These comments cover the third chapter in Batsell Barrett Baxter's book, The Family of God. The chapter helps us get a clear picture of the church by showing what Jesus and the New Testament writers said about it. No matter how sophisticated our understanding of the church becomes, it is always good to return to these fundamental ideas that were written by the inspiration of God at the time when the church was just beginning.
Baxter first takes images of the church from the parables of Jesus. Parables are fascinating, because they use everyday events to illustrate many of the highest spiritual truths. They should be closely studied, because the conditions and lifestyles prevalent at the time of their telling would cause them to be much deeper and richer to their original hearers than they might be to a casual reader today. The study of first century society and culture amplifies the communicative effect of each parable and brings its message into sharp focus.
Parables have often been called earthly stories with heavenly meanings. They play a big part in revealing the mystery of God to His potential followers, according to Jesus Himself. Because they are told for illustrative purposes, it is not necessary to assume that every parable is entirely factual, in my opinion. Yet, some hold to the perfectly understandable view that Jesus could not and would not utter anything that might not prove true, so the parables must all be associated with factual events. Fortunately most of them are so general in nature that one can say they are entirely believable, even though it is also safe to say that they never were intended to be a historical record of any kind. What we must believe from the Bible is that Jesus told them and they apply to the church as God's kingdom.
The parable of the sower shows what happens when the message of redemption through Christ is taught. Sometimes it produces the desired result, and sometimes it falls into a "place" (heart) where it cannot thrive.
The parable of the wheat and the tares observes that both the faithful and unfaithful may enjoy some of God's blessings, but they will be separated in a time of final judgment, all of which reflects the importance of the church in helping to determine the eternal character of an individual.
The parable of the mustard seed predicts the remarkable growth of the church from its small beginnings. The parable of the leaven shows that followers of Christ can influence those around them. The parable of the hidden treasure shows us just how highly we should value our opportunity to be part of the church.
The pearl of great price is another parable that illustrates the extremely great value of the church. The parable about a dragnet cast into the sea shows that the church will attract people who manage to do God's will and people who, for whatever reason, fall short or go wrong in a big way. All these parables are part of a mosaic of images informing us about the church, what it is, how it works, and who its inhabitants are.
New Testament writers used certain major analogies to describe the church. It is like a physical body with many parts. It is like a kingdom, a building, and a family. Relationships among Christians and their Lord can be much better understood by studying all the references to these analogies.
Baxter compares each parable and analogy to a facet in a jewel that helps define its beauty. He notes that the new and different nature of the church made these devices necessary. Finally he makes the excellent point that the richness and permanence of the images show the remarkable way God inspired the writings of the New Testament.
Sunday, April 18, 2010
Saturday, April 10, 2010
What Is the Church?
Our local newspaper ran a feature article for a few years called, "Church of the Week." In each issue there was a photograph of an interesting place of worship, and not one of them had any people in the photo. Really they were just featuring unique buildings around the county that were used for religious purposes. If the congregation is part of the Lord's church as described and established in the New Testament, the people are the church. I took a photo of our congregation standing in front of the church building, and I imagine that someone thought we should stand aside, "so the church could be seen in the picture."
In this lesson Dr. Baxter clarifies the meaning of the word, "church," explaining how the Greek word, ekklesia, came to mean God's called out body of people. Thinking of the church as the people can seem a little unnatural to anyone who has not done a biblical study of the term, but it is correct that the people are the church. In fact, that is the only correct use of the term, "church."
Baxter calls attention to Acts 5:11 and Acts 8:3, in which fear came upon the church and later Saul laid waste the church, entering homes and dragging men and women to prison. Not only do these verses point to people rather than buildings, but the second one shows us that those people were the church, whether they were all together in the assembly or separately spending time in their homes. This is an important teaching with which all Christians everywhere should be very familiar. We are the church, no matter where we are or what we are doing.
Churches of Christ have a habit that confuses a lot of people, maybe even some of our own newer members. Sometimes we say "churches" or "churches of Christ," as in Romans 16:16, 1 Corinthians 16:19, and several other NT places. At other times we refer to the church as one universal, united body, as Jesus did in Matthew 16:18, and as Paul did in Ephesians 5:25. What we are actually doing is acknowledging in our practice the two different senses of the word, "church," as used in the New Testament. Both are biblical, but one means the worldwide church, and the other refers to a local congregation.
So, if there are different churches (congregations) within driving distance, and if they are all truly a part of the Lord's church worldwide, how do we decide in which congregation we will serve? Baxter suggests five things that could influence such a decision to one extent or another.
Where can I do the most good?
Where can I get the most help?
Where can I easily be present?
Where do I feel most at home?
Which congregations are scripturally sound?
We can have quite a discussion on any of these five questions. Above all, the church is one, and thinking about the relative advantages of different congregations should not produce attitudes of rivalry, division, and one of my favorite odd phrases from the King James Version, "party spirit." (Remember, that was identified as a sin!) God wants the whole church to succeed in its mission, and if we are godly Christians, we do too.
Baxter then deals with some misconceptions about the church. It is not just an organization. It is certainly not like a social club, and I will add that, as relates to the expectations of some, it is not exactly like a social services agency either. It is not a building, as we have seen. It is not perfect. It cannot simply call itself a church and be acceptable to God but must actually be what God wants it to be (Matthew 7:21). Also, it is not an activist organization like a political party or a revolutionary group promoting upheaval, but as Baxter observes, is a spiritual community that can change society by teaching and example.
At first glance you might not think there is much to discuss in attempting to define a church or the church. Yet, here we have simply scratched the surface. People spend their entire lives studying the New Testament and trying to refine the concept of the church. We can all be glad that we have God's perfect message to give us the proper understanding of what it is and what it should be.
In this lesson Dr. Baxter clarifies the meaning of the word, "church," explaining how the Greek word, ekklesia, came to mean God's called out body of people. Thinking of the church as the people can seem a little unnatural to anyone who has not done a biblical study of the term, but it is correct that the people are the church. In fact, that is the only correct use of the term, "church."
Baxter calls attention to Acts 5:11 and Acts 8:3, in which fear came upon the church and later Saul laid waste the church, entering homes and dragging men and women to prison. Not only do these verses point to people rather than buildings, but the second one shows us that those people were the church, whether they were all together in the assembly or separately spending time in their homes. This is an important teaching with which all Christians everywhere should be very familiar. We are the church, no matter where we are or what we are doing.
Churches of Christ have a habit that confuses a lot of people, maybe even some of our own newer members. Sometimes we say "churches" or "churches of Christ," as in Romans 16:16, 1 Corinthians 16:19, and several other NT places. At other times we refer to the church as one universal, united body, as Jesus did in Matthew 16:18, and as Paul did in Ephesians 5:25. What we are actually doing is acknowledging in our practice the two different senses of the word, "church," as used in the New Testament. Both are biblical, but one means the worldwide church, and the other refers to a local congregation.
So, if there are different churches (congregations) within driving distance, and if they are all truly a part of the Lord's church worldwide, how do we decide in which congregation we will serve? Baxter suggests five things that could influence such a decision to one extent or another.
Where can I do the most good?
Where can I get the most help?
Where can I easily be present?
Where do I feel most at home?
Which congregations are scripturally sound?
We can have quite a discussion on any of these five questions. Above all, the church is one, and thinking about the relative advantages of different congregations should not produce attitudes of rivalry, division, and one of my favorite odd phrases from the King James Version, "party spirit." (Remember, that was identified as a sin!) God wants the whole church to succeed in its mission, and if we are godly Christians, we do too.
Baxter then deals with some misconceptions about the church. It is not just an organization. It is certainly not like a social club, and I will add that, as relates to the expectations of some, it is not exactly like a social services agency either. It is not a building, as we have seen. It is not perfect. It cannot simply call itself a church and be acceptable to God but must actually be what God wants it to be (Matthew 7:21). Also, it is not an activist organization like a political party or a revolutionary group promoting upheaval, but as Baxter observes, is a spiritual community that can change society by teaching and example.
At first glance you might not think there is much to discuss in attempting to define a church or the church. Yet, here we have simply scratched the surface. People spend their entire lives studying the New Testament and trying to refine the concept of the church. We can all be glad that we have God's perfect message to give us the proper understanding of what it is and what it should be.
Sunday, April 4, 2010
The Glory of the Church
These are my reflections on chapter 1 of Batsell Barrett Baxter's book, The Family of God, available from the Gospel Advocate bookstore in Nashville, Tennessee, and online at http://stores.homestead.com/GospelAdvocateCompany/StoreFront.bok. If you are in Cairo and are thinking of joining us for this first class, I hope you get a chance to read over these thoughts. Lord willing, we will discuss this lesson on Sunday morning, April 11.
Baxter first mentions a striking social trend in Japan, in which students had an intense curiosity about all things Jesus, yet had no interest in the church. I have had a similar experience. One of my roommates in Statesboro always kept a tapestry of Christ over his bed. When I asked him about it, he said he thought Jesus was the greatest person who ever lived, but he didn't want any kind of involvement that usually goes with learning about Jesus and the church.
If we take time to discover what is in the Bible, we soon realize that there can be no separation or compartmentalized treatment of Jesus and the church. He founded it. He made the supreme sacrifice to allow its existence. He is its pioneer and perfecter.
Baxter points to division among religious groups and disparity (a practice gap) between what Jesus taught and what various groups teach, as major turn-offs when thinking about church, even though people might appreciate and even say they would like to somehow follow Jesus.
I work in the library profession, a dynamic and vital service with an incredibly powerful potential to enhance the lives of its users with lifelong learning. Yet, far too many times, I encounter someone whose last experience with a library was in fifth grade. Their image of what we do is a spastic, irrelevant stereotype of what a library might have once been but certainly is not now.
That doesn't get people excited about coming in to use a thriving twenty-first century library, but it is not because of an inherent problem with the library. We would never want to be disrespectful of anyone who comes to us, but we see these things. Also, we try to keep in mind that, if there is any kind of problem with the library, we need to be sure to take care of it and make the library as we envision it.
Often I encounter people with an equally useless perception of what the church is all about. Such unfortunate ideas have the actual physical strength to stop someone from getting in their car and coming to church to find out what the rewards can be. The mental and spiritual barriers give rise to things that lead people into apathy and negative responses. Throughout His ministry, Jesus pointed out how people's limited perception kept them from appreciating the true glory of what He called God's kingdom, meaning his family, the church.
That's why Baxter suggests that we dwell on the wonder, the greatness, the glory of the church. He poses an interesting question: Has it escaped us? Maybe we didn't know this glory was something we should chase after. Yet, if we can ever really let it in and catch a decent glimpse of it, we would trade everything we have for it.
There are eight reasons put forward in this lesson to show us why the church is the most glorious institution ever to exist on the planet. Its origin, foundation, beginning, relationship, universality, work, simplicity, and destiny are all shown in scripture to be the underpinning of an environment that is so utterly magnificent that it passes all understanding. We will be discussing these things in class.
Baxter finishes this lesson by saying that the church (as it really is, not as we might wrongly imagine it) is more important than any government, business, home, fraternal order, or anything else in the whole world. When people give themselves to Christ, that is the same thing as agreeing to work and worship in the church. There is no separation, no difference.
Baxter's last statement should be particularly encouraging to anyone who is already on the Lord's side. He observes that we enter the church in this life, and we remain in it beyond death and into eternity. So, whatever we do here is only the beginning! I'd say that has a glorious ring to it!
Baxter first mentions a striking social trend in Japan, in which students had an intense curiosity about all things Jesus, yet had no interest in the church. I have had a similar experience. One of my roommates in Statesboro always kept a tapestry of Christ over his bed. When I asked him about it, he said he thought Jesus was the greatest person who ever lived, but he didn't want any kind of involvement that usually goes with learning about Jesus and the church.
If we take time to discover what is in the Bible, we soon realize that there can be no separation or compartmentalized treatment of Jesus and the church. He founded it. He made the supreme sacrifice to allow its existence. He is its pioneer and perfecter.
Baxter points to division among religious groups and disparity (a practice gap) between what Jesus taught and what various groups teach, as major turn-offs when thinking about church, even though people might appreciate and even say they would like to somehow follow Jesus.
I work in the library profession, a dynamic and vital service with an incredibly powerful potential to enhance the lives of its users with lifelong learning. Yet, far too many times, I encounter someone whose last experience with a library was in fifth grade. Their image of what we do is a spastic, irrelevant stereotype of what a library might have once been but certainly is not now.
That doesn't get people excited about coming in to use a thriving twenty-first century library, but it is not because of an inherent problem with the library. We would never want to be disrespectful of anyone who comes to us, but we see these things. Also, we try to keep in mind that, if there is any kind of problem with the library, we need to be sure to take care of it and make the library as we envision it.
Often I encounter people with an equally useless perception of what the church is all about. Such unfortunate ideas have the actual physical strength to stop someone from getting in their car and coming to church to find out what the rewards can be. The mental and spiritual barriers give rise to things that lead people into apathy and negative responses. Throughout His ministry, Jesus pointed out how people's limited perception kept them from appreciating the true glory of what He called God's kingdom, meaning his family, the church.
That's why Baxter suggests that we dwell on the wonder, the greatness, the glory of the church. He poses an interesting question: Has it escaped us? Maybe we didn't know this glory was something we should chase after. Yet, if we can ever really let it in and catch a decent glimpse of it, we would trade everything we have for it.
There are eight reasons put forward in this lesson to show us why the church is the most glorious institution ever to exist on the planet. Its origin, foundation, beginning, relationship, universality, work, simplicity, and destiny are all shown in scripture to be the underpinning of an environment that is so utterly magnificent that it passes all understanding. We will be discussing these things in class.
Baxter finishes this lesson by saying that the church (as it really is, not as we might wrongly imagine it) is more important than any government, business, home, fraternal order, or anything else in the whole world. When people give themselves to Christ, that is the same thing as agreeing to work and worship in the church. There is no separation, no difference.
Baxter's last statement should be particularly encouraging to anyone who is already on the Lord's side. He observes that we enter the church in this life, and we remain in it beyond death and into eternity. So, whatever we do here is only the beginning! I'd say that has a glorious ring to it!
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Bible Class on the Family of God
This blog is a resource for the Sunday morning adult Bible class of the Cairo church of Christ. For at least six months we will be guided in our Bible study with a book written in 1980 by Batsell Barrett Baxter, entitled The Family of God: A Study of the New Testament Church. We are getting our lesson books from the Gospel Advocate bookstore. Its popularity has made this title part of the Gospel Advocate Classics Series.
In preparing for the class, I hope to use the principals I find in the Bible, such as the rallying cry of James 4:8, "Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you." James is considered to have been the brother of Jesus, yet he claims only to be His servant (James 1:1).
That brings to mind a song we like to sing called, "None of Self and All of Thee." Some of our fellow Christians have commented recently about the fact that the first verse describes a person who is quite selfish on balance, thinking, "...all of self and none of Thee." We surely don't want to get stuck on the first verse!
I will pray for all of our class members and visitors as I study this material, so maybe as a teacher I can keep moving toward the fourth verse, "...none of self and all of Thee." After all, the purpose of any class is to prepare and equip us all to succeed in our walk with God and make a difference in the church and in the lives of our friends because of our commitment.
Let's enjoy this book and get ready to learn something we can take with us through the rest of our lives and beyond. Welcome to our class on the family of God!
In preparing for the class, I hope to use the principals I find in the Bible, such as the rallying cry of James 4:8, "Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you." James is considered to have been the brother of Jesus, yet he claims only to be His servant (James 1:1).
That brings to mind a song we like to sing called, "None of Self and All of Thee." Some of our fellow Christians have commented recently about the fact that the first verse describes a person who is quite selfish on balance, thinking, "...all of self and none of Thee." We surely don't want to get stuck on the first verse!
I will pray for all of our class members and visitors as I study this material, so maybe as a teacher I can keep moving toward the fourth verse, "...none of self and all of Thee." After all, the purpose of any class is to prepare and equip us all to succeed in our walk with God and make a difference in the church and in the lives of our friends because of our commitment.
Let's enjoy this book and get ready to learn something we can take with us through the rest of our lives and beyond. Welcome to our class on the family of God!
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