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Before we can truly understand anything meaningful about the church, we must first be captured by a consuming revelation of the Person for whom it exists. Therefore, we must always begin with the Lord Jesus. We must always start with Him.
If we start out with the church, instead of with the One for whom it lives, we will end up with something quite distorted. As one writer put it:
"The church is so important! Yet her significance fades away compared to the glory of our Christ Himself. We face grave dangers when we ‘major' on the church and especially on its ‘structure.' We should major on the Lord and minor on the church . . . at most . . . If Christ is not exalted, we are building on sand, using wood, hay, and stubble as materials. All will be burned up. Whenever Christians, throughout the age, have built on a foundation other than Christ, the storms have come and living churches have fallen into spiritual death."
The church is not an end in itself. Scripture gives the greatest attention to the Person and Work of the Lord Jesus Christ as the center and circumference of the full purpose of God. Its primary attention is fastened upon the weighty matters of His Lordship, His kingdom, His victorious triumph, His glorious character, His life in the believers, His second coming, and His universal rule. It is all about Him!
Consequently, the stress of Scripture is upon the wine (Christ in the Spirit). Nevertheless, God's wine needs a wineskin (church order) to contain and pour it forth. If we fail to pay attention to the wineskin that is recorded in the NT, the wine of God's life will leak out or become spoiled.
The wineskin has been given for the practical outworking of our glorious inheritance in Christ. Its purpose is simple: To contain and express the riches of His glory. Put differently, the Lord has given us truth regarding the organism of the church as well as its order. In this vein, Watchman Nee explains,
"The danger, with those who know little about life and reality, is to emphasize mere outward correctness: but with those to whom life and reality are a matter of supreme importance, the temptation is to throw away the Divine pattern of things, thinking it legal and technical . . . Of course, the mere observance of outward forms of service has no spiritual value whatever. All spiritual truths, whether pertaining to the inner or outer life, are liable to be legalized. Everything that is of God—whether outward or inward—if in the Spirit is life, if in the letter it is death. So the question is not, Is it outward or inward? but, Is it in the Spirit or in the letter? ‘The letter killeth, but the Spirit giveth life . . . ' We seek to follow the leading of God's Spirit, but at the same time we seek to pay attention to the examples shown us in His Word . . . God has revealed His Will, not only by giving orders, but by having certain things done in His church, so that in all ages to come others might simply look at the pattern and know His Will . . . Precepts have their place, but examples have no less important a place, though obviously conformity to the Divine pattern in outward things is mere formality if there is no correspondence in inner life. (The Normal Christian Church Life)"
The Place of Organism and Order in the Church
While the church is first and foremost an organism, it does have order. Order just is. Whether it is good or bad, it just is. Whenever God's people gather together, a certain order or form will eventually emerge. The form can be liberating or oppressive. Scriptural or unscriptural. Helpful or harmful. But it always exists. In the words of Howard Snyder,
"All life must have form. Life without form is sick and dies; it perishes because it cannot sustain itself. That is the way it is with all life, whether human, spiritual, or botanical, for God in His creation is consistent." (The Community of the King)
Church order, therefore, is both inevitable and important. An apt example of this truth is found in our Lord's scathing rebuke of the scribes and Pharisees. In Matthew 23, we find the Master repudiating their rabbinical tradition. He denounces their unjustified obsession with external correctness. He lays bare their bondage to outward forms.
Jesus upbraids the scribes and Pharisees for shifting the Divine priorities saying, "For you make clean the outside of the cup and of the platter, but within they are full of extortion and excess . . . For you tithe mint and dill and cummin, and have neglected the weightier provisions of the law: justice and mercy and faithfulness."
Here the Lord scolds these religious leaders for stressing outward correctness to the neglect of inward purity. But notice that He did not discount the importance of the outward matters. He went on to say, "These ye ought to have done, and not to have left the other undone" (Matt. 23:23). So God's highest value rests upon inward spiritual reality (organism). But He does not ignore its outward expression (order).
The fact is that there is both order and life—form and function—in the church of Jesus Christ. A.W. Tozer insightfully redresses the delicate balance between the two saying,
"Some will have no organization at all, and of course the results are confusion and disorder, and these can never help mankind or bring glory to the Lord. Others substitute organization for life, and while having a name to live they are dead. Still others become so enamored with rule and regulations that they multiply them beyond all reason, and soon the spontaneity is smothered within the church and the life is squeezed out of it." (God Tells the Man Who Cares)
Where Modern Evangelicalism Has Gone Wrong
Many modern evangelicals have embraced the benighted idea that only those things that are "explicitly commanded" in Scripture are binding. Everything else can be safely ignored. Ironically, most who espouse this idea deny it in their practice.
They rigorously defend the importance of having the Lord's Supper on a regular basis, the necessity of baptizing new converts, and the importance of assembling together on a weekly basis. Yet none of these practices is explicitly commanded in Scripture!
Equally problematic is the notion that only the "principles" of the early church are to be heeded while its "practices" are irrelevant and antiquated. This idea has deluded many Christians into embracing a raft of humanly-devised practices that violate spiritual principles. For example, salaried clergy, single pastors, pulpit-pew styled services in basilica-like spaces, denominations, etc. are all at odds with spiritual principle!
The truth lies here. Normative apostolic commands are binding for the modern church. But the normative apostolic practices are as well. By normative, I mean those practices that assume the following characteristics: 1) They were established by the apostles in all the primitive churches; 2) They are life-bound rather than culture-bound; 3) They contain a spiritual subtext.
Such practices are not purely narrative. They also carry prescriptive force. This means that they reflect the unchanging nature of God Himself. And they naturally emerge whenever God's people live by Divine life together.
The Apostolic Tradition
The NT word for tradition is the Greek word paradosis. It denotes that which is handed down. The NT repeatedly makes reference to something called "the apostolic tradition" (1 Cor. 11:2; 2 Thess. 2:15; 3:6). What exactly is this tradition and how doesi t affect us today?
First, it contains the stories of Jesus. Stories about His earthly life and ministry. (These are contained in the Gospels.) Second, it includes the commands and practices of the apostles that were passed on to all the churches (1 Cor. 11:23ff.; 15:1-3; 2 Pet. 3:1-2).
The apostolic tradition represents the normative beliefs and practices of the early church. So when Paul made reference to the universal practice of all the churches, he was appealing to the apostolic tradition (1 Cor. 4:16-17; 11:16; 14:33-38).
These were not practices that Paul merely described. They were prescribed for each and every church. Eminent NT scholar F.F. Bruce observes,
"When we examine Paul's references to the tradition of Christ, it appears to have comprised three main elements: (a) a summary of the Christian message, expressed as a confession of faith, with special emphasis on the death and resurrection of Christ; (b) various deeds and words of Christ; (c) ethical procedural rules for Christians . . . What was derived from the earthly Jesus and was transmitted through the apostles was at the same time continuously validated by the exalted Lord through His Spirit in the apostles, so that revelation and apostolic tradition are but two sides of the one coin . . . as the ever-living Christ He maintains and authenticates the tradition throughout the apostolic age until it ceases to be oral tradition and becomes Holy Scripture. Tradition is thus one way the Risen Lord imparts His revelation through the Spirit." (Tradition: Old and New)
The tradition of the apostles is contained within Scripture. Thus the notion held by some Catholic and Orthodox theologians that there exists a mysterious body of authoritative and infallible tradition outside of the Bible is untenable.
Rather, the apostolic tradition is the embodiment of those spiritual principles and organic practices that the apostles modeled in every church during the first century. It is these principles, methods, and lines of working that constitute the wineskin that God has formed to preserve His new wine.
If our church practice is derived from life, it will be in harmony with the apostolic tradition. This is because the teachings of the apostles are rightly expressed through their practices. Therefore, what is written in the NT concerning how the apostles conducted themselves is not to be viewed as irrelevant history. It is to be considered with great care.
Some may argue that if we are rightly following the Holy Spirit's rule there is no need to give our attention to first-century practices. However, this argument ignores the fact that we are fallible creatures who easily confuse the Spirit's guidance with our own. Accordingly, we must realize that in order for us to discover the source of our leading, our church practice must have a Biblical basis.
To ignore apostolic traditions is to put us in the dangerous position of unknowingly substituting our misguided feelings and unfounded thoughts for the Spirit's leading. The NT, then, is to be our standard for faith and practice. Both for individual conduct as well as for corporate life. Watchman Nee points out,
"If we would understand the will of God concerning His church, then we must not look to see how He led His people last year, or ten years ago, or a hundred years ago, but we must return to the beginning, to the ‘genesis' of the church, to see what He said and did then. It is there we find the highest expression of His will. Acts is the ‘genesis' of the church's history, and the church in the time of Paul is the ‘genesis' of the Spirit's work. Conditions in the church today are vastly different from what they were then, but these present conditions could never be our example, or our authoritative guide; we must return to the ‘beginning.' Only what God has set forth as our example in the beginning is the eternal will of God. It is the Divine standard and our pattern for all time. . . Circumstances may differ and cases may differ, but in principle the Will and Ways of God are just the same today as they were in the book of Acts." (The Normal Christian Church Life)
G.H. Lang draws the same inescapable conclusion saying,
"Nor is there a need, nor can there be hope, of improving upon the Lord's orderings. He knew perfectly the purposes which His church was to serve in the earth, and knew fully the conditions amidst which it must work; and He instituted through His apostles the very best arrangements and methods for doing the intended work in the given conditions. To assume otherwise is to impute folly to God. It is a fallacy that conditions alter essentially, or indeed at all, in relation to the business of the church of God. God changes not; His claims upon and principles of conduct for mankind alter not; the sinfulness and rebellion of the natural man abide undiminished; and, for the purpose in view, racial and religious differences, or a local veneer of mental education or of civilization, matter nothing . . . As, then, all the essential factors abide as they were in the apostolic times, the apostolic plan of church life and of Christian service will be, and has been, found to be as Divinely suited to this age as to that; indeed, Scripturally speaking, it is but one age." (The Churches of God)
The NT presents the church in its purest form. It shows us what the church was like before it was tainted by the defiling hand of man. Therefore, it is in the NT that we must look to discern the Spirit's leading for us today. Both on an individual as well as on a corporate plane.
If we ignore Scripture on these points, we will make the perilous mistake of creating a church after our image. As Stephen Kaung says,
"People believe that the Word of God shows them how to live individually before God, but they think that insofar as their corporate life is concerned, God says, ‘It's up to you; do whatever you like.' And that's what we find today in Christianity; there is no guiding principle as to our corporate life—everyone does what is right in his own eyes. But dear brothers and sisters, we are saved individually, but we are called corporately . . . there is as much teaching and example in the Word of God that governs our corporate life as there is our personal life." (Who Are We?)
The book of Acts and Paul's epistles are awash with references to the apostolic tradition. These Spirit-inspired writings present both basic spiritual principle as well as local application. In Acts, Luke uses narrative to teach theological truth. His writing merges principle and practice together.
Principle and practice are interwoven throughout Paul's epistles as well. In 1 Corinthians 4:17, Paul declares how he taught his ways "everywhere" in "every church." To Paul's mind, doctrine and duty—belief and behavior—life and practice—are inseparable.
Consequently, that which is included in the apostolic tradition is normative practice for all churches yesterday and today. The exhortation of Paul to "hold firmly to the traditions just as I delivered them to you"—practice what "you have learned and received and heard and seen in me" are the considerations that should guide us in our church life.
Intersecting Tradition and Teaching
Adhering to the apostolic tradition does not mean reenacting the events of the first-century church. If so, we would have to hold our meetings in an upper chamber with many lights (Acts 20:8). We would have to cast lots to appoint our leaders (Acts 1:26). We would have to climb upon roof-tops at the hour of prayer (Acts 10:9). Not to mention having to speak and dress like all first-century believers did, in sandals and togas!
Instead, observing apostolic traditions means following what was theologically and spiritually significant in the experience of the early church. The apostolic tradition represents the balance between reenacting the specific actions of the first-century church and ignoring them.
The truth is that there are numerous practices of the early church that are normative for us today. These practices are not culturally conditioned. They are rather tied to our faith and obedience. And they are deeply rooted in Biblical theology. Such practices give practical expression to the spiritual realities that are in Jesus Christ. They are the Divine means for expressing the Divine purpose.
Apostolic tradition incarnates apostolic teaching. It gives shape to spiritual reality. Open participatory church meetings are solidly based upon the well-established doctrine of the priesthood of all believers (see Chapter 1). Observance of the Lord's Supper as the communion of the church is built upon the centrality of Jesus Christ and the covenantal relationship of the believing community (see Chapter 2).
House church meetings rest squarely upon the fact that the church is a face-to-face community. It is a close-knit, extended family that engages in mutual sharing and edification (see Chapter 3). Plural oversight and decision-making by consensus are firmly grounded in the practical operation of the functioning Headship of Christ (see Chapter 6).
A fully functioning priesthood is the Divine means for expressing the eternal purpose (Chapter 7). Finally, the Scriptural basis of one church per locale is rooted in the teaching of the oneness of the Body of Christ (see Chapters 8 and 9).
Granted, there are other first-century practices beyond the ones just mentioned. Church planting by itinerant apostolic workers; gospel preaching; acts of mercy and social justice; the baptizing of new converts; the training and support of apostolic workers, et al. are some examples.
In short, every principle that is a part of the apostles' tradition is vitally connected to an unshakeable Scriptural teaching. Apostolic practice represents the God-ordained means of expressing His life. The function and form of the church are complimentary notions in Scripture.
The form of the church should always follow the function of the church. Yet the church's form should not be ignored. Correct form does not ensure nor guarantee life. But if a church possesses life, it will embrace those forms that will facilitate the building up of the Body. As one writer remarks,
"All church structure (including the structure of authority) must come forth spontaneously from ‘life.' The river (‘life') makes its own riverbed (structure). We cannot make the riverbed (structure) and then invite the river (‘life') to come through our construction. Rather, the river moves and as it does it makes its own riverbed to flow through. So the life of the Spirit in the assembly will form its own structure. Thus all NT structure is flexible (moves with life) and not rigid (Matt. 9:14-17). However, the basic structure of the church is set forth in the Scriptures and should be studied and restudied so as to check the structure being formed. The Spirit does not bring structures that are in opposition to the Word." (Rudy Ray,"Authority in the Local Church," Searching Together, Vol. 13:1)
When the Holy Spirit has His sovereign way in birthing a church, it will spontaneously gather in a Biblical fashion. The church will organically fulfill the apostolic tradition. As Paul said, those who follow the Spirit (the spiritual) will adhere to the apostolic tradition regarding church order (1 Cor. 14:37).
Regrettably, the tradition of the apostles has been largely ignored today. It has been viewed as irrelevant in the eyes of many modern Christians. The apostolic tradition has been buried under a mountain of human tradition!
Multitudes of church leaders today have opted to regard their own ideas of "doing church" as wiser, more expedient, and more successful than what is found in the NT. The tragedy of this mistaken conclusion is manifold. When Divine tendencies are replaced with man-officiated programs and schemes, God's ordained purpose for the ekklesia is crippled at best. It is crushed at worst.
The Importance of the Apostolic Tradition
Paul responded with unusual sharpness toward those who departed from the apostolic tradition saying,
Did the Word of God originate with you? Or are you the only people who it has reached? If anybody thinks he is a prophet or spiritually gifted, let him acknowledge that what I am writing to you is the Lord's command. If he ignores this, he himself will be ignored. (1 Cor. 14:36-38, NIV)
It would do us well to remember that Divine truth is understood both by precept and example. This is the case all throughout Scripture. So to disregard the organic principles and examples of Scripture is to betray the teachings of Scripture.
Surprisingly, a church may abandon the apostolic tradition in lieu of its own self-constructed form and still have God's blessing in some measure. This has caused not a few Christians to conclude that NT example isn't important. Yet we mustn't be deceived into thinking that God's blessing equals His approval.
The history of Israel teaches us that God can still bless a people who disregard His ways for their own. Throughout Israel's wilderness journeys, God met His people's needs. This despite the fact that He was continually angry with them. When the children of Israel clamored for a king in their rebellion against the Divine will, the Lord condescended to their carnal desire (1 Sam. 8:1ff.). And he continued to bless them despite their disobedience.
But tragic consequences followed their self-motivated decision (1 Sam. 8:11-18). The nation lost its freedom under a raft of evil monarchs. And it suffered a series of Divine judgments. There is a sad parallel between the condition of Israel and many of God's people today who have opted for an earth-tied, man-managed religious system. It bears repeating: God's blessing does not equate His approval.
The Challenge of Unfeigned Obedience
Because He is mercy, the Lord will bless any group of people if He can find some ground to do so. But when they choose their own ways in place of His, they severely limit His hand. The Lord is very jealous over His house (see Rev. 1-3). And He is not satisfied with our human arrangements when it comes to the church.
Oh, how quickly we forget that the church belongs to God and not to us! Dear reader, be clear that it is part of our fallen nature to follow our own ideas regarding church practice. To enshrine our own traditions. To canonize our own personal preferences. To institutionalize what fits our own ideas of success rather than to follow what the apostles have handed down to us.
So I ask you: Where do you get the right to change NT principle? What basis do you have to ignore the tradition of the apostles in preference for your own? What authority do you have to replace plural oversight with hierarchical forms of government? Where do you get the right to support a single pastor system? What exegetical basis do you have to replace open participatory meetings with program-based, man-officiated services that foster passivity and suppress functioning? What grounds do you have for dividing yourself from other members of His Body? What right do you have to tamper with what the Lord has prescribed for His own house!?
The words of the honorable theologian John Stott come to mind:
"The hallmark of an authentic evangelicalism is not the uncritical repetition of old traditions, but the willingness to submit every tradition, however ancient, to fresh Biblical scrutiny and, if necessary, reform." ("Basic Stott," Christianity Today, Jan. 8, 1996)
I press the question directly: If your church practices come in direct conflict with NT revelation, are you willing to adjust them?
Let God Build His House
An unmistakable theme of the Bible is that God leaves nothing for man to decide when it comes to His house. It is Christ's House that He is building in His Way. He is the God of the end as well as the God of the means. All must be of Him, through Him, and to Him if it will have any lasting value. Again, the church comes out of Christ. How dare we try to reform it into our own image!
Consequently, it is not the size of the building that is God's chief concern. It is what the building is composed of (1 Cor. 3:9-15). In the Lord's eyes, how we build and what we build with are more important than the size and appearance of the building.
"Unless the Lord builds the house," declares the Psalmist, "they labor in vain that build it" (Ps. 127:1). God alone is the Master "architect and builder" (Heb. 11:10). Especially when it comes to His own dwelling place! In God's work, the governing principle is always, "Lord . . . all that we have accomplished you have done for us" (Isa. 26:12, NIV).
The tragic story of King David's presumptuous act of placing the ark of the Lord upon a wooden cart is the summary witness that God's work must be done His way (2 Sam. 6:1-7). The humanly-devised scheme of placing the holy ark upon a cart appeals to modern pragmatic ears. Yet the idea was borrowed from the heathen Philistines. And it violated the plain instruction of Jehovah (Exod. 25:12-16; Num. 4:5-15).
In the same way, we invite spiritual death into our midst whenever we depart from His ordained way.
May we never forget Paul's warning regarding the subtle influence of empty philosophies that detract from Jesus Christ (Col. 2:8). Modern pragmatism is one of those philosophies. Because it has been baptized in the name of Christ, dressed in Christian garb, and concealed behind Biblical language, many modern believers assume that pragmatism is a Christian tenant.
Pragmatism boldly asserts that if something succeeds (according to human measurements) it must be right. Such thinking is spiritually perilous and Biblically invalid. Noah, Jeremiah, Isaiah, Ezra, Nehemiah, John the Baptist, Jesus, and the twelve apostles were all failures in the eyes of modern pragmatism!
In his penetrating essay called Pragmatism Goes to Church, A.W. Tozer goes to the heart of the matter:
"What shall we do to break its [pragmatism's] power over us? The answer is simple. Acknowledge the right of Jesus Christ to control the activities of His church. The NT contains full instructions, not only about what we are to believe but what we are to do and how we are to go about doing it. Any deviation from those instructions is a denial of the Lordship of Christ. I say the answer is simple, but it is not easy for it requires that we obey God rather than man, and that brings down the wrath of the religious majority. It is not a question of knowing what to do; we can easily learn that from the Scriptures. It is a question of whether or not we have the courage to do it." (God Tells the Man Who Cares)
Whose House Are We Building?
Perhaps a simple illustration will help to underscore the force of what has been set forth in this chapter. Suppose that you hired a carpenter to build a den as an addition to your home. You sketched out a diagram specifying how you wanted the den to be built. You then carefully explained it to the carpenter.
After returning from a week long vacation, you were shocked to find that your new den barely resembled the pattern that you had sketched out. You then asked the carpenter why he failed to adhere to your plan. He responded by saying, "I thought my ideas were better than yours!"
Have we not done the same with the Lord's house!?
Regrettably, scores of Christians have had no qualms about rearranging the spiritual furniture in God's house without consulting the Owner. David is still placing the holy ark upon a Philistine cart. And Uzzah's human hand continues to try and steady it.
May we not be so unwise. The Lord help us to observe His "due order" (1 Chron. 15:13).
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