The Week In Review

Writing Assignment #6 – Church and Witness

2006

The purpose of the church has often been misunderstood. Some believe church attendance is all that is necessary to be saved and others believe it has no importance in today’s world and one can live without the church intervening. Both of these views are distorted regarding the purpose of the church. The Bible is the source that best defines the relevancy of the church.


Nelson’s New Illustrated Bible Dictionary defines the church as, “a local assembly of believers as well as the redeemed of all the ages who follow Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord” (275). This definition calls for one to broaden their understanding of church. It is one’s local assembly but it is more than the walls or the building. The early church met in the Temple courts and Jewish synagogues, as well as in the private homes of believers (Acts 5:42). Richard Howard, in his book Newness of Life, states, “On the other hand, an overemphasis on the importance of the Church as the mystical body of Christ tends to ignore the clear teaching of the New Testament that every man must personally respond to the Cross in faith” (118). The church is the body of believers (those that have personally accepted Jesus Christ as Savior). The church is also made up of the believers that come together to worship the Lord in the local congregations.


The early church gives believers today an example of what the body of believers should look like. In Acts 2:44-47, the believers came together and there was unity among them. They took care of each other’s needs (they were not depending on governmental help) and they had fellowship with one another. There was singleness of heart (all were there for one purpose, to serve God) and God added to the church. The significance of this scripture is to show how working in unity will bring forth fruit (God adding to the church).

Howard makes this point to his reader, “It seems clear that it was to emphasize the unity of the Church, that the individual believer was a vital part of a collective whole. The human body offered a vivid metaphor” (121). In Howard’s book he uses the metaphor of the church being a body. All the parts are important to the whole.

The Bible uses other metaphors or models to show what the church should look like. The writer, Arlo F. Newell in his book, The Church of God as revealed in Scripture, explains these models when he writes, “Various figures of speech make plain the New Testament idea of the Church. It is a flock (John 10), all of one fold, following the Shepherd. It is the family of God (Eph. 3:15), composed of all who have been born again. It is a city whose inhabitants are all saved and recorded in the Lamb’s Book of Life (Heb. 12:22). It is a house or building (1 Tim. 3:15) comprised of ‘living stones…built into a spiritual house’ (1 Pet. 2:5), ‘joined…and built into it for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit’ (Eph. 2:21-22)” (40).

The church, therefore, is the body of believers (flock) that belong to God and are being lead by the Shepherd (Jesus). Jesus is the head of the church. Newell states it this way, “The church is the body of Christ; hence it is only natural that he should be the head of his own body. He is ‘head over all things for the church, which is his body’ (Eph. 1:22-23). ‘He is head of the body, the church’ (Col. 1:18)” (41).

Howard points out that when one becomes a part of the church, there are some things one must do outwardly to show what has taken place inwardly. Howard states, “Christian water baptism was the visible gate of entrance into the new fellowship. When it is realized that baptism relates to the Christian Church as circumcision did to the covenant of the Hebrew people, the importance of baptism becomes clear…Water baptism produces outer authentication of one’s faith in Christ, even as the coming of the Holy Spirit provided inner authentication” (122). Howard is not stating that baptism is what will save but it is a sacrament, which is not normally optional in fulfilling (123). Another sacrament Howard points out is participation in Communion. “The man of faith finds a new fellowship, becoming part of the Church and the body of Christ. This new fellowship is entered through the visible gate of baptism and is maintained through participation in the sacrament of Communion” (Howard, 125).

One should attend a local church or congregation to fellowship together with other believers. This fellowship will help the individual to be accountable to others as wells as in growing in their faith and understanding. Each member is a vital part of the body and no one is more important than another. Each member is also given gifts to use within the body (1 Corinthians 12:3 – 11). God’s Spirit administers spiritual gifts to each member of the body. These gifts are not given for selfish reason but to help the body to function as God has ordained it to.

In the book, Biblical Foundations & Contemporary Strategies: Missions, the author Gailyn Van Rheenen In a figure shows this important point, “God originated the mission, Jesus Christ enacted the mission, the Holy Spirit gives power to the mission, the Church carries the mission and the World hears the mission” (18). This gives the ultimate purpose of the church. God through Jesus initiated the mission of reconciliation to the lost of the world. This mission is not based on human efforts (or work, lest any should boast) but God directives. God created this purpose when men were still lost in sin. The church then becomes vital because it is the avenue God chose to convey the message of reconciliation. The Holy Spirit empowers the people (body of Christ) to tell the message. This is the great commission for all believers to go and tell the world the message of Jesus.

It is important to give the message of reconciliation to non-believers so they can have fellowship with God and not simply to be a part of our local congregation. It is important, however, to encourage those that God adds to one’s local congregation. God commands us to love one another and be united because we are members of the body together (Eph. 4:25). God calls for unity among the believers (even if we do not all attend the same church), as it states in Psalm 133:1 “Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity!” It is important for new believers (as well as all believers) to have the teaching needed to be able to live a victorious life.

As the early church worked together, the Lord added to the body. If the church today is going to continue to grow and reach the lost, believers must be cheerful givers of themselves to kingdom work. Attendance in the local church is essential for the believer to grow personally and to learn how to reach the world for Christ. When the believer is active in the body, then the body grows stronger and God’s mission is fulfilled.

Work Cited

Howard, Richard E. Newness of Life. United States of America: n.p., 1975.

Newell, Arlo F. The Church of God as revealed in Scripture. Anderson, IN: Warner Press, Inc., 1983.

Rheenen, Gailyn Van. Biblical Foundations & Contemporary Strategies: Missions. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 1996.


Thompson, Frank Charles, D.D., PH.D. The Thompson Chain-Reference Bible. 5th ed. Indianapolis, IN: B. B. Kirkbridge Bible Co., Inc., 1988.