The Biblical Church

I have thought long and hard about this.  I made some notes and still have reservations about many things.  But I sit down to write (sometimes in strange places).  It seems that in the age of Post-modern America, where an obvious culture war that was fought in the 1960’s.  When we look at the aftermath of this war, we can tell that it was won by the bad guys.  There appears to be many things wrong in America and with the church. I don’t like to point out others failures, so I will be kind and understanding. 

 Here is food for thought.

What I would like to do is pose the question: what is the Biblical church?

Some would believe that they need to go to a first century setting of house churches.  Others want the pomp and circumstance of an ancient Christian religion with all its rituals and traditions.  Some want freedom from ritual and a non-specific feeling with no substance, while others yearn for truth, doctrine and discipline.  This last criterion is the strength of modern Christian cults! Still yet, there are others that just want something "churchy" or maybe some have a genuine need to address special physical and social problems in their life.  Rescue missions and the Salvation Army are excellent examples of this.

A spring board text would be 1 Corinthians 12 where Paul speaks of Spiritual gifts.  This specifically dealt with three classes of gifts (Power, utterance, and miracles) however; some have interpreted it to mean a great diversity of other things that are not spelled out, and for that matter, not inferred!  Another often used scripture is Ephesians 4:7-14 but once again, this is speaking of the 5-fold gift of the ministry (Apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers) and this is for the purpose of discipleship and training.

So, where does that leave us?  The question is what is the Biblical church? I pose six things that constitute the Biblical church.  They can be divided into two groups:

1.       Things seen and intangible but perceived and felt

2 .     Things tangible, written down and applied practically

The intangible things are: 

1.  Love
2. Order
3. Reverence in Worship

·       The tangible things are:

1.   Doctrine
2.  Outreach
3.  Education

They may seem like little things, but I have observed people and churches and there seems to be a balance of these items. 

I will explain more on Wednesday (or Tuesday, if I get some comments posted)

Sincerely 

Your Brother in Christ

And your Senpai in Karate 

先輩