In 1948, A.W. Tozer observed, “there are today many
millions of people who hold ‘right opinions,’ probably more than ever
before in the history of the Church. Yet I wonder if there was ever a
time when true spiritual worship was at a lower ebb.”
One does not need to be especially perceptive to recognize
that those words, if true then, are even more so now.
It seems the modern day concept of “church” has become so
confused that it now has little meaning.
The landscape is diverse: many
of the old denominational churches that have become little more than
social clubs and political activist organizations; many of the
“evangelical” churches, even those established within the last 30
years, have stagnated and struggle from one pastoral search committee
to the next; and many, perhaps most, of the new mega-churches which
were touted by many as the answer to church decline, are soon
recognized for what they are: noisy, pompous, shallow, and lacking in
true Christian virtue.
Indeed,
as we watch church after church falling into worldliness, stagnation,
dissention, and apostasy, the church as an institution -- despite
Jesus’ promise that “the gates of hell shall not prevail against it”
(Matthew 16:18) -- appears to have lost its power for godliness in the
world. But if the true Church cannot be
destroyed, we must consider the possibility that the failing “churches”
are not the true Church but mere human organizations that exist in the
midst of the true Church. It is time for
those who believe Scripture to be the sole authority for faith and
practice to reexamine what the scripture teaches about what the church
is, and what it is not.
The Church
in the Heart of God
Despite what many churches appear to be, the Church is not
a human institution, but a spiritual one that has existed in the mind
of God from the foundation of the world (Ephesians 1:3-6).
As such, the Church occupies a high position in the heart
of God. It is described in terms as lofty
as God Himself. What could be dearer to
the heart of God than the bride of Christ, His beloved Son, as
described by Paul in Ephesians 5: "For
this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to
his wife, and the two shall become one flesh. This is a great mystery,
but I speak concerning Christ and the church” (vv. 30-31).
The Church also appears in the book of Revelation as “the
bride, the Lamb’s wife” (Revelation 21:9). In
similar terms, the Church is likened to the very body of Christ, “For
we are members of His body, of His flesh and of His bones” (Ephesians
5:30).
The
true Church is therefore a living organism
and not a mere organization. Although the
Church is local in practice and organization, the focus must remain on
its universal purpose as the assembly of all the Redeemed, as in I
Corinthians 1:2: “To the church of God which is at Corinth, to those
who are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called
to be saints, with all who in every place call on the name of Jesus
Christ our Lord , both theirs and ours.” Thus
“we, being many, are one body in Christ, and individually members of
one another” (Romans 12:5).
Also described in physical terms as “the pillar and
support of the truth” (I Timothy 3:15), the true Church occupies a high
position as “God’s building” and “God’s dwelling place,”
built on the supreme Foundation of Jesus Christ the Chief
Cornerstone (I Corinthians 3:9-11, Ephesians 2:19-22).
Its purpose, however, is spiritual, for its members, “as
living stones, are being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood,
to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus
Christ.” (I Peter 2:5).
The Church
as A Human Institution
Despite such lofty terms, the church as a human institution fulfills a much more humble purpose on earth. The visible church in Bible times met outdoors or in houses (as in Romans 16:5 & 23; I Corinthians 16:19, Colossians 4:15).
