable each member to function in the body. When God gives us gifts, He doesn’t give some thing; He gives Himself. The Gift is a Person. The Holy Spirit in you enables and equips you with His administrative ability (1 Cor. 12). A spiritual gift is a manifestation of the Holy Spirit at work in and through a person’s life for the common good of the body of Christ. Church needs all the members God has given the body. If one suffers, all suffer. As a member is equipped, he or she does not choose his or her function. God decides where one should function in the body. In your area of service, you can’t do it. The Holy Spirit enables you to complete any assignment He gives.

Life in the body

Right relationships with God are far more important than buildings, budget, programmes, methods, church personnel, size or anything else. These scriptures rightly put the essence of life in the body of Christ: Romans 14:1, 12-13; 1 Cor. 10:24; Eph. 4:25; 29; 31-32; 5:19-20, 21; and Col. 3:13-14. There is need for covenant relationship in the body; having consensus to watch and guide one another into the truth of God’s will. Even a new member is welcome by the members with commitment to the body growing. God is not adding anyone to the church accidently. Therefore, it is necessary for members to pay close attention to the people God adds to our church.

Function of the church

The work of the church can be grouped into six functions: worship, proclamation, fellowship, education, nurturing and ministering. These functions are not independent of one another or done in sequence. They are interdependent and interrelated. The effectiveness of a church depends on the total performance of its functions. A weakness in worship will reflect itself in the other functions of the church. These functions are bound together like the nerves, muscles, veins and organs of a human body.

Worship

To worship is to be aware of God and offer Him something of oneself. Worship includes the outgoing of the soul in response to God’s revelation of himself to us in Christ. Paul contends that when an unbeliever comes into a church dominated by the Spirit, the secrets of his heart will be made manifest (to him) and he will fall down and worship God (I Corinthians 14:25). In worship Christians hear what God is saying to the church and what the church is committing to God. True worship will be expressed in service and praise.

Proclamation/Preaching

The early days of the New Testament churches were characterized by the proclaiming of the news that Jesus was alive and He was the Savior of the world. When the boldness of apostles Peter and John brought them before the Jerusalem council they testified, “For we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard” (Acts 4:20). Though methods have changed, the function remains the same. The church must bear witness to Jesus Christ through proclamation. The unsaved person must be confronted with the message of redemption.

Fellowship

Fellowship is clearly a mutual relationship among Christians. We all need to give and to receive fellowship. We all need to give and receive love. Our weekly meetings demonstrate that fellowship is important to us, both historically and right now. Fellowship means a lot more than talking to each other about sports, gossip and news. It means sharing lives, sharing emotions, bearing one another's burdens, encouraging one another and helping those who have need.

Education/Teaching

The church by its nature must educate its members in Christian life and work. In setting forth the requirements of a bishop (overseer) Paul said he must be “apt to teach” (1Timothy 3:2). Paul and Barnabas spent time in Antioch “teaching and preaching the word of the Lord.” (Acts 14:35) Converts coming from a pagan world into a Christian community need the proper instruction for growth and maturity. The pastor of a church is responsible for teaching the new converts. So necessary was Christian education to the life of the church that one of the gifts of the Holy Spirit to the church was that of teachers (Ephesians 4:11). The epistles that Paul wrote to the churches are documents for teaching the Christians in their faith and personal maturity. 1 Corinthians was Paul’s personal instructions on many of the problems that confronted the church at Corinth.

Nurturing/Discipleship

The heart of the Great Commission is to make disciples not converts. Some churches are strong on evangelism but are weak on discipleship. We are to not only reach people, we must teach them the ways of Christ. The job is not complete until the new Christian is a reproducing disciple-maker.

Ministering/Serving/Missions

Since the church is Christ’s body, the whole church is His ministering body. Any member of the church may minister even as any member of the body may proclaim or worship. To minister is to respond to the needs of persons in the name of Christ. Christian ministry therefore is the ministry of God’s people to overcome human needs. Jesus set the example for ministering to the needs of others. Jesus said “The Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many.” (Matthew 20:28) The ministry of Christ revealed the depths of the self-giving love of God. The risen Lord continues his ministry through the church, the people of God, the body of Christ. Though the church is primarily interested in reconciling God and man, this reconciliation vitally affects all relations between God to man and man to man. 

Allen Olatunde