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Growth and the Local Church
(Part 2)
By Rick Shrader
We have noticed in part 1 that (1) the church is a called out group of
people who have voluntarily believed, not a kingdom of people who have been
conquered against their will, and (2) the Great Commission is to preach the
gospel, not convert the nations. We continue in part 2 by emphasizing the
effectiveness of bold preaching and dignity of the small congregation.
3) The New Testament preacher
is a herald of God’s message, not a diplomat to negotiate with his hearers.
In his pastoral
epistles, the apostle Paul described himself to Timothy as a “preacher” (1 Tim.
2:7; 2 Tim 1:11). This description (khrux) gives us the idea of the minister as
a “herald” of the truth of God. This picture comes from the secular world of
biblical times when kings had messengers that would deliver his words to the
subjects of his realm. This person was specially chosen for his integrity and
faithfulness to the message as it was delivered to him. In the lengthy article
defining this term in Kittel’s Theological
Dictionary of the New Testament, Gerhard Friedrich writes,
In many cases
heralds are very garrulous and inclined to exaggerate. They are thus in danger
of giving false news. It is demanded, then, that they deliver their message as
it is given to them. The essential point about the report which they give is
that it does not originate with them. Behind it stands a higher power. The
herald does not express his own views. He is the spokesman for his master. . .
. Heralds adopt the mind of those who commission them, and act with the
plenipotentiary authority of their masters. . . . Being only the mouth of his
master, he must not falsify the message entrusted to him by additions of his
own. He must deliver it exactly as given to him.7
Delivering a
message through the herald was like today’s letter writer sending an email.
Once the writer hits the “send” button, the message will be delivered exactly as
it was written and it is too late to change at that point. The herald should be
that faithful to the message of the king. It was not his position to negotiate
with the hearers for a more acceptable form of the message. This is why the
term is so appropriate for the New Testament minister. He is to
preach the Word (2 Tim. 4:2) declaring
to the hearers all the counsel of God
(Acts 20:27).
There is a great
temptation today to conform the message to the desires of the hearers rather
than preaching to conform the hearers to the message of God. Paul asked the
Galatian believers, For do I now persuade men,
or God? Or do I seek to please men? for if I pleased men, I should not be the
servant of Christ. But I certify you, brethren, that the gospel which was
preached of me is not after man. For I neither received it of man, neither was
I taught it, but by the revelation of Jesus Christ” (Gal. 1:10-12). The
New Testament herald is to please God and persuade men, not to please men and
persuade God.
In our desire for
growth, acceptance and success, many church leaders have found that it is easier
to bend the Word of God slightly or to add and subtract from the Word. John
Wimber, founder of the Vineyard Movement, wrote, “I assumed that Bible study,
especially as approached in evangelical seminaries, was the key to being
equipped and empowered to do God's work....but I no longer see it as the sole
avenue to being equipped and empowered to do God's Work.”8 Peter
Wagner, long-time professor and guru of church growth, wrote, "In the early
years. . . . I focused mostly on Bible study. . . . Now I know more about
worship, reverence, and praise. I seek a daily refilling of the Holy Spirit in
a way I can actually feel his presence. . . . I am beginning to distinguish the
voice of God from my own thoughts and to allow him to speak to me directly."9
Brian McLaren, leader in the “Emerging Church” movement, wrote,
The new church does not view the New Testament as a “New
Leviticus”—a law book of strict rules—nor as a fixed, detailed blueprint to be
applied to all churches in all cultures across time. Rather, the New Testament
serves as (among other things) an inspired, exemplary, and eternally relevant
case study of how the early church itself adapted and evolved and coped with
rapid change and new challenges. In place of a fixed structure that is to fit
all, the new church advocates a flexible, adaptable, evolving structure that is
developed to meet the current needs. The key word is adaptability.10
In an interesting
twist to the concept of a New Testament herald, McLaren says, "Organizational
structure is like a pair of shoes. You fit the shoes to the feet; you don't
make the feet fit the shoes."11 This comes as a surprise to
generations of preachers who have understood their responsibility to be “cobbler
preachers,” that is, to just make the shoes (i.e. preach the Word as it is) and
if they fit the audience, they are to wear them! Now we are being told by the
new generation of “emerging preachers” that we must make the shoes to fit the
audience.
How different we
sound today than even a generation ago! A.C. Dixon, who helped edit “The
Fundamentals” at the early part of the 20th century and also pastored
Spurgeon’s Metropolitan Tabernacle in London, described the responsibility of a
preacher quite differently:
Every preacher is,
or ought to be, a prophet of God who preaches as God bids him without regard to
results. When he becomes conscious of the fact that he is a leader in his
church or denomination, he has reached a crisis in his ministry. Shall he be a
prophet of God or a leader of men? If he decides only to be a prophet insofar
as he can without losing his leadership, he becomes a diplomat and ceases to be
a prophet at all. If he decides to maintain his leadership at all costs he may
easily fall to the level of a politician who pulls the wires to gain or hold a
position. He who would prophesy or speak forth the message of God is careful of
none of these things but only that he shall speak the message that God gives
him, even though he be in a lonesome minority.12
When John Bunyan
wrote his autobiography, he titled it Grace
Abounding To The Chief of Sinners. Bunyan was willing to spend almost
twenty years in jail to keep the message of God’s Word pure. If today we could
see ourselves more as the chief of sinners rather than the chief executive
officer, we would be better heralds of God’s truth!
4) The church is a body of
worshipers who meet for spiritual purposes, not a corporation to do worldly
business.
The church of
Jesus Christ exists to worship Him and to follow His commandments. Those
commandments amount to holding fast the Word of God in every part. As we have
already shown, the believer is a worshiper of God and has been equipped by God
with all the ability and tools necessary to worship Him.
According as his divine power hath given unto
us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him
that hath called us to glory and virtue” (2 Pet. 1:3). In the context of
forgiveness and church discipline, Jesus said,
for where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst
of them” (Matt. 18:20). The Scripture does not place numerical
requirements on our ability to worship or to do His business.
Today’s consumer
mentality is contradicting this biblical priority. People are wanting beautiful
facilities, fully staffed and functioning ministries for children and youth, the
latest technology and the most professional musicians. If more time is spent by
professional staff on how to create the right effects in the service than in
seeking the Lord’s pleasure and blessing through the Holy Spirit, it is no
wonder that we cannot be satisfied with biblical worship. Os Guinness relates
the comment of a Japanese businessman to a visiting Australian: “Whenever I
meet a Buddhist leader, I meet a holy man. Whenever I meet a Christian leader,
I meet a manager.”13 Guinness then adds,
The two most
easily recognizable hallmarks of secularization in America are the exaltation of
numbers and of technique. Both are prominent in the megachurch movement at a
popular level. In its fascination with statistics and data at the expense of
truth, this movement is characteristically modern.14
There is a
necessary part of the local church which calls for good business procedures and
proper planning. But when the worship is manipulated by professional procedures
to gain the desired results, anything but worship is happening. True worship
does not need manipulation. In fact, it must not be manipulated at all except
by the Word and Spirit. For we are not as
many, which corrupt [literally, “to hawk or peddle”]
the word of God: but as of sincerity, but as of God, in the sight of God speak
we in Christ” (2 Cor. 2:17). True worship, then, can take place anywhere
there are sincere believers seeking God.
The most memorable
experiences in our home have been those times when we gather, with a few friends
or relatives, around the piano and sing hymns and speak openly of spiritual
things. This is also true in the church. In most mid-week church services, the
saints will spend time praying together, singing together, giving testimonies
and studying God’s Word. Often the joy found in those “prayer meetings” far
exceeds any other service for worshiping in
Spirit and in truth (John 4:24); and serving Him
acceptably with reverence and godly fear (Heb.
12:28). That is not to say that such worship is not possible in larger
gatherings, but only that it is just as (if not more) possible in the small
setting. If that is what most believers were really seeking, the church growth
movement would lose its glitter next Sunday!
And So . . . .
We should not
despise the day of small things. Zechariah the prophet encouraged the returning
remnant in his day (Zech. 4:10) to not be discouraged because the temple they
were building was not large. The reason for optimism was because the Lord’s
work is not by might, nor by power but by my
Spirit, saith the LORD of hosts (Zech. 4:6). We live in a day when small
churches are made to feel inferior for their lack of size and are seen by
today’s success-oriented generation as failures. But they are not. In fact,
ten churches of one hundred each can do more than one church of a thousand.
They have ten pastors, more people involved in serving and teaching, a greater
geographical outreach, and probably more potential for evangelism. The small
group concept has been a good thing that larger churches have used. But small
churches are power-packed small groups already! They live or die by the
necessity of every-member participation and especially for the reliance on the
Spirit of God for power. We ought to praise God and rejoice for the day of
small things!
Notes:
7. Gerhard Friedrich, “Khrux”
Theological Dictionary of the New Testament,
vol. III, Geoffrey W. Bromiley, ed. (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1978) 688.
8. John Wimber & Kevin Springer,
Power Evangelism (San Francisco: Harper
Collins, 1992) 91.
9. Peter Wagner,
The Third Wave of the Holy Spirit (Ann Arbor: Vine Books, 1988) 129.
10. Brian McLaren,
The Church on the Other Side (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2000) 23.
11. McLaren, 101.
12. Quoted by Vance Havner,
In Times Like These (Old Tappan:
Fleming H. Revell, 1969) 103.
13. Os Guinness,
Dining With The Devil (Grand Rapids: Baker books, 1996) 49.
14. Guinness, 49.
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