What Must Be Preserved of the Churches of Christ? (the Church, Part 1)

Some readers appear to see no distinction between an individual Christian being like Jesus and a congregation of Christians being like Jesus, but teams of people working in concert can accomplish things that individuals cannot do.

I have a son who wants to program games for a living. He can’t do it by himself despite being highly motivated and talented. I imagine that there are thousands of young men and women in the same posture — unable to develop the gaming software of their dreams because the task is too big for one person — even though there are thousands of talented, motivated people wanting to do just this.

If we see being Christ-like as individuals as the same being Christ-like as the church, then we have very small dreams.

As always, we have to ask the questions that take us deeper. What dreams or tasks are so big that we can’t accomplish them alone? What part of the Christian mission requires concerted action by many Christians working together?

In the brilliant, seminal To Change the World: The Irony, Tragedy, and Possibility of Christianity in the Late Modern World, James Davison Hunter argues that most contemporary models for how the church should interface with the world are both unbiblical and doomed to failure.

He warns us against becoming allied with the world’s political parties, and he warns us against a quietism that urges us to retreat into our sanctuaries, hiding from the sinfulness and ugliness of the lost world. Rather, he urges the church to be involved by seeking the good of the church’s community by doing good, citing this passage —

(Jer 29:4-7 ESV) ⁴ “Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, to all the exiles whom I have sent into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon: ⁵ Build houses and live in them; plant gardens and eat their produce. ⁶ Take wives and have sons and daughters; take wives for your sons, and give your daughters in marriage, that they may bear sons and daughters; multiply there, and do not decrease. ⁷ But seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the LORD on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare.”

The Jews of the Southern Kingdom (Judah) had been defeated by the Babylonians and taken captive — and resettled in Mesopotamia, that is, modern-day Iraq.

Jeremiah advised the captive Jews not to seek to gain power over the Babylonians (although Daniel, among others, attained high office, he used his office to serve, not to domineer), and not to rebel, and not to retreat into their synagogues and Jewish quarters and have noting to do with their Babylonian neighbors. Rather, they were counseled to seek the welfare of their new cities — not through power but through service.

(1Ti 2:1-2 ESV) First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, ² for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way.

The early church sought the good of the Empire through prayer for pagan emperors and kings. How many of our churches pray for a president of an opposite party? How often is the name “Obama” spoken as someone for whom we offer prayers and thanksgiving?

Nero was likely emperor when Paul penned these words, and we can hardly argue that any president of the United States has been more of an enemy of the church than Nero! And yet Paul urged supplications and thanksgivings on his behalf.

(1Pe 2:12 ESV) ¹² Keep your conduct among the Gentiles honorable, so that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day of visitation.

In each case, “you” is plural in the Greek. This should characterize not only Christian individuals but the Christian church.

We are to be perceived as honorable and do such good deeds that God is glorified even by pagans. And this takes us back to Philippians —

(Phi 2:14-16 ESV) ¹⁴ Do all things without grumbling or disputing, ¹⁵ that you may be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world, ¹⁶ holding fast to the word of life, so that in the day of Christ I may be proud that I did not run in vain or labor in vain.

How do we “shine as lights in the world”? Well, surely Paul has reference back to —

(Mat 5:14-16 ESV) ¹⁴ “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. ¹⁵ Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. ¹⁶ In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.”

Notice that Jesus compares his followers to a city — a community with leadership and laws. It’s this city that shines so brightly that its light cannot be hidden for many miles.

This light is not our genius or our sound doctrine or our Five Acts of Worship conducted decently and in order. This light is our good works — works seen as good by the surrounding dark world.

We seek the good of the city where we have been placed, and by so doing, the world will see the goodness of Jesus. And no one individual can do this well enough or with enough significance for the world to see Jesus.

Jesus came to establish his Kingdom. And a Kingdom is about multiple people serving a single King.

Read the Gospels. While Jesus forgave one at a time, it was to bring about the Kingdom. The gospel Jesus taught is the good news of the Kingdom of God — not the good news of individual salvation into just a personal relationship. We certainly have a personal relationship with Jesus, but not just a personal relationship. We also have a corporate relationship — and this is actually more emphasized in scripture than the individual relationship.

Paul almost always writes to a church, not to an individual. And when he wrote to Titus and Timothy, it was as leaders of churches. Only Philemon is not about the church.

When Paul went on his missionary journeys, he founded churches. In Revelation, the message from God is first to seven churches.

And this is all for a reason. God’s mission is too big to be accomplished by a group of individuals. We have to be a team, that is, we have to act in concert.

And concerted action requires submission to leadership, accountability, and structure. It requires a common goal and agreed methods.

Here in Tuscaloosa, football analogies prevail, and all this sounds a lot like what we teach football players. A “team” of individuals will lose — and we Alabama fans have seen that. But a team that submits itself to one another and to its leaders will prevail — and we’ve seen that, too.

It’s hardly surprising that Paul warns us against “grumbling or disputing” (Phil 2:14), because these are the very attitudes that will destroy teamwork. Ask any football coach or player. There can be no individual agendas.

And while we might be willing to submit ourselves to a coach to win a game, few of us are willing to submit and be accountable in our churches to further the mission of God. We have very small dreams.