The New Testament Church

In order to have an understanding of one's place in the church it might be good to take a look at what the early church looked like. The book of Acts gives us some insights into the development of the church: what people did administratively, and then what God did to keep His purposes in place. Paul also wrote in three epistles about the gifts that God employs in His people for the encouragement and building up of His church.

What the People Did:

• They prayed until they were endued with the power of the Holy Spirit (Acts 1 and 2)
• They devoted themselves to: the apostles' teaching, to breaking bread together, to fellowship, and to prayer (Acts 2:42)
• They met from house to house
• They appointed deacons to deal with practical and administrative needs (Acts 6)

What God Did:

• He allowed the first church split - not because of differences and hurts! (Acts 8) Did the church become too comfortable? The result was people spreading the gospel beyond Jerusalem.
• He told the prophets and teachers in Antioch to set apart Paul and Barnabas (Acts 13) for evangelism & missions, expanding to the Gentiles. They also were led to encourage the disciples in different places.
• Paul worked for two years daily in the school of Tyrannus (Acts 19).
  
• They also established elders in the churches (Acts 19, 1 Timothy 3, Titus 1).
  

All of this happened against the backdrop of the apostles, deacons, prophets and teachers, etc. sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Gifts in the Body
God's Gifts. In Roman's 12 Paul mentions gifts that God gives and their accordant faith levels: Prophecy, Serving, Teaching, Exhortation, Giving, Leading and Mercy.

Christ's Gifts. In Ephesians 4 Paul mentions gifts that Christ gave in order to equip the saints for the work of the ministry: apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers.

The Holy Spirit's Gifts. Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 12 about the gifts that the Holy Spirit gives for the common good: words of wisdom, words of knowledge, faith, gifts of healing, the effecting of miracles, prophecy, the distinguishing of spirits, various kinds of tongues, and the interpretation of tongues.

In each member of the church there is overlap from these three groupings of gifts that Paul writes about. And God's design is to use these gifts in us for "the work of the ministry" and for the building up of the body of Christ. And Paul says He distributes these as He wills.

An interesting note to me is that many people will readily agree that the gifts in Romans 12 exist in the church today, while they might pick and choose gifts they think exist today from Ephesians 4 and 1 Corinthians 12. However, I have never seen any scriptural grounds that suggest that some of these gifts are not for His church today.

Church Expectations

In the first post in this category, "The Church", I postulated that there are three different ship allegories for how we view the church. The first is where members are all on individual boats sailing the same direction. The second is a cruise ship where the Captain and the officers/staff do all the work while the rest are along for the ride and for their enjoyment. The third, and most biblically accurate, is a ship like a clipper, where individuals in the church are on the same ship, each functioning with their specific giftings, responsibilities, and tasks so that Jesus' ship can be directed to His desired port of call.

With this in mind, what are appropriate expectations people should have for church? People have left churches because of music, because of hurts and difficulties in relationships, because the church fell short in keeping someone's child on the right track, because the children and youth programming weren't to a parent's liking, because a pastor didn't visit them when they were sick, etc. These motivations for leaving a church point to expectations people often have but are maybe unspoken.

But are these expectations realistic and right? If not, what expectations are correct in the church context?

Appropriate Expectations
To stay consistent with our ship analogy, when a sailor signed on for duty on a ship, there were certain expectations he would have: food, a place to sleep, and payment. Of course there was also the real possibility that he could die at sea. In actuality, the sailor would NOT expect there to be any real level of comfort.

And there would be expectations on him by the Captain. He would be expected to work. He would be expected to help the other sailors with their work as the need might arise. He would be assigned a "watch", and he would be on call rain or shine if there was any emergency. He would be expected to obey all the Captain's orders, even if there wasn't any explanation given.

Jesus is the Captain
If Jesus is the "head" of His body, then the individual members of the body must comply with what "orders" are received from Him. If He is the Christ and the Son of the Living God, then those who follow Him must obey Him as their authority. If He is the Captain of His ship, then we do not come to His ship with expectations of comfort and ease, but rather of basic necessities.

And the real and right expectations come from Jesus to us, rather than from us to the church. Are we in a place where we have yielded to the Captain's right of command for our lives within the church context?

Upon this Rock

In the recent post "Which Ship Are You On?" I mentioned three different ship analogies of how we can perceive the church. One is a bunch of individual sailboats, perhaps all headed the same direction. The second is a cruise ship where the church leadership does the "work of the ministry" and everyone else is along for the ride. But perhaps the analogy most consistent with scripture is the clipper ship, where everyone is on board, doing individual functions, but all working together under one Captain's command.

This last example obviously requires more commitment. In an individual sailboat, one could decide not to go along any more and turn back. One might decide to sail a different direction, of have a different agenda. But on the clipper ship, one must be committed to the good of the whole, and committed to the purpose of the Captain. One couldn't on the spur of the moment decide they don't want to participate. Everyone is needed for the proper function of the ship. People couldn't avoid others with personality conflicts. In this ship people have to learn to work together.

The Gates of Hades
Jesus had an interesting response when Peter acknowledged that Jesus was "the Christ, the Son of the Living God." Jesus said to Peter in response, "You are Peter (Petros - a stone), and on this rock (petra - a large rock) I will build My church..." Jesus wasn't saying that He would build His church on Peter, a stone, but "upon this rock", this principle that Peter referred to.

Jesus' Place as Authority
Christ means Messiah, the Anointed One, anointed as King, Priest, and Prophet. The fact that He is the Son of the Living God connotes ultimate Authority. Jesus would build His church upon this principle. He is the Captain of the ship called His Church.

His place as King, Priest, Prophet and Ultimate Authority is fundamental in our understanding of His church. He is in charge, and He has the right to command His ship, and everyone on it. And for those who participate in His church in this way, have certain privileges.

One of the privileges is that the Gates of Hell will not prevail against His church. Do you feel overwhelmed by the gates of Hell? Are you on His ship or your own ship? Are you submitted to the Captain's authority? If so, then Hell will not prevail against you. Additionally, you will walk in authority: "whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven."

Which Ship Are You On?

The recent analogy came to me that many times the people in our churches look like this picture: individuals independently sailing along, maybe sailing in the same direction. But sailing independently none-the-less.


But I wonder if the better picture of what Christ wants His church to look like is this one: individuals in the church on the same ship, each functioning with their specific giftings and responsibilities, so that Jesus' ship can be directed to His desired port of call.

This seems consistent with Philippians 2:1,2: If therefore there is any encouragement in Christ, if there is any consolation of love, if there is any fellowship of the Spirit, if any affection and compassion, 2 make my joy complete by being of the same mind, maintaining the same love, united in spirit, intent on one purpose.

Paul was saying that maybe the church is a very encouraging, loving church, full of the fellowship of the Spirit, and affection and compassion. But there is more. We can do all that but miss the next part: being of the same mind, maintaining the same love, united in spirit, intent on one purpose. Is the church today full of people independently serving their gifts, rather than serving Christ's church with their gifts?

I recently saw a book whose last chapter was entitled: "Your Pastor is not a Five-Fold Pastor". There is no way the pastor can do it all. Additionally, the church leadership is NOT called to do the work of the ministry. If the pastor and the elders were to do it all, then the rest of the body would be passengers, and the boat would look like this:


A cruise ship! That is not Jesus' design for His church. Ephesians 4:11,12 says that Jesus gave apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers, "for the equipping of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ." It is every member of the church who is called to the work of the ministry, for the whole body's sake.

Sometimes we use our gifts the way WE want, rather than for the edifying of Christ's body. He gave the gift, and He has the right to define how we use the gifts He's given. Sometimes we set our own parameters based on our preferences, feelings, or attitudes. But this hinders Christ and His work in His church.

In order for the church to meet the purpose Jesus has for it, individuals must surrender their right to their own vessel, and climb aboard His. And then they must use their gifts and abilities primarily for the service of Christ's vessel.

Which ship are you on?