What is church? What is a church? How should it be structured and organized, maintained and ran? Where do biblical principles define and bound the organization, function, and purpose of the church? What are the leadership structures that are required? These are questions I want to clarify for myself over the course of many posts.
Central to the heartbeat of the purpose of church is community – and community with the specific purpose of being like Jesus. Not first doing what Jesus would do, or being his hands and feet – that’s a product of being like Jesus. No, the central purpose of church is communally becoming more like Jesus in action and habit as a spiritual act of worship. I’m refining this language a I write, but that phrase seems to capture both Old Testament and New Testament sentiments.
I’m currently reading Bearing God’s Name by Carmen Imes, and her processing about the purpose of Saini and the Decalogue as cultural practice formation has been striking. God was setting his people – Israel – apart from other nations by shaping the way they interacted with one another – and was doing so in order to create a nation of worshippers. It’s why the first commandment is all about worship – “I am the Lord your God, you shall worship only me.” How do they worship Him? Yes, through the sacrificial system and the priesthood, facilitated by the tabernacle, but first – by not coveting. By valuing life. By keeping their word. By honoring their parents. By living out the rest of the 10 Commandments. They lived in a particular way, reflecting (imaging) God.
And I think about the High Priestly Prayer in John 17. Verse 24 seems pivotal, “May they all be one, as you, Father, are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us, so that the world may believe you sent me.” Jesus, after praying for perseverance and protection and continued strength for his believers, asks that all who believe – the apostles and us, today, as well – would be communally united to one another in a closeness that reflects the Trinitarian relationship, and that they would “be in us.” As Jesus continues praying, this “in us” is spoken of as an apologetic or proof of God’s purpose – it seems to be a reflection of God’s unique character and form in the world, shown through regular lived practices. There are two elements – community and action.
I’ll continue reflecting on action as leading belief, or the purpose church as a place to form action, but I believe church is to be a discrete community that embodies Jesus.
- Discrete, in that it’s carefully defined and vetted, made up of those who was to be more like Jesus.
- Community, in that there is regular, frequent interpersonal interaction. Members are known, supported and cared for.
- Embodies Jesus, in that it is lived practice and knowledge of who Jesus is. Some of this is through defined, ordained practice such as baptism and the Lord’s Supper. Some of it is through instruction and service. Some of it is through a lifestyle that looks distinctly like Jesus.
In this, I’m starting to see small groups as more church-like than a Sunday service, but with several failings as well – in particular, a lack of practice formation, a willingness to include non-believers, and perhaps too rigidly implemented to allow true community. There’s a lot more to parse or wrestle with in these regards.
Questions and Follow-up:
Content for future posts:
How does is the church led – what are the biblical roles? How do those biblical roles function – what are their purpose? Is there room for extrabiblical roles in church leadership? (biblical polity)
How does a large church implement leadership that governs smaller, discrete communities? (wisdom)
How should church membership be understood? Who should be allowed membership, and what should the process of membership entail? (biblical polity, wisdom)
How does that Bible define and shape Christian community? How should we understand the purpose of the Bible in regards to practices, form, and function of church? (wisdom)
How should we understand Church, church, and a church? (wisdom)