The Beginning of the Church

This entry covers chapter four of Batsell Barrett Baxter's book, The Family of God.  In this chapter, we consider the question, "When did the church of Christ begin?"

Some people accustomed to thinking of Christianity in terms of denominations might ask, "When did your denomination begin," or, "When did your church begin?  Here's when ours began..."  An in-depth understanding of the church as described in the Bible shows that, stated this way, the question does not really apply.  The church is one worldwide, as shown in Ephesians 4:4-6.  It is made up of autonomous congregations that are also called churches, but it is never defined in the Bible as being divided into groups like denominations.  The inspired New Testament writer, Paul, taught the church not to divide in such a way, in 1 Corinthians 1-3.

I believe it was the Encyclopedia of American Religions by J. Gordon Melton that included a top-ten list of the most significant events in American religious history.  In the doctrinally competitive environment of frontier America in 1801, a revival known as the Cane Ridge meeting, led by Barton Stone, became one of those significant events.

Stone told the attendees that being part of the Lord's church meant that they must lay down their doctrinal differences and be of one mind on the essential issues that would affect their standing before the Lord, or if you will, their salvation.  On minor, non-essential things they should tolerate opinions.  Both of these biblical directives, if practiced, allow much greater unity.  The sad thing about it is that the biblical message was astonishingly fresh and untried by that time.

This meeting was a pivotal event that began a return to the use of the Bible to define Christianity rather than using creed books with their individual biases and doctrinal weaknesses.  So, was it the beginning of yet another denomination, or was it a return to the truth?  The churches of Christ maintain that it represented the restoration of true, New Testament Christianity, the kind that Paul was trying to save from the ravages of division.  The restoration movement is an attempt to unify all Christians on solely biblical terms, to return the church to what it should be, not to create a new church, denomination, or sect.

If you re able to grasp this concept of the body of Christ, you can see what strength it has--the sheer, awesome power of the almighty God living in His church, as opposed to some person in the 1800's who might have given an inspiring speech.  No one who has embraced this concept thinks or teaches that any recent date marked the beginning of the church that Jesus established.  Let's look at when it did start.

Baxter notes that references to the church in the Old Testament were made in prophecy and described as being in the future.  For example, Daniel's interpretation of Nebuchadnezzar's dream told of a kingdom that would outlast all the earthly kingdoms represented by the multi-layered statue in Daniel 2 and never be destroyed.

During the life and ministry of Jesus, the church, also referred to as the kingdom of God or the kingdom of heaven, is seen as being in the near future.  Jesus appropriately taught his followers to pray to God, "...Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done..."   He told them in Mark 9:1 that a number of them would be around to see it established.  As the New Testament moves ahead in time beyond the four gospels, the church is referred to as being already established and in existence.

We find its beginnings in Acts 2 and the events that occurred on the Pentecost, after Jesus had been crucified, buried, raised, and seen again among His followers.  Acts 2 also happened after Jesus had instructed them how to spread the word, then ascended into heaven to sit at the right hand of God.  Described in Galatians 4:4 as "the fullness of time," this period was the perfect place in history for Christ to save humanity and pave the way for all of us to be reconciled to God.

Jesus had said in Matthew 16:18, after Peter's heartfelt statement of faith, that He would (in the immediate future) build His church.  He told Peter and the disciples, who would become apostles, that He would give them the keys of the kingdom, meaning that it was their responsibility to explain to people how to get inside God's family.  They later took advantage of a perfect opportunity to do that, and Peter himself stood up in Acts 2 and gave the first gospel sermon ever recorded.  It was entirely guided and accompanied by the Holy Spirit, as is plainly shown in Acts 1 and 2.

Peter asked people to change their ways (repent) and allow themselves to be immersed in water (be baptized) for the forgiveness of their sins.  Today I feel we as a society have lost much of the humility and willingness to obey that was present in the crowd that day.  Imagine 3,000 adults, presumably of sound mind, willing to leave behind their familiar lives and make a radical new commitment to Christ.

If we turn to the Bible to find the beginning of the church, the phenomenal events of Acts 2 form the starting place.  It could not have started before Jesus died on the cross, as He demonstrated by remaining under the Law of Moses His whole life.  He had not yet paid the price for the sin of humankind.  Likewise, the church could not have started after the rest of the New Testament was written, because most of the New Testament is about the church.

A big part of the reason we have such a great hope in Christ is because we don't depend on any recently devised doctrinal position, but instead draw strength, encouragement, and unity in knowing when the church actually began.

Sometimes it takes many years for someone to appreciate the sense of greatness that pervades the church.  Knowing when and how it started increases the overwhelming sense of security surrounding the house that is built on the Rock of ages.  I want to live there!