What Is The Church?
02 Aug 2019
(I was asked to write this article for the next edition of infellowship, the EFCC magazine)
In July there was a report in the press that Christianity is now in serious decline amongst young people in the UK. According to the Daily Telegraph on 11th July 2019—
“Christian belief has halved in Britain in 35 years with just one in three people now identifying as Christian - while atheism and Islam continue to rise. Figures published by the British Social Attitudes Survey reveal the widest ever margin between staunch atheists and believers who are certain that God exists. Of almost 4,000 people polled by the National Centre for Social Research (NatCen), 38 per cent described themselves as Christian - a fall from 50 per cent in 2008 and 66 per cent in 1983.”
Faced with reports like these and the difficult realities on the ground in many of our churches, it can be vey easy to become increasingly discouraged. Is our job just to manage the decline of the church?
If we think that, we need to see the church the way God does, not the way our society does. The Bible is very clear - you would be a fool to bet against the growth and future of the church! Even more important than that, if we give in to discouragement about the church, we are being faithless and not letting the Lord tell us how precious and significant the church is in his sight.
When Paul spoke to the Ephesian elders he Acts 20, he made a very strong statement about the church. It is “the church of God, which he obtained with his own blood.” The church is no human institution, she belongs to God, bought at the price of the cross of Christ. More than that, the church is Christ’s bride, being prepared for him when he returns. The church is the family of God, united to Christ our elder brother, who know God the Father.
As members of this body we recognise that we are both part of the universal church - the whole body of Christ throughout the world, but also a particular local church. And these great statements about the church are true of your local church, wherever you are.
We recognise that the church is both invisible - encompassing everybody who is joined to Christ (“the church as God sees it”), but it is also visible to us right now - including all who credibly profess faith in Christ and our children.
Because the church belongs to Christ, we are holy. We are a people set apart for the Lord Jesus, and this will show itself in the way we live, and obey and relate to one another in love. The church is wonderfully diverse, made up of all kinds of people who belong to Christ, and are used by him to serve one another and do the Lord’s work. We are all needed!
The church is (in the right understanding of the word) apostolic. This doesn’t mean we can trace our leadership back to Peter, but that we are devoted to the apostles teaching. We do what the Lord Jesus through his apostles have called us to do. There is a right sense in which a church is a place as well as a people. It doesn’t matter where we meet, but a church is where God’s people gather and receive the preached word and the sacraments from those who have been called and equipped.
Jesus makes it clear that the church is necessary. In an age where we can be tempted to think we can be Christians by ourselves (after all, we have books and the internet), Jesus reminds us he does not save us alone - he unites us to his body. He calls us to play our part in a visible, local church. He equips us to serve him and one another in the church.
More than that, he does his work of drawing people to him through the church. The great commission is given to the church. After all, “baptism” and “teaching everything I have commanded you” - the key tasks of discipleship, can only be done by local churches!
As Mark Twain is reported to have said “rumours of my death have been greatly exaggerated”. This will always be true of the church - even the local church. To believe in the demise of the church is to be on the wrong side of history. Jesus himself said “I will build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.” While it is true that this is not an absolute promise for every local church - we can’t be complacent, we must be faithful and prayerful - it does mean we can’t ever give in to depression about the church. Jesus will marry his bride, and he will continue to do his work through the local church.