I mentioned at the end of the last part in our series that I would look at where the true Church of Jesus Christ really stands in this world after 2,000 years of growth. As I look at that, two thoughts come to mind:
- Who am I to assess where the true Church really stands?
- How can I possibly assess where the true Church really stands?
Who am I? I’m just one member of the Body of Christ. Do I have the right to assess the condition of the Church? According to Bible I do. So do you, if you are a member of the Body of Christ.
How do we assess the condition of the Church? We do it through a process spelled out in the Bible.
God gave us the right to such an assessment and the process to assess. Let’s start by looking at our right to assess.
The Right To Assess
Because of God’s love and grace, and only because of that, a true child of God has the right to assess the condition of the Church. In fact, we have a responsibility to do that. God did not send His Son to die on the cross and purchase our redemption with His precious blood so we could sit on sidelines and watch the life of the Church float along. God called us to jump in with both feet and get to work.
Carefully read the New Testament and you’ll see that Jesus Christ is building His Church from the position of being its Lord, Savior, Chief Cornerstone, and Chief Shepherd. My takeaway from that is that Jesus Christ is in absolute control of His Church. Anything in a church that appears out of His control is suspect. Anyone in a church who appears out of His control is suspect.
None of us are perfect. We need to make that clear at the start. That’s why I say things or people who “appear” to be out of Christ’s control are “suspect.” Being suspect does not make someone guilty, but it does mean closer inspection is necessary. Who does that inspection? God’s true children. By “true,” I mean those who really belong to Christ. Those whose names are written in the Book of Life, like the ones Paul mentioned in Philippians 4. Paul knew they were God’s true children and even named them for the record.
I implore Euodia and I implore Syntyche to be of the same mind in the Lord. And I urge you also, true companion, help these women who labored with me in the gospel, with Clement also, and the rest of my fellow workers, whose names are in the Book of Life. Philippians 4:2-3
Even though there seemed to be some problem between two of the women in church, Paul still addressed them as true children of God whose names are in the Book of Life.
Another example is the unnamed man in the church in Corinth who played a central role in both of Paul’s letters to the church there. Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 5 that the church should deliver the man “to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus.” That’s a pretty serious thing for an apostle of Christ to write to a church. The unnamed man was guilty of having “his father’s wife” sexually. The church did what Paul told them to do, so Paul wrote this in 2 Corinthians 2:
This punishment which was inflicted by the majority is sufficient for such a man, so that, on the contrary, you ought rather to forgive and comfort him, lest perhaps such a one be swallowed up with too much sorrow. Therefore I urge you to reaffirm your love to him. For to this end I also wrote, that I might put you to the test, whether you are obedient in all things. Now whom you forgive anything, I also forgive. For if indeed I have forgiven anything, I have forgiven that one for your sakes in the presence of Christ, lest Satan should take advantage of us; for we are not ignorant of his devices. 2 Corinthians 2:6-11
The unnamed man who had sex with his father’s wife was certainly “suspect.” Paul even said in 1 Corinthians that the man’s sin was “such sexual immorality as is not even named among the Gentiles.” That’s pretty bad when the sin of someone in the church is worse than pagans and idol worshippers. However, it does happen. The question is what to do about it. I’ll share more about that in the next section about process.
Paul wrote that the punishment that the majority of the church had inflicted on the man was “sufficient for such a man. Paul called on the church to “forgive and comfort him” so he wouldn’t be “swallowed up with too much sorrow.” Sorrow is what I would expect from a true child of God in a situation like this. If the man had not felt sorrow, it would have been evidence of his not being a true child of God. The author of Hebrews wrote that God deals with His children “as with sons.” Those who endure chastening are true sons of the Father. Those who are “without chastening” are “illegitimate and not sons” (Hebrews 12:7-11).
The messages that Jesus Christ dictated to the Apostle John in Revelation are another example of how the Lord and Savior of the Church deals with His people. Read Revelation chapters two and three and notice how many times Jesus told people in churches to “repent.”
- “repent and do the first works”
- “unless you repent”
- “Repent, or else”
- “And I gave her time to repent of her sexual immorality, and she did not repent”
- “unless they repent of their deeds”
- “hold fast and repent”
- “Therefore be zealous and repent”
What message do you think Jesus Christ would send to today’s churches? That’s where our assessment is important.
Another point about the right to assess the condition of the Church is who we are in Christ. True children of God are described in the New Testament as —
- Believers in Christ
- Followers of Christ
- Disciples of Christ
- Branches in Christ
- Redeemed
- Saved
- Alive together with Christ
- The vessels of mercy
- Members of His Body
- Children of God
- New creatures in Christ
- Saints
- Fellow citizens with the saints
- Partakers of God’s promise in Christ
- Members of the household of God
- Sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise
- Access to the Father by one Spirit
- Servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God.
- Sojourners and pilgrims
- True worshipers
- The temple of God
- A dwelling place of God in the Spirit
- Kings and priests to His God and Father
- Ambassadors of Christ
- Citizens of Heaven
- Elect of God, holy and beloved
- Heirs of God
- Joint heirs with Christ
- Sanctified and useful for the Master, prepared for every good work
- His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works
This list is not complete, but it does give us a good description of a true believer in Jesus Christ. True believers are the only people in a position to make an accurate assessment of the condition of the Church.
Transparent Assessment
One of the many things I love about the New Testament is its transparency. The men who wrote the documents that make up the New Testament told the truth. They did not sugarcoat the lives of the apostles or other disciples of Christ. They did not try to cover up the problems the early churches faced. We need that kind of honesty in the Church today. If we aren’t honest, we can’t make a correct assessment. If we can’t make a correct assessment, we can’t address the real problems the Church faces. If we can’t address the real problems we face as God’s people, we can’t solve them. If we can’t solve our problems, we can’t do what God has called us to do on earth.
The history of the Church is messy. Read the New Testament, read the writings of the apostolic fathers and early Church fathers, later Church fathers, leaders of the Reformation, etc, and you’ll see Christians trying to assess and correct problems and errors in Church doctrine and practice. We need to do the same thing today, but the lack of transparency stands in our way.
Even as the apostles wrote about serious challenges to individual churches during the 1st century, we need to admit that we too are facing serious challenges in the 21st century. We need a transparent and powerful response to this problem. Will we get it? I have my doubts.
I don’t mean this to be a downer, but I have believed for many years that we may be living in the very last days of the last days. Here’s what Paul wrote to Timothy about what the “last days” would be like (2 Timothy 3:1-5).
- perilous times will come
- men will be lovers of themselves
- lovers of money
- boasters
- proud
- blasphemers
- disobedient to parents
- unthankful
- unholy
- unloving
- unforgiving
- slanderers
- without self-control
- brutal
- despisers of good
- traitors
- headstrong
- haughty
- lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God
- having a form of godliness but denying its power.
What did Paul recommend? “And from such people turn away!” Notice that Paul made a prophetic assessment about what people would be like in the “last days,” then warned Christians to “turn away” from such people. It’s important to note that Paul was not telling Timothy and other Christians not to preach the Gospel to unsaved people. He was telling them, and us, to turn away from people in churches who behave that way. Why? Because people like that will resist the truth of the Gospel and cause untold damage in local churches.
“For of this sort are those who creep into households and make captives of gullible women loaded down with sins, led away by various lusts, always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth. Now as Jannes and Jambres resisted Moses, so do these also resist the truth: men of corrupt minds, disapproved concerning the faith; but they will progress no further, for their folly will be manifest to all, as theirs also was. 2 Timothy 3:6-9
Notice also that Paul wrote the Corinthians not to misunderstand what he was saying about this same type of issue:
I wrote to you in my epistle not to keep company with sexually immoral people. Yet I certainly did not mean with the sexually immoral people of this world, or with the covetous, or extortioners, or idolaters, since then you would need to go out of the world. But now I have written to you not to keep company with anyone named a brother, who is sexually immoral, or covetous, or an idolater, or a reviler, or a drunkard, or an extortioner—not even to eat with such a person. 1 Corinthians 5:9-11
Again, Paul was not telling Christians to have nothing to do with unsaved people. He was telling them to beware of “anyone named a brother” who practiced sexual immorality, or was covetous, or an idolater, or a reviler, or a drunkard, or an extortioner. If someone claims to be a brother or sister in Christ but their doctrine and practice don’t match the Gospel, have nothing to do with them. Don’t even eat with such a person.
Why would Paul say that? Because of the message Christians send to the unsaved world when they allow people with bad theology and practice to go around town claiming to represent Christ. Those people need to experience church discipline to either lead to repentance or demonstrate that they are not really saved. If churches did more of that, the Church would be in far better condition today. The number of people claiming membership in churches and attending churches would be smaller by far, but the Church itself would be much better off.
A Purging Assessment
There’s one more assessment I’d like to make in this part of our series. The real “Church” is much smaller than we think. Remember that the Church is made up of true believers. Anyone can claim to be a Christian and a “member” of a church. However, the proof is in what people believe (doctrine) and how they live (practice). That goes for church leaders as well as members. Making an accurate assessment of the modern Church and acting on what we find should lead to a purging of church membership.
If you look at the history of purging in both the Old and New Testament, you begin to see how God sees. God sees the heart. He knows who belongs to Him and who doesn’t. We may be fooled by unsaved people leading churches and sitting in the audience, but God isn’t. He knows those who are His and He calls on His people to do what’s necessary for the purity of the Gospel and the Church.
True believers stand in a position with God through Christ to assess the spiritual health of individual churches and denominations. God has given true believers the right to assess the Church. Now we need to do something about what find in that assessment.
Now I urge you, brethren, note those who cause divisions and offenses, contrary to the doctrine which you learned, and avoid them. For those who are such do not serve our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own belly, and by smooth words and flattering speech deceive the hearts of the simple. For your obedience has become known to all. Therefore I am glad on your behalf; but I want you to be wise in what is good, and simple concerning evil. And the God of peace will crush Satan under your feet shortly. Romans 16:17-20
eBook
We invite you to download, read, and share a free eBook about assessing the health of the Church. This is taken from the first two chapters of this special series.
Assessing the Health of the Church after 2,000 Years (Part One)
Next Time
We’ll look at the process of assessment in the next part of our special series.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
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The writings of the apostle Paul are difficult to understand. And that is a good thing. These words of Paul are vital to understanding our walk with Christ. In my search for spiritual understanding I was compelled to read through the Bible. Reading the OT was an eye opener. It also helped me to better understand the NT. To God be all the glory! I pray about this constantly. I ask the Lord, “How can we, the body of Christ, compel those not of the body to live holy, to live a moral life when we are hard-pressed to live likewise (Galatians 2:14)? We have the Holy Spirit to guide us. We have been given all the knowledge to live a holy life.” And still we all fall short of the glory of God. Even this comment can be taken as judgmental, critical or confrontational. I will understand if you choose not to publish it.
Either Christians do not know, do not understand, or do not care that Jesus Christ was talking to the church. But, in today’s church climate, who would dare confront a fellow brother abiding in sin? We know too well how those arguments unfold. But, if we as children of God cannot be a light to those in darkness, what the heck are we doing here?
The Lord is always testing my faith (James 1:2-4), even as I comment, I pray for God’s mercy. 2 Corinthians 13:5 says, “Examine yourselves as to whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Do you not know yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you? Unless indeed you are disqualified.”
Every trial, and every scripture teaches us and trains us to be transformed into the image of the Son of God. The scriptures tell us who God is, who we are in Him. The Scriptures define our identity in Christ. To be Christ like, in Christ, to trust God and all His promises, to stand firm in our belief that He will do what He has prophesied, that He is who He said He is, all are good reasons to read all the Scriptures. I have learned that every Scripture matters. It becomes a matter of how any scripture applies to you. If we do not read a book because it is too difficult or to boring, we rob ourselves. Of what? You must read and find out. Believers must get out of the meme and overhead projector mentality. A fraction of a number is not the same as a whole number. Thank you for reading. Be blessed and thank you for sharing your knowledge.