What Is the Church?

A fellow believer said in effect that Christianity does not really allow for political activism. Others have said we should agree to disagree when it comes to beliefs about the nature of the church. We can disagree whether there should be pews, or instruments, or five hour services, or only professional singers. But the church itself is pretty well-defined in the Bible.

The Greek word Ecclesia translated church means assembly or gathering. Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 11: 17-19, “But in giving this instruction, I do not praise you, because you come together not for the better but for the worse. For, in the first place, when you come together as a church, I hear that divisions exist among you; and in part I believe it. For there must also be factions among you, so that those who are approved may become evident among you.”

Some believers might say talking about politics is divisive and we need unity. But the Scriptures here say that factions or divisions reveal the people who are approved, or doing right, and make them stand out from those who are not doing right.

Charles Hodges massive work, Systematic Theology, 3 volumes, each 1000 pages, has no section on the church. Perhaps he just wants to avoid disagreements, but the purpose isn’t to divide the church. It’s to ensure that the unity is based on the Word of God, not the false unity where we sacrifice truth just to get along. This false unity has permeated groups such as the Roman Catholic Church. They attempt to preserve their unity and nature as a church by saying that they are “the only true church” with an unbroken line of leadership and teaching back to Peter. They unify people around their own authority, writings and dogma based on human traditions, just as many other religions and forms of worship do.

The church is divided between local congregations and the church universal. The local church has to agree on very many specific details to be able to fellowship (Greek κοινωνίας) daily, weekly. The universal church only needs to recognize what a true believer is. Trying to define what the universal church belief must be is where the term “fundamentals” came from.

In the case of the Universal Church, what we believe and practice, what unifies us, is an unbroken line of believers back to Jesus Christ and the Word of God as the source of and authority for that belief. It must be far more than signing a decision card and treating Jesus Christ as an eternal fire insurance policy. It also involves our relationships with unbelievers, and that, my dear friends, is politics.

The Greatest Commandment

“Master Which is the greatest commandment in the Law?” Jesus said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it, You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.” Matthew 22:36-40

Everything we do, every decision we make must have these two guiding principles. Does it glorify God? Does it show that I love my neighbor as myself? This blog post is inspired by a variety of topics that come across my Facebook page.

People have said in many different ways that they want their Facebook experience to be, in effect, “light and fluffy.” They don’t want to talk about religion or politics. A cute picture or a funny story receives many, sometimes hundreds of “likes,” reposts, and comments. Sometimes we like and repost such things too. But important posts, prayer requests for persecuted Christians or links to important news items, rarely show any evidence that anyone has even seen them.

As believers in Christ Jesus, we are not keeping these two commandments when we keep our lives “light and fluffy.” As believers, we are part of the Church, engaged in warfare. As believers we are faced with daily choices. Are our bodies temples of the Holy Spirit, or are they simply, as the Secular Humanist bumper stickers claim, amusement parks?

The Scriptures have detailed teaching about how a church should conduct itself and what it should expect of its membership, and vice-versa. Failure to follow these Scriptures is sin. A church or an individual needs to condemn failure to follow clear Scriptures or the making up of practices the Scriptures do not teach or allow for.

The Word of God clearly commands us not to fellowship with believers living in open sin. Though it grieves God’s heart, some people in positions of church leadership are living in open sin. Sadder still, unbelievers mock and ridicule the Word of God in the majority of the church buildings of Western Europe and the United States. We can neither glorify God nor love our neighbor in these services. We need the guidance of the Holy Spirit to help us discern exactly what type of ministry we should join and support.

But some people say they won’t go to a church service if it does not meet their “needs,” whatever that means. Would you attend a church where men were segregated from women and children? What about a service without pews or chairs, where you had to stand for the entire service? What about a church that met in a different place each service because of threats on the worshipers’ lives?

There are three standards in the word of God for choosing to fellowship and support a local work by joining in membership. First, does it preach the Word of God? This means the whole council of God, not just what I want to hear. Second, is there a place for ministry? If the abilities and gifts God has blessed you with cannot be used in one fellowship, seek out another place where they can be used. Third, can I faithfully attend the services? The perfect fit a thousand miles from your house is not such a perfect fit.

These should not be such high standards. Instead, Christian Churches are filled with people “whose god is their appetites.” Philippians 3:9. These people will only attend a church which meets their appetites. The sad part is, what might be acceptable for one believer, might be a stumbling block and a sin for another believer.

The following is a brief list of some of the issues we have seen which cause people to leave a church. 1) The church is not the right size. These are “Goldilocks” Christians. This church is too big. This church is too small. They go through life forever searching for the church that is “just right.” 2) The music or worship service is not “contemporary” enough. They often tie this to other issues. They say the church is cold, unfriendly, judgmental, sometimes after attending for years and suddenly discovering that all these things have bothered them for years. Do they really mean to say, “I hate this church and I know this church hates me because I hate its music”? 3) The Church isn’t “giving” enough. What they usually mean by this is that other members are not giving them enough. 4) The Church is “legalistic.” This word is so overused that it has lost it’s meaning. In the Bible the word legalism simply means works salvation. Sometimes people simply mean that this particular church has standards they do not like.

So maybe our facebook pages, and our churches, and our lives, should not consist of what is light and fluffy, of what is pleasing to us, but rather of things that fulfill the Greatest Commandment.

We Pay for Blogs

If you have a piece you think would fit our “tough, but you need it” guidelines, submit it to us at ffvp57@yahoo.com. Guidelines are as follows:

1. We will consider biblically accurate material which does not contain expressly Christian content. We may also accept material that is accurate historically and scientifically, but that is not expressly Bible teaching. We will not accept material that is in opposition to biblical truth and accuracy or that teaches false doctrine. This determination lies solely with us and is not negotiable.

2. Must be “meat,” not “milk.” We are not looking for “Bible stories,” a simple presentation of the Gospel or a “basics for believers” piece. These are excellent topics for a blog that deals with these subjects. Our focus is on edification leading to maturity.

3. Preference will be given to pieces that expose and oppose Secular Humanism in Science, History, Culture and churches, especially where people may not realize it exists.

4. We will consider movie and book reviews if the writer shows discernment in exposing the real philosophy of the work, not just a shallow list of objectionable elements or “positive themes.” The review must demonstrate biblical standards for marriage, personal relationships, true ethics and morality, good versus evil, and clearly show what is wrong and what is right in the work being reviewed.

5. Length is less important than excellent content, but shorter pieces will likely receive preference over longer ones. Blogs we have posted here vary considerably in length, but strive for the “two page gem,” edited down to the bare essentials of good writing and good content.

6. Accepted works may edited for length and then accepted if the author agrees to the edits. Promising works may be returned for one rewrite if spelling, grammar and/or punctuation do not meet the standards for basic educated English. We will not edit or point out errors for you, but we will look seriously at one good rewrite. If it fails the second time, it will be rejected.

Blog writers whose entries are accepted for publication here will receive a payment of $25 for a one-time, non-exclusive publication on Elk Jerky for the Soul. The author retains all rights to the work. Elk Jerky for the Soul asks only to be allowed to quote from the blog for informational or promotional purposes as long as the blog remains on this site.

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Who We Are and What We Believe

We are Michael and Mary Findley, Christian educators for over 30 years in many parts of the country. We have homeschooled, taught in Christian schools, directed Children’s Church ministries and taught Sunday School for adults and children. We have created videos for cable television, infomercials and public awareness videos, as well as teaching videos and 3D fiction productions. We graduated from Bob Jones University. Michael has a BA in Bible and an MA in Church History with postgrad coursework in Math, Science, Physics  and Computer Science. Mary has a BA in English.

We need to preface a statement of our beliefs by quoting from the Preface of our book Antidisestablishmentarianism.

A true open mind is founded in belief, faith and trust. The historic meaning of believe is to perceive or understand with the mind and then make an informed decision.2 The most basic use of the word believe which the average American would understand is that of a juror in court. Which witness do you believe? Which piece of evidence is believable? A synonym would be the word credible. When we believe something or someone and then act on that belief, that is faith. The active part of belief is faith. The passive part of belief is trust. Suppose your brother says that he will drive you to the doctor. If you believe him, then you understand what he says and you make a decision to get ready. If you get in the vehicle with him, that is faith. You act on your belief. When you sit in the vehicle as he drives, that is trust, a passive reliance on what you have proven true. You trust in his driving skills. You trust in the vehicle. You trust the roads, etc. Everything we do is a combination of belief, faith or trust. By restoring their historic definitions, belief, faith and trust re-emerge as the clear language of true experimental science. These terms were deliberately segregated from science to deceive people into believing Secular Humanism.

This explains what we mean by belief. Not opinion, not blind acceptance, but a conclusion or verdict based on tested evidence.

We believe the Scriptures are authoritative, a true foundation for right understanding in all areas of life. They are the basis of true Science, accurate History, and correct standards for life, conduct, and judgment.

Our church background is independent Baptist. (See the Blog post “Why I Am a Baptist” for details on this.) We have attended many different kinds of churches, as well as services at truckstop chapels, throughout the country. We have friends who come from nearly every denomination and have had discussions with Atheists, Jews, Muslims, Hindus and Buddhists, among others. In these discussions we have two rules: Be civil and be honest. When the speaker can’t meet these two conditions, the discussion is over.

We do not believe a person can pick and choose what to believe in the Bible or decide what to consider symbolic or literal. “When the plain sense of Scripture makes common sense, seek no other sense.” (Dr. D. A. Waite, Ephesians.) The Bible does use figures of speech and symbols. Jesus Christ is neither a lion nor a lamb, and He does not have a sword sticking out of his mouth. These are figures of speech and symbols. They do not make any part of the Bible less true or authoritative.

Why I Am A Baptist

I believe in denominations. You actually believe in denominations too. You don’t? Then give me your $20 bill for my $1 bill. Not that kind of denomination? I believe that the word denomination is used the same way with money and with faith.

Both a $1 bill and a $100 bill are money. One is just more valuable than the other. In the same way, all believers are believers, whatever their denomination. They are all saved. Some denominations are more faithful and obedient to God’s Word than others. Some are $1 bills and others are $100 bills. And though it breaks God’s heart, there are many, many counterfeits.

Since the Word of God commands us to be faithful, we need to carefully examine the various denominations to be as faithful and obedient as possible. This is not about what is wrong with everybody else. This is why I am a Baptist.

The Baptist-Anabaptist goes back as far as New Testament/Church era written records. Many periods of Church History have witnessed the destruction of written records. A continuous, unbroken tradition is impossible. But Baptist beliefs are not a novelty.

Doctrinally, Baptists and Bible Churches have the same faith. The Bible Church movement began as a separation of practice when many Baptist Churches abandoned the historic Baptist Faith. To the grief of God’s Holy Spirit, many Bible Churches have now departed from that same faith. It is easy to point to Baptist and Bible Churches who no longer believe these distinctive Baptist doctrines.

Baptists believe in the Apostolic Confession of Faith. We believe in the absolute authority of Scripture. There are three levels of authority in every believer’s life. The inerrant Word of God, human laws, such as a stop sign, and some human laws with divine sanction, such as a pastor or a family.

Baptists believe in the priesthood of every believer. While someone who has walked by faith for years is a friend of God, the prayer of a small child has the same standing with God.

Baptists believe in justification by faith alone apart from works. Works are necessary to demonstrate that we are saved and we can examine the fruit of someone who claims salvation but shows no evidence of good works. Works are not part of justification, because all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags. We are incapable of doing good works before we are justified.

All reformed Protestants believe these points. Baptists also believe in the autonomy of the local church. While there are often mission churches begun by other churches, eventually the new church must become self-sufficient.

The most import distinction, where the name Baptist comes from, is the nature of the Church. Catholic and Reformed Churches believe that the Church is grafted into Israel and at least for this present age, replaces Israel. Baptism replaces circumcision, Sunday replaces the Sabbath and communion replaces the temple sacrifices. Baptists believe that the Church is a New Covenant. Though we are grafted into God’s promises and God is working through the Church instead of Israel in this age, the Church in no way replaces Israel. Baptism and the Lord’s Supper are symbolic only; they confer no grace in and of themselves. They are for believers only. Baptism is an outward sign of an inward act. Baptism is only for those who are old enough to understand what it is and are ready to join the Church.