Toward a Biblical (Pauline) Ecclesiology
A Study of the Doctrine of the Church with Practical Considerations Adapted from the Course “1 Corinthians 1-6, at TMS” Editor, Jay Wegter
Zechariah 11:4-14 – The foolish shepherd cares not for the sheep. As pastors who frequently must seek to heal the broken, we must never neglect those who are straying; we must sustain them as well. God gave obedient Israel peace from the nations and unity within. When God judged Israel, He broke the staff that gave them unity and He took away favor with the outside nations. When they lost unity within and peace without, they reached out to the Romans for help and the Romans just stepped in. Application: When fellowship is not right with God, disunity begins in the marriage, the home, and the church.
The Church at Philippi – the church there saw something unique in Paul. They sent financially to Corinth for Paul’s needs more than once. There are so few churches like Philippi.
On being authentic to your vision – Ask yourself frequently, “What would I go and do today if I knew for certain I was released to do it? Where has God told you to go?” Don’t go asking anybody, just go! Make new things happen in new places instead of old places. Old things are about money, property, power, and control – in places where people are afraid of losing control. This is endemic in the churches of the U.S.A. Change your mindset – say “I will not be bought nor sell my soul; I will be released!”
How God rules His Church – This is God’s Church – He rules it.
He rules His Church by God’s inspired Word.
He rules His Church by His God-gifted people.
He rules His Church by God-ordained circumstances.
We seek to ascertain what God wants to do by His Word and by the giftedness of the people. We function by the giftedness of, and in the Body. God builds His Church, He sovereignly places gifted people in the Body where He wishes (1 Cor 12:11, 18). God, through gifted people, directs the Church through the very people He has gifted.
Application: When you build around programs instead of people and the gifted person moves on, who do you have to fill their spot and keep the program going? We try so hard to lead the Church by programs. Remember, the profile of the gifted shapes the profile of a ministry – this is more than a program on the book. Elders ought to spend more time developing gifted men than the time spent administrating programs—it is about vision for a biblical ecclesiology.
Application: Elder meetings should be spent in the Word of God and prayer so that we may ascertain what God is trying to say to us. NOT, “What do you think?” Don’t try to lead in absentia as if Christ is absent. We have churches full of “evangelical deists” who say, “Yes, God started the Church, now we run it in absentia of Christ.” No! We are nothing but stewards (1 Cor 4:1ff.). We carry out His rules, we don’t make the rules. The Word of God is the only authority of anyone in the body of Christ, including pastors and elders. Determine what God would have us do more than ‘write a book’ for others.
On church leadership -- The same Greek word for lead in the home is also used of lead in the church (Grk. – proistami). When you go into a church, you do all three at once: you are a leader of leaders, you are a leader among leaders, you are a leader under leaders.
Application: If you severely doubt that God can use you and work through you, you might be carting around an Aaron, or be holding on to Debra’s skirt (Barak in Judges 4:8). Remember: it’s always about God, not you. The answer to self-consciousness and suffocating external expectations – “God laid hold of me to feed you, build you, and lead you.”
Defining the Church that God rules – In 1 Corinthians it is a church, a garden, a spiritual building, a spiritual temple, the house of God. God alone directs His Church through His inspired Word, His God-gifted people, and through His God-inspired circumstances. NOT ONE BIT OF THIS IS PRAGMATICALLY DRIVEN!
The central role of giftedness – “Stop forbidding prophesying” (1 Thess 5:20) – do not quench or stifle the Spirit. If you stifle God-given giftedness, you quench the Spirit. Don’t quench the Spirit – this same thought positively expressed is as follows: “Release people to giftedness in ministry.” There is effort required to do this and obey God at this juncture. We must come along side in order to confront. By ‘confront’ we mean that affirmation, interview, and release to ministry all call for vulnerability by both leaders and volunteers. But we’d rather control and dictate than confront. We are uncomfortable with 1 Cor 14 because we are not in control. We prefer to structure because we are security driven and thus more comfortable with control. The issue is about releasing gifted people.
Application: Pastors and elders are to examine the use of gifts and equip the gifted people in light of God’s Word. Equip by example, by instruction, by nurture, and by opportunity to use giftedness – we model the expression of giftedness. We help others begin – we open the door for other people to use their gifts. Build our ministries around the giftedness of the person – don’t fight it. Don’t shove the person into a job description.
Because we are security driven, we cram people into a job description and fall back on pragmatism and the world’s methods. When we shove people into a job description, frustrated mediocrity is the result. To pastors in training: you are unique, don’t go somewhere where you have to be someone unlike you. The divinely energized power flows through your authenticity. When you are authentic, you are operating by God’s power through your God-given experience, giftedness, and vision.
Problem: Sadly, people want structure (security) instead of these liberating principles of Scripture. We are used to doing too many things well, cut back so that you do the few things well that nobody else can do. This is where the authenticity is unleashed. How has God built you? Your training, experience, giftedness, passion, and vision make up your uniqueness. In 1 Corinthians 12 and 14 it is the wholeness of the Body expressed through diversity of gifts—the emphasis is complementarity—the Spirit working through specialists more than generalists.
On the subject of power -- When you enter a church you are not trying to wrest the power from those who have arrogated power to themselves. You don’t want the power. The power belongs to God. You are forever establishing a model before others that it is God’s Church and He has told us how He rules it. Much of our modeling is in our preaching – when you go all over the place in your preaching, the sermon becomes your message. Stay in the context until the weight and burden of what God says fills your mind and heart. This is vital to your example of how God rules His Church – your exegetical integrity will say volumes about what you really believe concerning God ruling by His Word.
Toward a biblical ecclesiology – Most churches have no concept of a biblical ecclesiology. Instead, they just keep polling the people to see what they should do. We reiterate how God rules His Church: 1) By His inspired Word. Pastors and elders exposit the Word and they examine the use of gifts, equip the people/gifted people in light of God’s Word. 2) By His God-gifted people. God’s gifted people are built up, equipped, and released to ministry. 3) By His God-ordained circumstances. God’s gifted people are released in the context of God-ordained circumstances. Circumstances manifested by: what needs are to be met? Is the fellowship life of the Body committed to bringing each member to maturity? What ministry vision is capturing hearts of praying members? What opportunities for ministry are presenting themselves? What mission fields are particularly suited for the gifted in the Body?
The foundation principle in biblical ecclesiology – Don’t go beyond what is written (1 Cor 4:6). Jesus gives His followers non-negotiable principles but lets them figure out structure and the detail of implementation. Application: Build around giftedness, then, when the person leaves, you won’t have the pressure to perpetuate their ministry.
God’s Word is on a collision course with hyper-structural institutional pragmatism – God seeks to impact and transform the lives of the church members by means of His Word. By a Spirit-energized confrontation and interface of the soul with the Word, ongoing repentance is the Spirit’s intent. Institutional pragmatism with its religious forms hangs like a sooty veil, blocking the Word’s interface with the soul. Marketing, hyper-structure, programs, more professionals, all send the message that it is not God’s Church!
The Word is the supporting principle of how God rules His Church. Therefore, as pastors, we must develop an exegetical mindset in order to establish that the Word of God is foundational -- The entire ministry of God’s Church must be built upon a set foundation of the Word of God. We establish to our hearers that this is the sole foundation by our sound exegesis and hermeneutics. All ministry must be consistently exegetically driven. Warning: Don’t change the rules mid-course! Stay with the exegetical mindset. Don’t go to psychology, pragmatism, or the human business model.
The Authority of the Word of God is in tension with man’s “power” -- The greater
submission to God’s Word through which He is ruling, the more room there is for God’s power
to work.
Property
____________
OPTIONAL
Programs
___________________
People BIBLICAL ______________________ Biblical Principles ___________________________
The Word of God
Application: In the above diagram, the top two are optional – Jesus built His Church by only using the bottom three. God’s power flows and operates from the bottom up in this pyramid! Conversely, man’s attempts at power and control flow from the top of this pyramid down. The top two are too often a showcase for man’s ability as an entrepreneur, for man’s wisdom, and his managerial skills. The foundation is “Do not go on beyond what stands written” (1 Cor 4:6).
Application: You should only want programs established by people committed to Biblical principles. 95% of splits in churches are the result of power struggles, not doctrine, though doctrine may be attached and hide the real cause. If elders are not doing what God wants, then they, most commonly, are running the church like a business. Most commonly, whoever controls the money controls the church.
Defining the Church – ask the following: “Whose Church is it?” “How is the Church to function?” “What are the guidelines?” – We must establish that it is God’ Church, this is the bedrock for everything else. The purpose of studying Pauline Ecclesiology is to develop an exegetical mindset – to establish contextually driven principles. This is the only safe ground. In 1 Cor 1:1-10, ten times in ten verses; Christ Jesus is IN HIS CHURCH, this is ownership.
Application: Let the passage establish its own grid. You must let the passage do it for you. By that we mean that you have not imposed upon the passage, but the passage has imposed upon you. Remember: God’s power moves up from the foundation start point of the Scriptures.
Pastoral positions of authority – Many pastors have been offered/given positions of authority. The problem is, they have taken it. Pastoring/shepherding is not about running the church but shepherding the flock (see Is 40:11) – “gently lead the nursing ewes.”
The foundation of our entire ecclesiology – it is entirely built upon the set foundation of the infallible Word of God. It is established on the solid exegesis of the Word of God. It is consistently exegetically-driven. We pursue: Exegetical Ministry Outreach Exegetical Worship Exegetical Counseling Exegetical Preaching/teaching Exegetical Church Leadership Exegetical Theology _________________________________________________________
Foundation:
Fidelity to: the Biblical Text in Context, Exegesis/ The Hermeneutic of the Grammatical/Historical Method, Biblical Background.
Implications of the authority of Scripture – The Positive Implications: 1) The authoritative Word of God produces right motives in ministry, worship, and service. 2) The Word defines where the real authority resides—elders and deacons minister in such a way as to be role models and examples of the Word as the foundation. 3) Right motives in worship – it places God as making His abode in the Church so that we may ascribe to Him the glory He is due. This is the opposite of self-centered worship which works at entertainment, mood, and sentiment. 4) The Word defines the role and responsibility of elders. Identifying resistance to the authority of Scripture: to uncover the negatives, simply list the opposite of each of the four positives above.
Application: People will trust you to the degree that you do not bend the rules of exegesis. Don’t fudge to make the text say what you want it to say. You must let the Scripture control and define. How far do we go with the Bible? Do we really believe it is the sole rule of faith and practice?
The pastors are leaders by example, and role models in establishing and modeling the authority of God’s Word – Pastors must affirm the authority of God’s Word. They make it their task to focus upon biblical mandates and principles in ministry. Consequently, they will see a renewal of spiritual vigor in the area of the mission and ministry of the local church.
Application: Each step helps produce the next: 1) By faithful exegesis pastors establish the authority of the Word. 2) By means of an exegetical pulpit and an exegetical approach to ministry, leadership, boards, and committees, they stay founded upon the authority of Scripture.
- The church and its people are motivated to align themselves with the mandates and principles of God’s Word.
We must come to terms with the fact that it is God’s Church – 1 Cor 1:2.
Acts 20:28 – guard the flock which God purchased with His own blood. Once you come to terms with the fact that it is God’s Church, it will transform all that you are about, and all the Church is about. WHY? Because today’s issue is about power and control. The problem is in building – it is a form of provincialism in which the outcome comes with the assumption that what we have built is ours, “We built it, it belongs to us, we’ll do it this way.” It’s contaminated with empire-building motives that exist to erect a monument to our achievements.
Application: train men to be leaders at home, then they will be leaders in the church, able to care for the church of God. Home is the church in miniature.” The same principles must function in a smaller setting, the home, as in the church. You must be willing to discipline spiritually in your home in order to do it in the church. Explain what God requires in light of Scripture and reprove in your children ungodly attitudes as well as sinful behaviors.
Application: When we speak of church government, we don’t necessarily say, elder rule, congregation rule, no, actually God rules. The Greek word for elders ruling and leading is proistami (1 Tim 3:4). It means to stand before your house – to stand well before your house (two senses). It is leadership with children in submission, and it is protection—care for, example, and compassionate care.
Application: We must get men to stand at home. The church is God’s household, it is not ours to adjust the regulations in it. It is not ours to run and rule. Many elders don’t fit where they think they fit because they are oblivious to the fact that God rules.