Deconstructing Church (pt 1)
In my quest to find, “What is Church”, I have found that I have had to de-construct everything I thought I knew about Church. As I have looked to the Biblical blueprint for church and how we are to participate in church function I find the American Church model is woefully off track and has very little resemblance to the Church found in Scripture. (I know, that statement was a little “churchy”.) From the Brick and Mortar edifices that we have constructed, to the services, the lectures, the one man focus, the passive pew occupation, the authoritarian offices that man has imposed on the flock of God… every aspect of ‘church’ we see in America today is more traditionalism than it is biblical.
Let’s begin by looking at the “How we do Church” model. I realize that one of the most effective ways to teach a group is in using the lecture style, “I teach, You listen.” Massive amounts of information can be transmitted to the greatest number of people using this method. And there is a place for such teaching/learning. What has taken place in the American church is this has become the exclusive method for a “pastor” to use. This method has helped create a caste system in the body of Christ where it is no longer a gathering of equals but has become a showcase for the “anointed” (I have heard pastors referred to as “God’s anointed” and called “the man of God.” I will address this a little later) to stand, perform and be over other believers. Total control is placed in the person behind the lectern. There is no place for Hebrews 3:13, or Hebrews 10:23-25, or 1 Peter 4:9-11 in the “service” of the lecture ready congregation. Then somewhere along the way we have held the Epistles of Timothy and Titus apart as though the Scripture in these passages are only for the “anointed” or the “spiritual” or the “called…man of god” as if the teaching of these Epistles somehow created a special office, and a special class of Christian believer who is above all others. Mark 10:42-44, “But Jesus called them to Himself and said to them, “You know that those who are considered rulers over the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. Yet it shall not be so among you; but whoever desires to become great among you shall be your servant. And whoever of you desires to be first shall be slave of all.”
At this point many will be ready to hammer me with Ephesians 4: 11, and if Ephesians 4:11 was a stand alone thought I would say, “Okay, you’re right” but it is not the main emphasis of that passage. The emphasis of that passage is not that Jesus Christ gave “some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers,” to be offices of the church. No! He gave these as functions of the church in order to equip the body for service; “for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ; until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ.” Even the King James Version says, “for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ:”. The “ministry” is not the functions given, but what each and every believer is to be engaged in and to be equipped to do. The function of apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastor/teacher is to equip the body of believers to minister the Gospel of Christ to a lost and dying world.
Now let’s look at the American idea that the Pastor is somehow “specially anointed” or is a higher class of believer to be addressed as the “man of God.” The term “anointed” is found in the New Testament (12) times. The sick were anointed with oil is mentioned once in Mark 6:13. Jesus was physically anointed by others is mentioned four times: Like 7:38, 7:46; John 11:2 and 12:3. Jesus anointing someone is mentioned twice in John 9:6 and 9:11. God anoints Jesus as found in four verses, Luke 4:18; Acts 4:27, 10:38 and Hebrews 1:9. God anoints the believer (you and I who are saved in Christ) as mentioned in 2 Corinthians 1:21. “Anointing” is found twice, once in James 5:14 and once in 1st John 2:27. “Anoint” is found five times: Matthew 6:17; Mark 14:8, 16:1; Luke 7:46 and Revelation 3:18. Nowhere is it found that there is a special anointing that marks a man as a pastor other than the anointing which God anoints all believers in Christ. (2Cor. 1:21)
The term, “man of God” is found through out the Old Testament as a term to denote a servant of God or God’s man assigned the task at hand, or to contrast God’s man from others in the narrative. In the New Testament the term is used only twice (1Timothy 6:11 and 2Timothy 3:17) and both instances are addressing believers in Christ.
So neither of these “special” terms, “God’s anointed” or “man of God,” are used in Scripture to create a special office in the church, or denote the function of pastor, elder or bishop. Yet the American model of “How We Do Church” creates a higher class of “christian” and makes an anointed position in the church. The most well known example of this is the Roman Catholic office of the Pope. The only difference in RC and the Independent, Fundamental, Baptist (IFB) movement is that in the IFB the Pope is local.
I believe we ought to give honor to those who have labored in and studied the Scriptures diligently so that they may more perfectly teach the Word of God in order to equip the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ; until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ. I do not believe in this idea, found especially in the IFB, where the believers in the pew are to be unquestioningly obedient to the Pope in the pulpit. Such unquestioning obedience leads to the LP {local pope} having accountability to no one. The Cult of Personality then becomes idolatry and the LP, his wishes and his commands become more important than Jesus Christ. This practice of the lone “man of God” or self anointed priest, promoted over the body of believers takes away from the Priesthood of all believers (1 Peter 2:5, 2:9) and creates a caste system between the “pastor” and the “flock.” This also creates passivity in the pew that kills the life of the church. When only the “special one” is engaged in ministering to the “un-special many” then the Scriptural church is stifled, quickly becomes weak, anemic, and ineffective. There must be opportunity for the body to minister to one another, build one another up in strength and faith so that we can minister the Gospel to the world around us.
(To be continued)
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