Ecclesia semper reformanda est
Means: "The church is always to be reformed."
Don't put me in a box just yet because I typed the word
"reformed." Consider the next few lines and feel free to leave
comments. By the time you read this, hopefully you will be challenged to think
through the areas of: the meaning of church, the pastoral office, and our role
within the church.
The Bible says there are apostles, prophets, evangelists,
pastors and teachers within the church.
Ephesians 4:11-16 reads:
11 And He gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists,
the shepherds and teachers, 12 to equip the saints for the work of ministry,
for building up the body of Christ, 13 until we all attain to the unity of the
faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood,[e] to the
measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, 14 so that we may no longer
be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of
doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes. 15 Rather,
speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the
head, into Christ, 16 from whom the whole body, joined and held together by
every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly,
makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.
Interestingly enough, many think that the first 3 are sent
out and the last 2 are kept in office in a building. Still more interesting, we
talk about "speaking the truth in love" within the context of church. Verse 12,
which is often overlooked, specifically says, "to equip the saints for the work
of ministry, for building up the body of Christ..." This, too is done within the
context of church. So why is it that the apostle, prophets, and evangelists are
sent out and not "employed" within the context of the church?
Look at verse 11 again. Did you see a typo? Should I have
capitalized the "P" for pastor? I don't mean to disrespect the office
of a pastor but why is so much importance placed solely on him when the others
mentioned in the verse are not emphasized much at all?
The Great Commission is not; Go therefore and invite people
to church and let the pastor make disciples. Where are those that go? Why
invite to church? Is there supernatural power in each threshold of the doors of
our church building? No.
Where did the word "church" come from? Simply
stated, the word "church" came from the Scottish English word
"kirk" which means "house of the Lord." Lords were common
place in Scotland.
If one had to go to the building where the church gathers,
one would might say, "I'm going to church." But church is not a
building.
"Ekklesia" better captures the true meaning of
what the Bible calls "a called out assembly." A better form and
meaning of the concept of "church" can be found in the Spanish word
"iglesia"
Wikipedia says,"Both words, kirk and church, derive
from the Koine Greek (kyriakon (dōma)) meaning Lord's (house),
which was borrowed into the Germanic languages in late antiquity, possibly in
the course of the Gothic missions.
The biblical definition of church is skewed in our culture.
It is often pulpit centered, not Christ centered. It’s often about
"checking the box" within our conscience by spending 1.5 hours in a
building and calling it church, not being involved in the lives of others the
rest of the week. This isn't church. It is far from it. Church is not trustees,
offering plates, pews, and music. Church is the exceptional name given to an
assembly of Jesus followers that meet together on a regular basis for sharpening (Proverbs 27:17) and edifying. Evangelism is only done within theses meetings when the Gospel is shared. However, evangelism must be done without. It is the daily living and confessing of the Gospel to those around you. The Gospel must be shared by with words (verbal or written) and confirmed with that same person's actions (Read James). Yes, the church has evangelist within but they go out.
I challenge you to consider the church in other parts of the
world. I encourage you to consider this excerpt from the Voice of the MartyrsNewsletter:
"Every Sunday for 10 weeks, the Shouwang Church in
Beijing had tried to gather for worship. Each Sunday, "Shen" had watched as
police arrested some of his fellow church members and hauled them away. This
week was Shen’s turn. Shen expected to spend a few hours in jail alone until
authorities released him. His "crime," aft er all, was simply that he had
attended a forbidden outdoor worship service with the unregistered Shouwang
Church, where he was a member. After sitting in jail for a while, Shen was
ushered to a visitors’ room where he was greeted by three neatly dressed men.
To Shen’s surprise, the three men were members of the official state-run
church, the Three-Self Patriotic Movement (TSPM). The TSPM was founded by the
government, and every TSPM pastor is trained at a seminary run by the Communist
Party. The men "educated" Shen about the benefits of the Three-Self church and
asked him if he thought Shouwang Church’s defiance of government orders was
biblical and within God’s will."
Why are we content with the way we're doing church? More
importantly, why are we not actively being the church? I'm not saying we need
to go do the exact opposite of any given established church just to be
different. I'm asking us to consider what the Bible says about the church and
how well we are doing what we read (James 1:22 But be doers of the word, and
not hearers only, deceiving yourselves). This is how we gauge church; by the Bible.
Maybe it's time to "reform the church."
Respectfully,
George Fuller
Founder & CEO
Ikthoos, LLC
"Connecting the Christian Community!"
(650) 308-4667
