Greetings in The Name of Jesus Christ, The Light of the world,
Deeper Things
The church and the church system:
In one of our earlier letters, we made a differentiation between the genuine church of the New Testament and the the church system of Western culture. In today’s letter, we will examine the genuine church, as defined by The New Testament.
The church of the New Testament is a supernatural living body of genuine followers of Jesus Christ. They are not bound by a specific geographical location. Wherever two or more of them assemble together, Jesus Christ recognizes them as His body and is there in their midst. The assembled believers understand that each has a responsibility to contribute to the body through their specific gifts, given to them by The Holy Spirit.
In the first century, small groups of believers were led by an appointed elder, sometimes called a bishop or overseer. They most commonly assembled and fellowshipped in private homes. When persecution began in earnest, believers had to become more creative in where they gathered.
The New Testament recognizes five offices among The Body of Christ: apostles, prophets, evangelists, teachers, and pastors. The elder of a local assembly will function in one of these offices. In church history, men holding the office of apostle are infrequent and rarely lead a local assembly for an extended period. Evangelists and prophets, by virtue of their calling, also travel and rarely function as an elder. Most local elders are pastors or teachers. A deacon is also recognized as a leader in the local church. Elders, as the need arises, will appoint a deacon or deacons to help with acts of service in the local body.
The ideal local body is small in number. This allows for accountabilty among believers and the exercise of each member’s spiritual gifts. It also serves as protection from spiritual and physical enemies. As the local body grows, the overseeing elder will appoint a new elder to begin a new assembly.
Despite the current church system so well established in our Western culture, the New Testament model of the church remains Christ’s plan for His body. God’s purpose and plan has not changed. In our next letter, we will examine our modern church system.
your brother in Christ,
P.S. Jesus Christ is coming soon.
Do not be deceived.