On occasion, my father allowed me to attend Sunday morning service with my grandmother. She was a member of a small Methodist congregation in her community. Even as a youth, the differences between her church and the various churches we attended were clear to me. No one had to tell me that the preaching in her church was usually anemic and the worship more sentiment than substance. Yet, I recall with great fondness the strong bond between the various members of my grandmother’s church. They cared for each other, enjoyed one another’s company, and weathered many personal and congregational storms together. They grew old together; most of them have now died together. Not too many years ago, the congregation folded, its final members too enfeebled and scattered by old age, disease, and time to continue. On the rare occasion I pass by the building that once housed their body life, a sense of loss comes over my soul. I once shared their fellowship there, as halting as it was. Now, their songs, loves, and struggles are largely forgotten.
I used to wonder why their children did not stay and continue the work, but most of them did not continue attending church anywhere. Why? What gives a congregation multi-generational stability and unity, staying and holding power, and vitality? Whatever my grandmother’s congregation was at its inception, as the years passed, it became a mutual admiration and friendship society more than anything else. Jesus, the Bible, and God were somewhere in the mix, but their congregational bond was not specifically his gospel, ardent love for the crucified One, and the desire to walk in the power of his resurrection. They rarely, if ever, heard this kind of Savior and body life mentioned in sermons. And having a purpose and bond far beneath that of a faithful and vigorous congregation, the spark eventually died – merely human love, sentimental religion, long association, and shared life experiences were simply too weak to sustain their congregation. They are too weak to sustain any congregation. Though its demise was inevitable and probably better for the life of the overall body of Christ, there is still something I miss about that group. I am drawn to the idea that professing believers should live and die together within the body in which God has placed them – no eye jumping to another socket because the other eye seems weak, or a foot walking away in disgust due to stubbed toe on the other foot, or an arm jumping to a different body because a another shoulder socket seems more attractive. No, for better or for worse, this was their church, as they understood it, and they lived and died in it together.
We need to be very clear about the nature of the church of the Lord Jesus Christ. It is not an organization of human will or whim, free to decide its own purpose or mission, beliefs or practices, with respect to its relations with the world or to its own inner life. Whether in the devolution of my grandmother’s congregation due to its settling into a personal relationship focus, or in the more sophisticated yet no less inferior models that men choose for forming or perpetuating churches, there is no legitimate foundation, staying power, or lasting unity for a congregation that usurps to itself the right to determine its purpose in the world. At this level, “Rock and Roll” churches are no better or worse than “Home School” churches, for neither has the right to place clever adjectives before “church.” Unlike any other institution in the universe, the church of our Savior has no freedom to determine its own bylaws, doctrines, purpose, mission, or function. These are already provided in the inspired charter of the church’s sole King and Lawgiver, Jesus Christ, the Bible given to the church through his Spirit. Beyond this law, all is theft of his blood-bought rights, rejection of his clear revelation, and implicit theological agnosticism. Therefore, the selection of any purpose, method of operation, or style other than our Savior’s will expressed in his written word, however apparently relevant, needed, or vibrant, sows the seeds of decay, potential dissolution, and constant revolution.
The latter is a significant danger in our particular church environment, for unbelief breeds revolution. This is true politically, as the French and Russian revolutions bloodily testify, both of which rejected the cultural vestiges of biblical religion and wound up with the guillotine and genocide. This principle is also true ecclesiastically. When men throw off God’s yoke, there is no end to the invasion of demons that rush into the void created by unbelief. It does not matter where a particular revolutionary movement in the church finally rests: liberalism, Jesus “freak-ism,” emergent church-ism, arrogant orthodoxy, or musty traditionalism. By rejecting the sole authority of the Bible to direct the church’s purpose and mission in the world, the sufficiency of the Bible to revive its sometimes flagging faith, and the preaching of the Bible to energize its love and faithfulness, the precedent for rebellion is set. No legitimate, objective restraint remains. Any particular stopping place is purely arbitrary, more a testimony to the courage or cowardice of a particular rebel or group of rebels than anything having to do with principle. Hence, a church purpose and mission, written or implied, celebrated or quietly embraced, if not defined solely and specifically by Scripture, which is the church’s only rule of faith and practice, is in fact a statement of revolution against God. That it may be confessed ostensibly in the name of God, of Jesus, or of the Holy Spirit, matters not. Anytime we turn from the specifics of God’s word in unbelief, we build Babel. Collapse is inevitable, as well as bitter, and no amount of initial hubris and creative life-support can prevent its death.
Yet, purpose we must have. Our mission must be defined. Who are we? What are we to be doing? What is our relationship to the world? Who is entitled to determine the church’s purpose? The answers given to these questions will bear strongly on the nature of our worship, the nature and focus of our programs and activities, even the doctrines we choose to emphasize, downplay, or deny. Then, there is the haunting question of church unity. Assume, for the sake of argument, that each congregation should be likened to a business. One does not typically see three coffee shops operating next door to each other. To survive, a business must differentiate, offer a unique product or service, and target a specific customer base. While these are important components of a successful business model, they will not help us when it comes to the church. They will not help us at all. In fact, pursuing this method will fragment the church, render it unable to give a consistent and coherent witness to God’s truth, and confuse believers. When the church’s purpose and mission are determined like a business model, especially when this becomes a widespread practice, believers are distracted and tempted to shop and hop constantly from one church to another, always looking for that elusive greener grass. This is where we currently find ourselves, for statistics indicate that the growth experienced by most churches is not the result of conversions and internal growth over generations but a reflection of the migratory patterns of spiritual consumers, often jaundiced ones.
Two points need to be kept in mind. First, the church has lost any concrete, determinative sense of the Headship of Jesus Christ. He, not we, determines the nature of the church, its witness, worship, and purpose. And since he does not secretly share these with the creative and daring who feel themselves authorized to launch out in new directions but with the meek and lowly who bow before his word, our duty and only safeguard is to continue to consult his word. Would-be church creators and re-creators function as so many sirens to lead us away from the purity and simplicity that is in Jesus Christ. The only way we learn who we are, what we are to do, and how we are to worship is found in the Bible of the King and Head of the church. Yes, I know the comeback. “The Bible can be interpreted in many different ways.” No, it cannot be. This does not necessarily mean “my way is right and your way is wrong.” It is to deny that the Bible has a nose of wax. It is God’s revelation, his sufficient and complete revelation, his specific and authoritative revelation, his Son-focused revelation. With his word, he has also given us his Holy Spirit so that through his illumination we may discern the will of our Head, not through sudden flashes of self-willed brilliance, which are often motivated by ambition, but through understanding his eternal truth that is in the Bible all the time but can only be understood accurately, believed savingly, and obeyed humbly as he overpowers our willfulness and subdues our hearts to teachableness.
Second, though I fear being taken simplistically, the mission and purpose of the church is the gospel. “The Lord added to the church those who were being saved” (Acts 2:47). And how were they saved? “Then they that gladly receive his word were baptized” (Acts 2:41). And what course did the early believers pursue? “And they continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, the breaking of bread, and prayer” (Acts 2:42). And what was their mission in the world? “For from you sounded out the word of the Lord” (1 Thess. 1:8). And how are believers described? “Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God and have the faith of Jesus” (Rev. 14:12). Legitimate body life and congregational purpose flow from, draw life from, and derive relevance from the word and gospel of God. The reason for this is clear. We only have Jesus Christ, the way, truth, and life, the door, vine, and bread, the Prince of life and great High Priest, if we believe and obey his word (Col. 1:16). Everything comes from union with our Head through the love of his truth (2 Thess. 1:10). “If you continue in my word, then you are my disciples in deed” (John 8:31). We have no other calling and purpose than to know our Savior, proclaim and promote his gospel, and grow in love for him and fellowship with him.
Thus, a biblical view of his headship as expressed and exercised through his authoritative, life-giving word is the key to purpose and unity in the local congregation. The world can teach us nothing here – nothing about marketing, about adapting our product to our intended consumers, or any of the other church models that assume it is a merely human institution or authorized to develop its own course in this world. Growth comes to the local congregation as each member personally commits himself to walking in communion with his head and submitting to his word. From this, deeper love for the Lord Jesus blossoms. Individually and collectively, we learn to desire nothing else but Jesus Christ, and him crucified. Our lips are then opened in gratitude and sincerity so that we can simply and sincerely share with others the great things he has done for our soul. Being much in his society, especially in corporate worship where faithfulness to his revealed will brings the blessings of his presence and peace, our Christian influence grows – not through clever gimmicks and sideshows but through changed lives built upon Jesus Christ and his word. We become an aroma of Christ, to those being saved and to those who are perishing. We do not change perfumes depending upon whom we are with or the perceived needs of the target market we have selected – the fragrance is always and ever the Son of God and Savior of sinners. The perfume only has one formula: the revealed gospel of Jesus Christ. The results will vary, but this is due not to some failure on our part to adapt but to the sovereign, inscrutable will of our Head, who through the sovereign Spirit reveals the Father to whom he pleases, a supernatural work that we cannot predict, manipulate, or even assist (Matt. 11:27; John 3:1-8). The building and growth of the church is his domain; faithfulness to the gospel and word of God is ours (1 Cor. 3:6).
Wherever, then, you and your congregation happen to be in the lifecycle of faith and sanctification, you have a clearly defined purpose and glorious basis for unity. Whether a congregation is in the city, suburbs, or country, large or small, utilizes a piano or guitar, its purpose, bond of unity, and wellspring of life is the gospel of Jesus Christ, of him crucified, raised, and ruling. This is the source of legitimate church growth, the foundation of multi-generational sanctification, staying power, unity, and relevance: Jesus Christ, the word of his gospel proclaimed, lived, and witnessed by changed lives of faith and love. Recovering this vision for the church’s divinely revealed purpose and union will require us to recover Jesus Christ. All life comes from him. His abundant life is not subject to our crafting and wisdom. It is revealed – in the way we receive it, grow in it, celebrate it, promote it, and live it – in his word alone. It is received by faith alone and enjoyed through humble submission to him alone. If we would truly gain the world, we must have and promote only him, in all his glory and fullness, power and sufficiency. The world does not primarily need to hear of our political conservatism, educational paradigms, and artistic tastes. To the degree that these have any relevance for the church’s purpose and witness, it is only as they reveal more fully the grace of our Savior, only as they lead men to embrace him as the way, truth, and life. And as we ourselves are caught up in the swirl of current events, disasters, and real human suffering, the church is the pillar and ground of the truth not by converting itself into a think tank, relief agency, or center of social activism but by abiding steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, proclaiming Jesus Christ and him crucified, and teaching every man in all the wisdom that is found in Jesus Christ (Col. 1:28).
May the Lord grant us renewed purpose and unity in communion with Christ our Head! Each of us must be personally committed to know nothing but Jesus Christ, and him crucified, to grow in knowledge of him, adoration of him, and service done according to his word and in his glorious name. From him, we receive life and fullness, grace upon grace. United to him, we shall be united to each other on a truly lasting basis, an eternal basis, the word of truth that reveals him to us. Committed to him, we shall be committed to his church, for only here does he proclaim to his Father: “Lo, here am I, and the children you have given me” (Heb. 2:13). Dependent upon him, we shall draw from him all life, wisdom, goodness, glory, and blessedness that will enable us to say with John the Baptizer: “He must increase, but I must decrease.” Drawn to him continually, the next generation will feel no need to leave but will desire to join us in serving him, promoting him, and adoring him. Seeking him in this fashion, he will, in his own time and will, strengthen us, restore our power, sanctify us in the truth, unify us so that the world will know that the Father has sent him, preserve us from the world, and make us again the light of the world, his city set on a hill.