Strong Church/Ephesus

Strong Church/Weak Church 10

The ruins of Ephesus

          Last time we saw the genesis of the Ephesian church. Today we are going to examine its strengths, primarily from John’s message to their church in Revelation 2.

          The first strength I see here is that they were a church that was hard at work serving the Lord.

Revelation 2:1–2

1 Unto the angel of the church of Ephesus write; These things saith he that holdeth the seven stars in his right hand, who walketh in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks;

2 I know thy works, and thy labour, and thy patience, and how thou canst not bear them which are evil: and thou hast tried them which say they are apostles, and are not, and hast found them liars:

          “Works” and “labour” here are not the exact same thing. Works is the idea that God knows exactly what you are doing and not doing. It is a statement of accountability, and is found in reference to all seven of the churches discussed in Revelation. God was paying attention and knew what they were doing and not doing. I know… thy labour, on the other hand, means God viewed them as a church that was hard at work serving Him.

          We neither obtain salvation nor keep salvation by our good works, but we are repeatedly commanded in the New Testament to do good works. A good church is a church that is zealous unto good works. In the original language, labor here means working to the point of utter weariness. In the following verse John commends them by saying they had not fainted (Revelation 2.3). Falling over from exhaustion is not a temptation that comes to the lazy man, ergo they were spending themselves in their service for Him.

          Additionally, they were not only hard at work for the Master but they did that work with the right motivation. And hast borne, and hast patience, and for my name’s sake hast laboured, and hast not fainted (Revelation 2.3). They did not pour themselves into this labor out of a desire to please their pastor, or because they were afraid of God, or because their pride spurred them on in an effort to build a reputation. They did it solely for the Lord. And that is a beautiful, beautiful thing.

          The second strength I see here is that they were a patient church.

Revelation 2:2–3

2 I know thy works, and thy labour, and thy patience, and how thou canst not bear them which are evil: and thou hast tried them which say they are apostles, and are not, and hast found them liars:

3 And hast borne, and hast patience, and for my name’s sake hast laboured, and hast not fainted.

          In the original language patience implies a persevering endurance. Proper work, good work, high quality work simply must include patience. It requires a careful, methodical craftsmanship. This is true if you are building a dresser or if you are building a new convert into a Sunday School teacher.

Take witnessing, for example. Jesus told us, but that on the good ground are they, which in an honest and good heart, having heard the word, keep it, and bring forth fruit with patience (Luke 8.15). Soul-winning is not a church growth method. It’s obediently sowing the seed of the Word of God in the hearts of receptive and unreceptive alike. It takes the Holy Spirit to bring that seed to life, regenerating a lost man, and I cannot rush the work of the Spirit. I can pray for it, plan for it, and prepare for it, but I cannot rush it. Often, it just takes time to bear fruit. Many a pastor and many a church has gotten discouraged because some activity they are doing does not seem to be bearing fruit. But when you connect that work with patience you get “labour”, working patiently to the point of utter exhaustion without giving up.

I want to go to Heaven exhausted. I want to be used up in my service for Him.

The third strength I see in the Ephesian church is the fact that they were fiercely independent.

I am an independent Baptist not by birth but by conviction. I pastor an independent Baptist church. In practical terms, that means our church does not belong to any larger denomination or organization. We do not have any external support, nor do we have any external controls either.

The biblical support for this position is two-fold. First, it is based on the fact the church is local, not universal. Second, it is founded on the idea that the only head of the church, any church, my church or your church, is just Jesus Christ. This theological truth is twice found, not surprisingly, in the epistle addressed to the Ephesian church.

Ephesians 1:22 And hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the church,

Ephesians 5:23 For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church: and he is the saviour of the body.

          Plainly, they took this admonition seriously. But this thou hast, that thou hatest the deeds of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate (Revelation 2.6). Who or what were the Nicolaitans? In answer, I would point to the definition of the underlying words themselves. “Nico” means to conquer, to get victory. “Laos” means the people i.e. the laity, the layman. From those two root words we get the understanding that says Nicolaitanism was to rule or to conquer the people. It involved ruling over or lording it over God’s church.

          This is warned against elsewhere in Scripture. Neither as being lords over God’s heritage, but being ensamples to the flock (I Peter 5.3). The pastor as bishop does have some genuine authority in the church but it does not rise to the level of dictatorship. He must ever be primarily an influence via his preaching and his example.

          John, the writer of Revelation, had previous experience with this type of thing.

3 John 9–11

9 I wrote unto the church: but Diotrephes, who loveth to have the preeminence among them, receiveth us not.

10 Wherefore, if I come, I will remember his deeds which he doeth, prating against us with malicious words: and not content therewith, neither doth he himself receive the brethren, and forbiddeth them that would, and casteth them out of the church.

11 Beloved, follow not that which is evil, but that which is good. He that doeth good is of God: but he that doeth evil hath not seen God.

          In that case, Diotrephes inserted himself into the chain of command between the church and Christ. He claimed the preeminence and the power. But who is to have the preeminence in each church? Who alone is to exercise the power of lordship? Jesus Christ. And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence (Colossians 1.18). No man or group of men is to lord it over God’s church. No man is have the preeminent authority to determine, individually by himself, what the church should and should not do. Rather, these matters are led by the pastor and agreed to by the church corporately.

          We see this latter example of ministry leadership and congregational ratification in the choosing of the first deacons. It was a joint decision. The leadership cast the vision, and the people entered into it willingly and actively with real influence.

Acts 6:1–6 (KJV 1900)

1 And in those days, when the number of the disciples was multiplied, there arose a murmuring of the Grecians against the Hebrews, because their widows were neglected in the daily ministration.

2 Then the twelve called the multitude of the disciples unto them, and said, It is not reason that we should leave the word of God, and serve tables.

3 Wherefore, brethren, look ye out among you seven men of honest report, full of the Holy Ghost and wisdom, whom we may appoint over this business.

4 But we will give ourselves continually to prayer, and to the ministry of the word.

5 And the saying pleased the whole multitude: and they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Ghost, and Philip, and Prochorus, and Nicanor, and Timon, and Parmenas, and Nicolas a proselyte of Antioch:

6 Whom they set before the apostles: and when they had prayed, they laid their hands on them.

          With this as the stated instruction and exemplified illustration in the church how then did the Nicolaitans justify their power grab? Via the guise of apostleship. See, the Apostles were the earthly foundation of the church. They guided its affairs, often directly, until the canon of Scripture was finalized. Paul appointed Timothy as a pastor in both Ephesus and Crete without any indication of congregational agreement. When dealing with the severely disordered church at Corinth he threatened he would show up and set things in order when he got there. Of course, this apostolic authority, like the apostolic sign gifts, was a temporary scaffold designed to enable the church to grow to maturity in safety. Later, when the New Testament was completed, the authority would belong exclusively to the Word of God. (Remember the first B in the Baptist acrostic? The Bible is our sole authority.)

          Thus it is that if you want to exercise human authority over a local congregation of called out believers you say that you are an apostle. Ergo, they must listen to your edicts.

          The classic ancient/modern example of this is still found in the Roman Catholic concept of church structure and government. It is universal (catholic) vs local. It is top-down authoritarian vs congregational. The popes specifically claim the mantle of Peter’s apostolic authority. The system thus produced is a parish that cannot choose its own priests, does not own its own property, never sees a financial report let alone votes on financial matters. Indeed, they never corporately decide anything in relation to the will of God for their church. The whole, from top to bottom, is controlled by a hierarchy external to the local parish – bishops, cardinals, and popes

          …but there are no more apostles. In order to qualify as an apostle a man must have walked with Jesus personally, been personally called by Him to the apostolic office, and prove this by his power to do miraculous works (Acts 1, I Corinthians 9, Luke 6, Acts 2, II Corinthians 12). The Apostles had no successors, Catholic or otherwise. For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ (II Corinthians 11.13).

          The church at Ephesus grasped this doctrinal truth tenaciously and applied it fearlessly. They dealt harshly with Nicolaitanism, the false doctrine of an external hierarchy ruling over the local church in the name of apostolic authority. How do I know this?

Revelation 2:6

6 But this thou hast, that thou hatest the deeds of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate.

Revelation 2:2

2 I know thy works, and thy labour, and thy patience, and how thou canst not bear them which are evil: and thou hast tried them which say they are apostles, and are not, and hast found them liars:

          Let’s hear three cheers for a hard-working, rightly-motivated, patient, fiercely independent church.

          That’s exactly what I want to build, God being mine helper.

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The Church at Ephesus

Strong Church/Weak Church 9

An Ephesian theater

          One of the most important churches in the Bible is the Ephesian church. I am, perhaps, speaking territorially for just last year I finished preaching a lengthy series from Ephesians. At any rate, whether my preaching series gives me an undue fondness for this church or not the fact remains it is discussed in detail in the Word of God.

          Historically, the city of Ephesus was one of the largest in the world during the New Testament era, hosting within its borders some half a million souls. Architecturally, it was a combination of Grecian and Roman influences with its multiplicity of aqueducts, temples, baths, and theatres, including one of the latter that sat 25,000 people. Most known for the Temple of Diana, this wonder of the ancient world was longer than a football field and composed entirely of marble. The momentum Ephesus had built up outlived the Roman Empire period but the same factors that doomed Antioch – silt in the harbor and pirates harrying the shipping – doomed Ephesus.

          We first come across it in Scripture during Paul’s travels in the latter half of Acts. And it came to pass, that, while Apollos was at Corinth, Paul having passed through the upper coasts came to Ephesus (Acts 19.1). Here, Paul found certain disciples. These were believing Jews who been baptized either directly by John the Baptist or by one of John’s disciples. This is not a theological blog series, let alone one on dispensationalism, so let it suffice for the moment to say that John’s baptism was one that looked forward to a still coming Messiah. It was a baptism of faith in the soon coming promise of God, but not a baptism of faith in specific relation to Jesus Christ. Paul explains that John’s preaching was about a man named Jesus, and directs them to put their faith specifically in Him as their Christ. They readily accede, and these dozen men became the seed kernel of the Ephesian church. Paul would stay in that city for years, teaching and preaching the Word of God, and building this church into a mighty work. And this continued by the space of two years; so that all they which dwelt in Asia heard the word of the Lord Jesus, both Jews and Greeks. (Acts 19.10) While there, Paul ordained Timothy to the pastorate, and Timothy succeeded him when Paul left for the next stop on his never-ending travels.

          Paul chose Ephesus, much like he chose the other cities where he started churches, for its potential regional influence.

Acts 19:17–20

17 And this was known to all the Jews and Greeks also dwelling at Ephesus; and fear fell on them all, and the name of the Lord Jesus was magnified.

18 And many that believed came, and confessed, and shewed their deeds.

19 Many of them also which used curious arts brought their books together, and burned them before all men: and they counted the price of them, and found it fifty thousand pieces of silver.

20 So mightily grew the word of God and prevailed.

          As you can imagine, this monumental Christian influence did

St. Paul Preaching Before the Temple of Diana at
Ephesus by Adolf Pirsch, 1885

not go unnoticed by the religious powers that then existed in Ephesus. These, headquartered naturally in the great Temple of Diana, included a substantial number of people who made their living selling pagan/demonic charms to the pilgrims and worshippers that thronged its massive colonnades. This Ephesian church under the direct leadership of Paul siphoned off so many of these Diana worshippers that the pagan craftsman became alarmed. The resulting riot was both an evidence of and an attack on the power of the growing Ephesian church.

Acts 19:23–28

23 And the same time there arose no small stir about that way.

24 For a certain man named Demetrius, a silversmith, which made silver shrines for Diana, brought no small gain unto the craftsmen;

25 Whom he called together with the workmen of like occupation, and said, Sirs, ye know that by this craft we have our wealth.

26 Moreover ye see and hear, that not alone at Ephesus, but almost throughout all Asia, this Paul hath persuaded and turned away much people, saying that they be no gods, which are made with hands:

27 So that not only this our craft is in danger to be set at nought; but also that the temple of the great goddess Diana should be despised, and her magnificence should be destroyed, whom all Asia and the world worshippeth.

28 And when they heard these sayings, they were full of wrath, and cried out, saying, Great is Diana of the Ephesians.

         

          We see, then, that the Ephesian church began with an unhesitating commitment to Jesus Christ, and continued under the direct leadership of Paul for quite some time as a thriving institution. But it is not only Acts 19 that informs our understanding of the Ephesian church. There is also an extended passage in Revelation 2 that reveals some very pertinent information about it. We will, in fact, spend much time in the rest of this blog series in Revelation 2 and 3 as these chapters discuss a number of New Testament era churches in some detail. I realize there are some that hold the seven churches discussed here to be representative of seven church ages in history, but I find no warrant for such a position. There is no indication in Scripture that they are to be taken as such, nor are there any guidelines for so doing. The result of those who hold this position is an absolute mish-mash of spiritualization, chronology, and faulty application. I intend to take these two chapters as I believe they were meant to be understood, plain messages to seven actual local churches.

          When we continue next week, we will be looking primarily at the passage in Revelation 2 that discusses the Ephesian church. We will probe it for what it may reveal to us of the their church’s strengths and weaknesses. Hopefully, along the way, we will learn a thing or two that may benefit us in our own churches today.
          See you next week. 

Weak Church/Corinth, Part Two

Strong Church/Weak Church 8

by Stephen King

We have already looked at several failings of the Corinthian church. They were serious, but they were not the largest problems. There are two failings that saturate the church and can be found at the root and the branch of its dysfunction.

4. They were carnal

1 Corinthians 3:1-4 

1 And I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, even as unto babes in Christ. 2 I have fed you with milk, and not with meat: for hitherto ye were not able to bear it, neither yet now are ye able. 3 For ye are yet carnal: for whereas there is among you envying, and strife, and divisions, are ye not carnal, and walk as men? 4 For while one saith, I am of Paul; and another, I am of Apollos; are ye not carnal?

Someone who is carnal is under control of the appetites of the flesh. It is a root issue in many of the failings of the Corinthians. In sexual sin? Obviously. But Paul identifies it as the root issue here, as well.

We see it throughout the Corinthian church, people doing what they want instead of what is wise or right. Following their appetites, their feelings. Following the preacher they like best, eating food known to be sacrificed to idols because they like it with no regard to who may be hurt by it, engaging in fornication. Following the flesh.

Our world is dominated by this ethos: What feels good, is good. Sadly, churches and Christians have adopted the same principle. Choices are made about worship, about whether to witness, about entertainment, about the speech we use, and about every other aspect of ecclesiastical practice and modern life, based upon what our flesh is inclined to do. The criteria used for choice is no longer, “Is it right?” but rather, “do I like it?”

This is a dangerous position. Jeremiah 17:9 warns, The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it? Our flesh is the producer of our appetites and a major factor in our emotions, and it is at war with the spirit of the saved person. To invite it to have controlling influence on decision-making is a terrible mistake.

Have you ever shopped for groceries while you are hungry? You are tempted to put everything that looks appealing into your cart. If you simply allow your appetite to guide your shopping, you will leave the grocery store with a lot of food and an empty wallet. Just as it is necessary to follow your shopping list, the Christian must walk in the Spirit and obey the Word of God.

5. They were puffed up

1 Corinthians 8:1-3 

1 Now as touching things offered unto idols, we know that we all have knowledge. Knowledge puffeth up, but charity edifieth. 2 And if any man think that he knoweth any thing, he knoweth nothing yet as he ought to know. 3 But if any man love God, the same is known of him.

1 Corinthians 4:18-19 

18 Now some are puffed up, as though I would not come to you. 19 But I will come to you shortly, if the Lord will, and will know, not the speech of them which are puffed up, but the power.

1 Corinthians 5:2 And ye are puffed up, and have not rather mourned, that he that hath done this deed might be taken away from among you.

1 Corinthians 13:4  Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up,

The phrase “puffed up” appears six times in 1 Corinthians and once (Colossians 2:18) in the rest of the New Testament. It was clearly a problem in the Corinthian church, and Paul was sharp in his identification of it. What does it mean? The root sense is of inflation, as in, inflating oneself. It is to make oneself proud, to inflate one’s own worth. It is, essentially, pride.

The Corinthian church had an inflated sense of worth. They were prideful. According to 1 Corinthians, this was the root of much of their weakness. They were puffed up regarding their divided loyalties. They were puffed up about their tolerance of sexual sin. They were puffed up in their use of spiritual gifts. They were puffed up about the issue of food offered to idols; so much so, in fact, that Paul reserves 1 Corinthians 8:1-3 just to chastise them for that before restating the original issue in the following verse.

There was raging pride saturating the church at Corinth. We find this ironic, because it is the church with the most troubles recorded in the New Testament. But it is not surprising. Pride, by its nature, ignores flaws and sin where it exists and imagines strength and quality where it does not exist. Pride is never merited in a Christian, but it is interesting that its presence is typically in inverse proportion to the worthiness of the subject.

It is tempting merely to draw direct application from specific areas of pride in the Corinthian church that fit with preferred narratives. For example, the Corinthian church’s pride over its tolerance of sin is clearly an issue that is a problem in Christianity today. However, the specific issues in which the Corinthian church was puffed up were merely symptoms; pride can go in any direction. Indeed, churches and Christians may just as easily be guilty of pride in their INtolerance of sin as their tolerance of it.

Pride manifests itself in manifold forms. It may be in one’s inclination to get into conflict or the way one endeavors to succeed. It may be in the way one speaks, or in the way one draws attention to oneself, or even in how one emphasizes the miseries of their own life compared to others. Any time the key individual in someone’s life is themselves instead of Jesus Christ, they are puffed up. The root issue is an inflation of oneself, and Christian servants are all too prone to it.

 

Since pride hides in plain sight, it is necessary for Christians first to recognize that even faithful servants of Jesus Christ are capable of pride, and to examine their own behavior and actions. Search for inflation bubbles and puncture them.

Like the Corinthians, we may need a sharp needle. Less flesh, less pride, more of Jesus.

Weak Church/Corinth

Strong Church/Weak Church 7

by Stephen King

Fountain of Peirene, Corinth

Corinth was rebuilt by Julius Caesar in 44 BC following its destruction in 146 BC by Rome. The “new” city was a mixed multitude of Roman, Greek, and Jewish citizens, and as a consequence the church was influenced and affected by those cultures. There was a great opportunity for influence, and the church had some great strengths.

However, the Corinthian church is best known for its problems. It is, perhaps, a harsh thing to focus on a church’s weaknesses so heavily. However, God has preserved a clear record of the failings of the Corinthian church for our benefit, and we do well to learn from their flaws. In two installments, then, let us examine the weaknesses identified in the Bible of the church at Corinth.

1. They were divided

1 Corinthians 3:1-7 

1 And I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, even as unto babes in Christ. 2 I have fed you with milk, and not with meat: for hitherto ye were not able to bear it, neither yet now are ye able. 3 For ye are yet carnal: for whereas there is among you envying, and strife, and divisions, are ye not carnal, and walk as men? 4 For while one saith, I am of Paul; and another, I am of Apollos; are ye not carnal? 5 Who then is Paul, and who is Apollos, but ministers by whom ye believed, even as the Lord gave to every man? 6 I have planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase. 7 So then neither is he that planteth any thing, neither he that watereth; but God that giveth the increase.

The Corinthian church was divided. They envied each other. They fought each other. They even sued each other.

1 Corinthians 6:1, 5-7 

1 Dare any of you, having a matter against another, go to law before the unjust, and not before the saints? ... 5 I speak to your shame. Is it so, that there is not a wise man among you? no, not one that shall be able to judge between his brethren? 6 But brother goeth to law with brother, and that before the unbelievers. 7 Now therefore there is utterly a fault among you, because ye go to law one with another. Why do ye not rather take wrong? why do ye not rather suffer yourselves to be defrauded?

The most visible source of the division was an exaggerated effort by members to identify as loyal to either Paul or another preacher that had spent time in Corinth, Apollos. The greater issue was simply their carnal willingness to find a reason to be divided. If it had not been over loyalty to Paul or Apollos, they would have fought over something else.

Some things never change. Today there are some people who can readily be described as “a fight in search of a cause” people. They will take issue with a policy, or with music, or with decorations, or with conduct in business meetings. They will seek to find people that are on “their side” and identify people that are on “the other side.”

Division has been a reality in some churches since the very first, when the immense growth at Jerusalem resulted in neglect of Greek widows (Acts 6:1). Even there, at a church filled with enthusiastic converts and eyewitnesses of the resurrection, division occurred. And when it happened, the church had to pause and deal with the issue before progress could occur.

Division in a local church attacks the very foundations of what a church should be. Christ’s command to love one another (John 13:34, 15:12, 15:17) is tossed in the garbage. A place that should be a refuge and a place of encouragement for God’s people in a wicked world is instead a place of contention. Instead of a place that is the pillar and ground of the truth (1 Timothy 3:15), a place that is intended to be God’s embassy on Earth (2 Corinthians 5:20), the unsaved world sees a place that is, at best, no better than the world the local church is supposed to reach.

 

Trying to function as a church in a divided state is like trying to drive a car with the parking brake on. You will make a lot of noise and exert a lot of effort, but you will not move very well.

2. They were guilty of and tolerant of sexual sin

1 Corinthians 5:1 It is reported commonly that there is fornication among you, and such fornication as is not so much as named among the Gentiles, that one should have his father's wife.

Perhaps the most shocking of the sins of the Corinthian church was the open sin within the church and tolerance of it by the people, a level of sexual sin that Paul describes as outrageous even for (presumably unsaved) gentiles.

Sexual sin is pervasive in our society today, but it has always been a presence in humanity’s landscape. It is telling that Paul spends most of his time addressing not the sinner himself, but the church’s response to it. Instead of addressing the sin, they tolerated it.

As our world has embraced sexual sin with increasing vigor, churches have been put in the difficult position of ministering to large numbers of people who are engaged in sins ranging from pornography to adultery to even sexually abusive behavior. The responses have often fallen short of Paul’s instructions to the church at Corinth.

It is not a problem of one stripe of Christianity or another. Churches on the cutting edge of modernism and old-fashioned fundamentalist churches alike have been guilty of placating sexual sin. The methods vary, but the effect is the same. A number of progressive churches have redefined what it means to be a member of a church so that people engaged in known sin may serve in various ministries. Shockingly large numbers of conservative churches have responded to sexual abuse (which, due to its harm to others, is worse by an order of magnitude) by ignoring it, actively covering it up, or aggressively rehabilitating unrepentant abusers back into public prominence.

It is not just the sin, it is the response.

3. They were Disorderly

1 Corinthians 11:17-22 17 Now in this that I declare unto you I praise you not, that ye come together not for the better, but for the worse. 18 For first of all, when ye come together in the church, I hear that there be divisions among you; and I partly believe it. 19 For there must be also heresies among you, that they which are approved may be made manifest among you. 20 When ye come together therefore into one place, this is not to eat the Lord's supper. 21 For in eating every one taketh before other his own supper: and one is hungry, and another is drunken. 22 What? have ye not houses to eat and to drink in? or despise ye the church of God, and shame them that have not? What shall I say to you? shall I praise you in this? I praise you not.

1 Corinthians 14:34 Let your women keep silence in the churches: for it is not permitted unto them to speak; but they are commanded to be under obedience, as also saith the law.

The Corinthian church was disorderly. In the Lord’s Supper, in the role of men and women in worship, and in the use of spiritual gifts (see chapters 12-14), Paul identifies many instances of chaos. The Corinthian church appeared to have a very casual relationship with order.

Order can be as simple as organization and planning. It is possible for a church service to be too thoroughly planned, but a church service that is not organized at all is arduous for everyone involved. Ministries need planning and organization. Church finances must be organized.

But order is more than just a schedule and a ledger. It is an issue of respect. The Corinthian church’s disorder was actively disrespectful to multiple parties. It was disrespectful to God, whom in correcting issues regarding spiritual gifts inspired Paul to write, Let all things be done decently and in order (1 Corinthians 14:40). It was also disrespectful to people who attended the Lord’s Supper intending to worship and meditate upon the death of Christ, to be distracted by those eating a meal. It was disrespectful to people teaching and to people listening to teaching, as others spoke out of turn.

Order in a church shows proper reverence to God. It shows proper respect to a pastor who has prepared many hours to preach. It shows respect to others in attendance who desire to be ministered to in worship and preaching. And it shows respect to those who may not know Christ but are seeking truth.

Order is respect.

Strong Church/Corinth

Strong Church/Weak Church 6

Note: From time to time I share my blog with other like-minded men. It is my little way of encouraging good writing in the independent Baptist orbit. In that spirit, I have asked Stephen King to pen the Corinth portion of this blog series. Pastor King ministers at the Northstar Baptist Church in Duluth, Minnesota. He is a younger man, a thoughtful man, and a good, clear writer. 

______________________________________________________

The Macedonian Call brought Paul across the Aegean Sea to Macedonia and Greece. Almost from the beginning, however, he was beset with persecution, mostly from hostile Jewish nonbelievers. He journeyed from city to city, preaching and experiencing great persecution. But when he arrived in Corinth, God commanded him to stay, and assured him in Acts 18:10 that he would be free from hurt. A church was started. Today we know that church mostly for its weaknesses. However, it also had a number of strengths.

1. They were a large church.

Acts 18:9-10 Then spake the Lord to Paul in the night by a vision, Be not afraid, but speak, and hold not thy peace: For I am with thee, and no man shall set on thee to hurt thee: for I have much people in this city.

Size is not everything, but it is nice.

The Corinthian church was going to be a big church from the beginning. God commanded Paul to spend considerable time in Corinth and promised him physical safety due to the much people that God had in the city. The clear implication is that the church would grow quickly and have considerable size.

Size has its problems, and the church at Corinth certainly had its share. But size has its blessings, too. Proverbs 14:4 says, Where no oxen are, the crib is clean: but much increase is by the strength of the ox. There are tremendous opportunities for churches to leverage their size into outreach and discipleship. Cities can truly be saturated with the Gospel both by going door-to-door and by using other forms of engagement. Special days in which many visitors are invited to hear the Gospel can be executed with great quality. Large churches have the resources to excel in presentation and design, a relevant factor in today’s high-tech age. And the large church can be a visible and positive influence on its community. One example: A police officer in the Antelope Valley of California was killed in the line of duty. Lancaster Baptist Church had the biggest indoor gathering space in the community and was asked to host the funeral. It agreed, on condition that its pastor would preach the message. Thousands of people from all over the state, including law enforcement, media members, politicians, and the governor of California, were present. All heard a clear presentation of the Gospel. All because the local church in the community was large.

2. They were a giving church.

1 Corinthians 16:1 Now concerning the collection for the saints, as I have given order to the churches of Galatia, even so do ye.

In corresponding with Paul, the Corinthian believers inquired about the process of giving. And, in Paul’s follow-up, we see that they did.

2 Corinthians 1:11 Ye also helping together by prayer for us, that for the gift bestowed upon us by the means of many persons thanks may be given by many on our behalf.

Paul expresses gratitude to the Corinthians for their giving. Troubled though they were, they gave generously to help a servant of Christ.

A church of size and resources ought to be a giving church, and for all of its failings the church at Corinth desired to be a giving church and followed through on that desire. They were not, as a whole, mature. However, giving is not something that needs to wait for maturity, any more than it needs to wait for a believer to be wealthy.  Anyone can give.

The final two characteristics are related, and we will address them together.

3. They were teachable

Acts 18:11 And he continued there a year and six months, teaching the word of God among them.

The Corinthian church sat under Paul’s learning. And, later, they asked him questions.

1 Corinthians is a scalding correction of serious problems in the church, but it is also a response to an inquiry sent by the Corinthian believers. They asked questions, and Paul answered them. In chapter seven the question was about marriage; in chapter eight the question was about food offered to idols; in chapter twelve the question was about spiritual gifts; and in chapter sixteen the question was about giving. In each case, the Corinthians asked sincerely for help from Paul to answer their questions. They wanted to learn. They were teachable.

We also know that they were teachable because of the next point, which goes with it:

4. They were repentant

2 Corinthians 7:6-11 Nevertheless God, that comforteth those that are cast down, comforted us by the coming of Titus; And not by his coming only, but by the consolation wherewith he was comforted in you, when he told us your earnest desire, your mourning, your fervent mind toward me; so that I rejoiced the more. For though I made you sorry with a letter, I do not repent, though I did repent: for I perceive that the same epistle hath made you sorry, though it were but for a season. Now I rejoice, not that ye were made sorry, but that ye sorrowed to repentance: for ye were made sorry after a godly manner, that ye might receive damage by us in nothing. For godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of: but the sorrow of the world worketh death. For behold this selfsame thing, that ye sorrowed after a godly sort, what carefulness it wrought in you, yea, what clearing of yourselves, yea, what indignation, yea, what fear, yea, what vehement desire, yea, what zeal, yea, what revenge! In all things ye have approved yourselves to be clear in this matter.

They received a stern letter of correction in 1 Corinthians. Strong and harsh. And their response was not just anguish, but repentance. Change.

The Corinthian church was both teachable and repentant. That is a crucial combination. They were not prideful, insisting that they never did anything wrong. And they were not ever learning, but never able to come to the knowledge of the truth (2 Timothy 3:7) either.

Teachability, in a Christian, is the disposition to be willingly confronted with truths in the Bible that conflict with one’s own life or beliefs, understand those truths, and agree with them. Repentance is a change of mind leading to a change of life. These characteristics cooperate with each other to produce genuine, transformative life change in a Christian.

The Corinthian church had many problems, examination of which is forthcoming in detail. But they were teachable and genuinely repentant, and as a result, they were an excellent testimony of God’s Grace.

Several years ago, a man we will call Reggie walked into our church with his wife and two children, just days after concluding a prison term. He professed that he had been saved early in this incarceration and desired to grow. I met with him over lunch, and it was clear that his direction was genuine. However, he had a long way to go. His family background was extremely troubled, and he knew more about gang life than being a father. He had never held a consistent job. He did not know what it meant to be a good husband and he had residual issues with anger and trust that were challenges in his marriage. And, due to the large number of ministries in the prison system, he had been exposed to a number of false doctrines that left him very confused. But he had two things going for him: He was a new creature in Christ, and he was teachable.

Over months and years we spent time together in the Word of God. He had questions about resolving conflict in marriage, about false doctrines, about job and money issues. In each case the principles of the Bible were absorbed and adopted as his own. When he learned that the Bible disagreed with him, he changed.

Reggie was not a finished product when he walked in our door. But he was teachable, and he was repentant. And now he is a man of God who is a soul-winner, a gainfully employed husband and father of a growing family, a man of God, and a pillar of our church.

There are a couple of challenges that we must take from this: First, we must be teachable. Those who read blogs such as this are likely, for the most part, reasonably mature as Christians. There is a danger in this, that we may believe we either know everything we need to know, or never sin in a way that requires repentance. Just because the Corinthian church was rough around the edges does not mean that a well-sanded plank does not need to be touched up from time to time.

Second, God led Paul to cultivate the teachability of the Corinthian church by investing a lot of time in them. He spent eighteen months of his life with the church as it was planted and grew, and wrote voluminously to guide them further. And when they received correction, they responded. The Corinthian church did not just receive extensive correction because they were problematic; they received extensive correction because they were willing to learn and repent of those problems.

When those of us who are more mature as Christians encounter someone who shows a teachable and repentant spirit, we should go to great lengths to engage and teach them. A rough Christian who is teachable and repentant has greater potential for God to use them than a refined Christians who knows everything and is never wrong. When we disciple such a rough-edged Christian, it will take time and effort and sacrifice, but we are tilling fertile ground. The fruit of that effort will be bountiful.

Weak Church/Antioch

Strong Church/Weak Church 5

          Last week, we examined the church at Antioch and discovered that it had a veritable plethora of strengths as described in the Bible. But it was not without flaws. In laying out all the passages that discuss the Antiochian church, one weakness in particular stood out to me, namely this: they allowed the weaknesses of a more influential church to influence them negatively.

          When we examined the church at Jerusalem, the first and most influential church in the early period, we saw that one of its weaknesses was an ethnically based division, racism, if you will. It was at the heart of the divisiveness that necessitated the first deacon selection. But that’s not all. We can see that this exclusionary attitude – the church as a Jewish institution only – was explicitly passed on to other churches around them.

Acts 11:19–20

19 Now they which were scattered abroad upon the persecution that arose about Stephen travelled as far as Phenice, and Cyprus, and Antioch, preaching the word to none but unto the Jews only.

20 And some of them were men of Cyprus and Cyrene, which, when they were come to Antioch, spake unto the Grecians, preaching the Lord Jesus.

          We see in the above passage a curious mix. There are those who are preaching unto the Jews only, but there are others who are also speaking of Christ to the Grecians. The resulting church at Antioch was certainly not entirely racist in this respect, but it did have racist strains in it, and those strains evidenced themselves.

Galatians 2:11–13

11 But when Peter was come to Antioch, I withstood him to the face, because he was to be blamed.

12 For before that certain came from James, he did eat with the Gentiles: but when they were come, he withdrew and separated himself, fearing them which were of the circumcision.

13 And the other Jews dissembled likewise with him; insomuch that Barnabas also was carried away with their dissimulation.

          The problem here as I see it, is not just ethnically based exclusion, though that is bad enough. It is a systemic failure, a corporate abdication of the everlasting necessity of spiritual discernment. Not coincidentally, it manifested itself when the preacher (Peter) from the big church (Jerusalem) came to spread his influence.

          I have no desire to leave the wrong impression. Big churches are not bad by virtue of being big, anymore than little churches are bad by virtue of being little – though there are more than enough immature Christians on either end of the spectrum who view it so. Big churches have strengths, as we discussed when looking at Jerusalem, but for all that they are not inherently better or worse. A church, all churches, no matter their size, are to be measured by the same stick: their likeness to Jesus Christ.

          Having said that, it is also undeniably true that larger churches have larger everything – budgets, ministries, buildings, reputations, and influence. Think of a rock thrown into a pond, the larger the rock, the larger the ripples. As those ripples spread outward in a concentric circle, they will impact everything within their path. So it is with larger churches; as their ministries reach out into other local churches in their Jerusalem, their Judaea, their Samaria, and their world, their influence touches the smaller churches. The entire point of this post is that this touch may be for either good or ill, and it is the task of the local church to ensure that only the former gets through.

          Brethren, we cannot check our brain at the door for any man, any church, any paper, any fellowship, or any seminary. Even the external ministries that we find most similar to us in spirit and philosophy must be routinely examined. Their doctrine and practice must constantly be put to the scriptural test, especially when that doctrine and practice touch our own church.

          External influences are often very helpful, but do not accept any man whole cloth. Including the one writing what you are reading this very moment.

          Prove all things; hold fast that which is good (I Thessalonians 5.21).