Churches That Give Life

Living Church Structures

When we look into the biblical doctrine of the church and how it is set up we discover that its organisational structure is independent of the culture of the place where it is planted even though it has its origins in Judaism. If you keep to the simple scriptural principles which govern church life you can have a church in any culture of the world, among any people of the world, no matter what are their traditions. You don’t need to import the culture of your own nation or the country you are in to do it. One of the sad mistakes we make when we spread the gospel is that we make the culture of the country that the missionaries come from part of the Gospel. This is especially true if the principles of their national life are based on the Bible, like the UK and the US. Although this may be contested I believe that there is no such thing as a Christian Nation. It is not true to call the UK a Christian nation just because much of our national life was formed by individual Christians who had become part of its government. There has never been a time in our history when everyone in the country has been born again. Calling a nation which is a mixture of believers and unbelievers Christian, even if the believers are in the majority, only brings confusion as to who is a Christian. When the Bible speaks about a Christian nation as in 1 Peter 2:9But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; it is referring to the invisible worldwide body of born believers in Jesus. Because of this confusion the visible local church is often a mixture of believers and unbelievers and that mixture which can extend into its leadership explains why behaviour which are directly opposed to what the Bible teaches is accepted.

The Current Practice

Because church has to be organised we have a tendency to organise it on the same principles as a club. A club has the following framework to its structure:

1. It exists because of a common interest
2. It is usually run by an elected or appointed body; a committee of some sort
3. It has a set of rules to govern its business and bring order to its members
4. It organises events so members can pursue their common interest

If I have an interest in photography I join a photographic club so I can fellowship with like-minded people and further my interest. This is how we tend to organise our churches:

1. We have a common interest – Jesus Christ;
2. We have a ruling body – elected or appointed;
3. We have rules – The Bible and sometimes a constitution;
4. We have a church programme which consists mainly of organised events to further our growth in the Christian life and draw others in.

It appears to be OK but on closer examination it has a serious flaw because it is a strong tendency to focus its way of life on me and and my perceived needs than God Himself. The perceived needs or desires of the people in the church produce the programme of events which are designed to meet those needs. Many people in the church get involved in the programme more to fulfil a need in themselves, to feel they belong or are accomplishing something with their Christian life than they do to serve God. They do serve God but it is more about them than about God. This is because we have been taught that the purpose of the church is to meet our needs and fulfil our desires. When we are looking for a church to attend the most common questions we ask ourselves is, does it meet our needs? Or does it suit our understanding of how a church should be. I have even heard preachers say ‘if you can’t find a church that suits you start your own’.

We teach that the Bible says that as a church we need to be doing certain things, each member has a need or desire to:

• Worship
• Have fellowship
• Study the Bible
• Evangelise
• Disciple people

So together out of what we believe is obedience to God we organise a church programme of events to meet these needs, we organise:

• Worship services
• Fellowship groups, teas, picnics, etc.
• Bible study and prayer meetings
• Home groups of many varieties
• All sorts of evangelistic works

This seems OK and it can work after a fashion but it has this serious weakness because our service is tainted with self interest. When the events don’t meet our needs as we perceive they should we moan, complain and try to manipulate things till they do. The result is strife in the body. Acts 6:1Now in those days, when the number of the disciples was multiplying, there arose a complaint against the Hebrews by the Hellenists, because their widows were neglected in the daily distribution. reveals that it wasn’t long into the growth of the early church that a group felt that they weren’t getting their fair share of the hand out so they griped about it. When we don’t get what we came to church to get we moan, gripe, criticise, complain, back-bite, gossip to others and become involved in all manner of contentious behaviour. The Bible warns us where that leads. James 3:16 For where envy and self-seeking exist confusion and every evil thing are there. Gal 5:15 But if you bite and devour one another beware lest you be consumed by one another. James 3:10 Out of the same mouth proceed blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not to be so. This is a great way to fill our lives with frustration, disappointment and sorrow and the leaders get trapped in a constant round of appeasing people or changing the programme to satisfy people so they don’t leave because the church needs their money to survive instead of doing their proper job. So our churches tend to be need centred and event orientated organisations. God does it somewhat differently.

God’s Organisation

God doesn’t do anything out of a need like we do. He does it from the love and compassion for the good of others. God is self-sufficient – He has life in Himself. He didn’t create man out of a need for fellowship because He was lonely but because he wanted to shower him with His love. God didn’t save us because we needed to be saved, although we did, but because He loved us. God does what He does out of love not lack whereas we unfortunately tend to do things to fulfil what we think is lacking.

Heart Centred

God is heart centred in his dealings with His creation. 1 Sam 16:6 – 8 tells the story of choosing a king to replace Saul and shows quite clearly that when God chooses someone for a task He is not interested in outward appearances. He chose David because he was a man after His own heart 1 Samuel 13:14But now your kingdom shall not continue. The Lord has sought for Himself a man after His own heart, and the Lord has commanded him to be commander over His people, because you have not kept what the Lord commanded you.”. Proverbs 4:23Keep your heart with all diligence, For out of it spring the issues of life. warns us above all else to keep our hearts safe because what sort of life we have is decided by what comes out of our hearts rather than the things that we do or have. God’s requirement for us is to love Him first above everything else. Mat 22:37Jesus said to him, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’. God has put his salvation in our hearts. Our relationship with Him meets all our needs and out of grateful love we get in involved with church. The foundation of our Christian life is the new heart that our Father gave us when we were saved. The whole invisible church, the body of Christ, is the dwelling place of God by the Holy Spirit Ephesians 2:19 – 22 and a local church is a visible part of that whole body. The foundation resources it has is the hearts of the people who make up the congregation and what God has put in them because visible the church is a gathering of born again hearts and its life flows out of those hearts. The organisational structure that a particular group uses to conduct its affairs flows out of those hearts because the local church has a spiritual dimension to its ministry and that spiritual life is in those hearts. It is the Holy Spirit in the congregation’s heart that gives the church its life not the quality of its organisation although we do need to do things ‘decently and in order’.. We have glimpses of this life in Acts 2:42 – 47 and 5:12 – 16. The worship we have and the activities that take place amongst us when we get together are not the product of our organised efforts to get the Holy Spirit to meet our needs so we can live but the result of us releasing what is already happening in our hearts before we get to the event.

Gift Orientated

The other feature of God’s organisation is that He works through the gifts He has placed in our hearts not events arranged to meet our needs. The church programme of events that we should be organising are the ones that allow us to give expression to our gifting rather than the things we feel we need to do whether or not we have the ability to do them or not. Rom 12 contains a list of gifts and each born again believer receives at least one at their new birth. Just like the talents you have when you are born naturally. 1 Cor 12-14 contains the gifts of the Spirit, which we can seek for and use in conjunction with our basic gift or gifts. Eph 4 contains a list of the gifts Jesus gives to His church so it can carry out its work and purpose in the world.

The church should be heart centred and gift orientated not need centred and event orientated. One of the most important roles of church leadership is to feed the hearts of the people and manage the gifts God has placed in them. These resources should then be united behind the vision God has given to the church. This vision is based on the gifts that have been brought together so the church you go to should be a placement from God because of your gifting not one of your own choosing because it meets your needs. When each person is flowing out of their gift, having met all their needs from their relationship with Jesus, He is at the centre and their motivation is His love. Jesus said of believers that out of their bellies would flow living water. This is not just true for us as individual Christians it is also true for the local church. Life should flow out of our hearts to the community outside. The result is a spiritual anointing and flow which carries great power in sweeping away the strongholds of the world, the flesh and the devil. The ground of discontent on which strife thrives is destroyed. A tremendous sense of belonging and destiny results from this life style and fellowship happens without organisation 1 Peter 4:11If anyone speaks, let him speak as the oracles of God. If anyone ministers, let him do it as with the ability which God supplies, that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom belong the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amen.. True fellowship is me helping you fulfil the God given desires of your heart and you helping me fulfil mine. Commitment no longer becomes the struggle it so often is because spiritually minded Christians don’t usually drag their feet to do what they know is from God. It also helps us walk in faith because we don’t need the boost of outward success to keep us going. Instead of the world seeing the usual fighting and squabbling that so often mars our witness they see a harmony beyond natural togetherness. It is easy to get people committed to what is in their hearts.

To sum up we do not organise the church like a club because we are a living spiritual organism, a dwelling place for the Spirit of God. God wants His church to be heart centred and gift orientated not need centred and event orientated so the church programme is the result of what is in the hearts of the people. God has a unique vision for a church. He brings together people with the resources in their hearts to execute that vision and gives them leaders who, under His direction, will unite the hearts of the people behind that vision and let loose their combined resources to accomplish the vision. Have you ever really asked God what He has put in your heart and which of the Romans 12 gifts you have? CWR have a free Q & A form you can download from their website to help you find it