There must be a
myriad of definitions of the local church on offer. Rather than be intimidated by this, I might
as well offer yet another definition and, in doing so, attempt to create good
discussion on the subject. Ecclesiology (our
understanding of the ‘Church’ universal and the local church) is a crucial
subject for our day, not least because churches in the west are turning away
from denominational structures, have made ‘church growth’ the goal and mega-churches
the model of successful ministry in the city (thanks to motor cars and
technology), witnessed traditional ‘mainline’ denominations in free-fall since
the 1960s, and have become minority groups in a post-Christendom era.
In the light of
such shifting conditions, let alone a Biblical understanding of the church,
just what is and what should be the local church? My definition of the local church is as
follows. The local church is:
- a community
- that is defined by the Christian virtues of faith, love, and hope,
- that is connected with other Christian communities in accountable and missional relationships,
- and that is made up of believers in Jesus Christ
- who live under the authority of God’s holy Word, the Scriptures,
- and who are equipped and formed in Christ and by the power of the Spirit of God
- to live just and holy lives before God,
- to engage in mission and ministry as servants of Christ Jesus,
- and to render God due praise and worship.
Such a definition
is (1) multi-faceted and will,
therefore, render (2) different
expressions of ‘church.’ The (3) various emphases placed on one aspect or
another in such a definition of church will also lead to different
understandings and practices of the local church. Furthermore, (4) the various ways in which dimensions of the church are pursued by a
Christian community will also lead churches to different expressions at the
local level.
Having ventured to
provide a definition of the local church, I should like to suggest that
churches in the west are facing a challenge in how they understand and how they
need to reform themselves. We seem to be
facing a shift in our thinking of the local church as firstly a centre of worship (that also offers
community and discipleship) to a particular kind of community (that also worships).
Of course, most people still think of their church firstly in terms of
the style of music and the effective communication of the minister in sermons. This understanding of the local church as a
worship centre is precisely what needs reforming in our day. The pressure is growing to define the church
firstly as a community because the more society at large becomes post-Christian
the more the church needs a clearer understanding of itself as a distinct
community. Mega-churches (which have
often intentionally blurred any sharp distinction of being a Christian
community) struggle to develop meaningful community through their small (cell)
groups, and they are also challenged to provide adequate discipleship in either
their large group or small group settings.
They recognise that these are concerns to address, but they do so while
keeping their primary identity wrapped up in the large, worship service with
its popular preacher. The challenge,
then, is to recover meaningful community in a very individualistic culture
where the church is increasingly a minority group and when the mega-church is
often the model for the successful local church, at least in urban settings.
Moreover, churches
have increasingly become disconnected to one another in the non-denominational
environment, and this has had a detrimental effect on missions and
ministry. Local churches need to form a
network of one sort or another in order to fulfill an agreed (Biblically based)
mission and to offer proper accountability, without duplicating one another’s
efforts. The non-denominational church
typically (there are some exceptions) undermines missions, even if it is active
in short-term mission opportunities and supports missionaries because it often
reduces missions to mission exposure trips for its members and lacks a clear
understanding of what the mission should be (as also do several of the
Evangelical mission societies that exist mostly to place missionaries overseas
rather than fulfill a clear mission).
Thus, the
definition of ‘local church,’ above, can be fleshed out in very different ways,
depending on where the emphasis is placed.
Even mega-churches can explain their efforts at developing community—and
their efforts to this end are, admittedly, sometimes effective for some persons
in their inner circles (perhaps especially for young singles out of college). Yet a new vision of church seems necessary
these 30 or 40 years after the mega-church movement. The solution to issues that mega-churches
have encountered does not, in my view, involve creating small groups for
community and discipleship but a radically different paradigm for church—though
one not unfamiliar in different contexts and periods of church history. What is needed is the creation of a Christian
community, not a worship centre that tries to develop community.
More needs to be
said about the Christian community, as not any community will do. ‘Community’ (unity, inclusiveness,
fellowship) needs to be nuanced in light of the fact that the local church is a
Christian community. (Thus, e.g., it should practice discipline
and even exclusion of recalcitrant sinners rather than pursue the goal of
inclusion at all costs—so 1 Corinthians 5.) The definition offered above will
help people explore dimensions of the community that we need to see developed,
even if these will be developed in different ways. In particular, the local church needs to be established
as a community (a Christian community), as a learning community (a Biblically
and ecclesiastically literate, disciple-forming community), and as a missional
community (active in local ministry inside and outside the community and in
sending others out with the Gospel to the world). Such a community will also, of course, pray
and worship together, but its worship will not be its defining characteristic
even if this is an essential aspect of being a Christian community.
I stated earlier
that there have been examples of ‘church as community’ in previous times. This is in part because, until the beginning
of the 20th century, most people lived in rural situations, the
motor car had just been invented, and much of our technology was yet to be
developed. With the increased clustering
of people in the cities and with greater mobility, people were no longer thrust
into a community, whether they liked it or not, but faced the option and
challenge of forming their own community with select others out of a larger
population. This is also why the problem
addressed here is largely a western—or perhaps, better, an
urban—challenge. Moreover, the more a
church defines itself in terms of its Sunday worship and preaching, as opposed
to its mission and discipleship making, the more likely it will form community
around homogeneous clusters of race and socio-economic groups. A missional, discipleship making community that also worships is more likely to
draw in greater diversity than will a worship service that also supports discipleship and missions. Of course, diversity is never an end in
itself, but it is a result of a well-defined mission.
While I should
like to explore each line of the definition of the local church offered above
(and perhaps in the process of such an exercise also sharpen the definition
further), my main purpose here has been to emphasise the need to move our
thinking of the local church from its being primarily a worship service to its
being primarily a learning community under the guidance of apostles, prophets,
evangelists, pastors, and teachers ‘to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for
building up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith
and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of
the stature of the fullness of Christ’ (Ephesians 4.12-13). Notice the emphasis on the work of ministry
and the maturity of discipleship in this passage. And, to be sure, such a Christian community
will also be filled with the Spirit and address ‘one another in psalms and
hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with all your
heart, giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of
our Lord Jesus Christ’ (Ephesians 5.19-20).
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