The Importance of Studying Church

 

We’ve been working our way through several posts that examine what it is that we have come to call church.  The posts are as follows:

Sometimes these types of posts seem academic, or removed from practical Christianity.  Sometimes it can be difficult to see how a study of terms like ekklesia, synagogue, or church apply to our daily lives.  For instance, if you scrambled to get the kids to school and to work on time, what value does a post on Tyndale and Luther’s bible translation add to your situation?

At first glance maybe nothing.

However, perhaps for one, it shows that our daily struggles are short-term and temporary.  When we consider that God has had a plan to unite a people for Himself from before the foundation of the world in the person of His Son Jesus Christ it puts everything else in perspective.  Two, considering those who have gone before us and the battles they faced for the advancement of the kingdom of God puts the perspective on a human plane.

Over the last few weeks, I’ve compiled some  blog posts that have shown up in my news-feed, all fundamentally related to how one understands the nature of church.  Seeing the questions that others have raised and the related issues helps me to realize that their is eternal value in taking the time to understand what God has communicated through His Word regarding the assembly of His people.  I’ve offered a brief synopsis on some of these posts below.

http://feedingonchrist.com/weight-of-the-church/

In this post, the author discusses the weight that church should factor into our decisions on where we live, go to school, etc. and places membership in a local church above jobs, school, and housing.  Is he correct?  Should the geographical location of 4 walls weigh more on our decisions about these things?  Only a proper study and understanding of God’s Word can determine this.

https://www.challies.com/resources/can-you-help-me-find-a-good-church

In this post, “Can you help me find a good church?”, Tim Challies answers one of his commonly received emails from readers trying to locate a “good church”.  He lists a couple church directory links to aid in the search.  God’s Word may have something to say along these lines, but we would have to take the time to study and listen.  Is church available on the market shelf like everything else?

http://www.reformation21.org/blog/2017/05/in-defense-of-the-sabbatical.php

This is an interesting post where the author defends the pastors sabbatical, or time off, due to the nature of the 24/7 calling.  It’s no wonder there is so much pastoral burn-out.  But maybe we should ask, have we properly understood the nature and function of the pastor according to God’s Word?  Do we see 1 or 2 men in Scripture on call 24/7 tending to needy sheep?  Or do we see the burden distributed among all the believers through the “one-anotherings”?

https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/dilemma-of-bivocational-pastor

Similar in direction as the previous post, this author discusses the dilemma of the bi-vocational pastor.  It is an interesting self-created dilemma where a small church’s survival depends on affording their building and their pastor.  Did Paul or the other Apostles face this same struggle?

https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/what-is-this-thing-called-church

This is an interesting post that hits at the heart of our series here, namely What is this thing called church?  There is much that I commend the author for and agree with, but some other things that hopefully we’ll be able to look at through our on-going series.

https://blogs.thegospelcoalition.org/rayortlund/2017/05/23/is-your-church-institution/

Another post discussing a topic that we’ll directly address (Lord willing), namely the institutionalization of the church.  The author concludes that the church is in fact an institution.

http://deadstate.org/u-s-churches-are-now-costing-taxpayers-71-billion-a-year/

Three interesting notes here 1) The tax-exempt status that most U.S. churches seek and are granted 2) The cost of these churches 3) The universal use of the term church which lumps protestant-evangelical, Muslim, Mormon, etc. into the same category.  Is this what Jesus meant when He said I will build My “church”?  I doubt it.

http://www.ligonier.org/blog/churchless-christian-oxymoron/

Finally, a recent post discussing the importance of a believer’s church membership.  Some decent observations, but  there’s no way to agree/disagree with him unless we take the time to search the Scriptures.  Is church membership biblical?  Implied?  Assumed?

Each of these posts in their own way are specifically related to the questions we’re looking at in our own study of the church.  Simply put, these questions matter.  But finding and applying the biblical answers matters more.

About the author

Christian saved by grace through faith.

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