Nowhere in the New Testament is there any indication that the church met to preach the gospel. Rather the church met to worship, to teach the word, to pray, to have fellowship. The meeting of the church was to edify believers and to glorify God. But it was not to preach the gospel to unbelievers. Rather the saints went out into the world to preach the gospel. … there is no biblical mandate for an “evangelistic service” when the church comes together. There is a mandate to equip the saints to preach the gospel. The work of Christians is not to invite unbelievers to church so that they might hear the gospel. It is to preach the gospel themselves.
Understanding the Church, by Joseph M. Vogl and John H. Fish III, pg.132
I want to give a review of this book. It was good overall. At this side of the millennial threshold, wading through the deepening waters of change, the issue of reexamining the nature and future of the church is foremost on the minds of theologians, church educators, ministers, and denominational leaders. What will the church look like at the midpoint of the next century? Will the structure of the church require change to survive? Will the mission and functions of the church change? Will the institutional church survive its own success or succumb to a structure too rigid to adapt to the winds of change? Understanding the Church sidesteps contemporary conversations of the sociological dynamics of the church or the usual speculation as to generational shifts within the body. Being a compilation of papers presented at a 1997 colloquium at Grace Bible Chapel in St. Louis, Missouri, the book reviews basic questions about the nature, structure, and functions of the church. The seven essays that make up the chapters of the book do not stray far from the biblical text for interpretations and prescriptions on rudimentary questions about the church from a strictly Protestant theology. The book begins with an almost apologetic chapter on the necessity of maintaining the primacy of Scripture in understanding the nature of the church and any interpretations as to her form and function. This foundational chapter limits its understanding of the church not only to a Protestant theology, but more, to that of the Brethren Church (and even narrower, the Open Brethren, at that). This self-limited understanding of the nature of the church is the book's greatest weakness. The following chapters explore further the nature of the church from a strictly biblical theology, and issues of the identity, nature, and character of the local church versus the universal church. The final two complementary chapters examine issues concerning the autonomy and the interdependence of local churches. Rather than providing a new vision for the church in the 21st century, the book offers up a 19th century conservative evangelical biblical theology of the church typical of what would be found in a sophomore year systematic theology course at a Bible college. The "biblical ideal" for a 21st century church that appears in the book's subtitle seems to be a call for a return to an idyllic "first century church"-the yearning to return to the days of a fabled ecclesiastical Camelot. Some will find comfort in the certitude that a propositional systematic biblical understanding of the church provides. Unfortunately, such a stance is inadequate in helping churches deal with the overwhelming complexities that the church faces in the 21st century.
ReplyDeleteJames,
ReplyDeletethe issue of reexamining the nature and future of the church is foremost on the minds of theologians, church educators, ministers, and denominational leaders...
Why? Why do we need new methods or care about sociological dynamics? The message should always be the same. The questions you are asking is why we now have market-driven an seeker-sensitive churches.
The book was exactly what it should have been, regardless off the origin being Open Brethren (who, for the most part, have a ver solid and fundamental ideology when it comes to the Bible). We don't need a "new vision" for the church.
Glenn,
ReplyDeleteI appreciate this quote. Yes - unbelievers may happen to come into an assembly (1 Cor 14:24), so I do feel proclaiming the message of salvation during a worship service is not unwarranted, but the purpose of the service is for worshipping God and feeding and equipping the saints, not evangelizing the lost.
We gather IN to worship.
We go OUT to evangelize.
-Carolyn
Carolyn,
ReplyDeleteThere's nothing wrong with reminding believers now and then of the truth of the Gospel, but so many churches have a gospel presentation every week.
Glenn,
ReplyDeleteYou said it EXACTLY how I would say it! I agree 100% with you! :)
-Carolyn