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The Local Church And Us Last week we noticed that the word "church" means the called out or those separated from. Jesus spoke of building His church in Matthew 16.18. This church has Jesus as its head and foundation, Ephesians 1.21-22, 1 Corinthians 3.11. There are a number of descriptive terms used to refer to Jesus' church, such as, the body of Christ, the church of God, the church of the first born, to name a few. For one to be a member of Jesus' church we must obey His commands. It is composed of the saved, those whose sins have been washed away by the blood of Christ, Acts 22.16. We sometimes say this is the "Universal Church" in the sense that all of the saved throughout the world are members of this church. The word "church" is also used in a more limited sense in the New Testament as it refers to a local congregation. We read of the church at Jerusalem in Acts 5.11, "So great fear came upon all the church and upon all who heard these things." The church at Antioch in Acts 11.26 refers to those that had obeyed the Gospel at Antioch. Members of a local congregation are those that are members of the "Universal" church. In baptism, one becomes a Christian and is added to the body of Christ, the church, Acts 2.47 but one then must fellowship other Christians. While all of us are in spiritual fellowship with all other Christians, we also have the duty of fellowship Christians around us. This is done in the local congregation. It should be noted that a local congregation is not a local denomination. A congregation does not have its own doctrine, organization, name, or other things that defines a denomination. The body of Christ is composed of individuals and not denominations or congregations. However, the local congregation is one area in which Christians fulfill their duty to God. On the Day of Pentecost about 3000 people obeyed the Gospel and then they continued in "the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers" (Acts 2.42). To use a comparison, let us remember what Jesus said in Matthew 22.37-40. The Greatest Command is to love our God with all our heart, soul, and mind. The second is to love our neighbor as we love ourselves. The second command is actually part of the first command because loving our God means we must obey Him in loving our fellow man. In that sense our fellowship with God requires us to also fellowship our fellow Christians. The word "fellowship" means to work with, to have communion together with, and to be with. After the Day of Pentecost, Christians at Jerusalem worshipped and worked with each other. "And they were all with one accord in Solomon's Porch" (Acts 5.12). After Paul's conversion he went to Damascus and stayed for three years, Galatians 1.18. At that point he went to Jerusalem and tried to join with the saints, Acts 9.26. Why? He wanted to work with them and preach the Gospel at Jerusalem. Later on we read of the first Gentile converts at Antioch in Acts 11. Again we see those Christians coming together for a whole year to study with Saul and Barnabas, verse 25-26 God expects us to worship and work with other Christians. In1 Corinthians 12, Paul compared the local congregation to a body. A body is not one member but many and each part or organ of the body has a function. One member cannot disassociate itself from the rest of the body without damage being done to the body. "And if one member suffers, all the members suffer with it; or if one member is honored, all the members rejoice with it. Now you are the body of Christ and members individually" (1 Corinthians 12.26-27). A number of years ago there was a preacher by the name of Charles Holt. Brother Holt argued that there is no authority for a local congregation to exist. He believed Christians should come together to observe the Lord's supper, pray, study, and sing but this was to be done on purely individual basis. According to Holt, local membership, pastors, organization, treasury, and work did not exist. However, this would make many passages void. The charge to the elders at Ephesus to shepherd the church of God in Acts 20.28 would mean what??? Who were they to shepherd? Not the local congregation, for that did not exist according to Charles Holt. Peter's instruction in 1 Peter 5.2 to "Shepherd the flock of God which is among you" would likewise mean nothing since there is no local flock. Discipline of unfaithful members would be impossible. Only God can withdraw His fellowship in the Universal sense. We can only withdraw our fellowship from those that are among us. Do you see my point? Many of the responsibilities mentioned in the Bible require the existence of the local congregation. We are not to forsake the assembling of ourselves together, Hebrews 10.25; we are to come together to observe the Lord's Supper, 1 Corinthians 11.18ff. Charles Holt had a few followers, but most Christians realized the fallacy in his logic. Brothers and sisters in Christ realize that there is authority for the local congregation to exist and the local congregation has a work to perform in preaching the Gospel, edifying the saints, and helping needy saints. However, I do see some Christians that probably reject brother Holt's doctrine, but practice what he advocated. Just about every congregation has what I call "permanent visitors." These are Christians that either have left a local congregation or moved into the area and never place membership with us. They come to worship with the saints and are thankful for the local congregation, but they see no need to be in fellowship with those brethren. They do not want to be identified with any local congregation. This may be for a number of reasons. This would prevent the elders from watching out for their soul, which would mean that the elders could not rebuke them if they are in sin. A local congregation cannot withdraw fellowship from a non-member, so it circumvents all passages dealing with congregational discipline. In essence a person may attend only when they want to and miss as often as they want without having to answer to anyone for their neglect. They see themselves as members at large, not a member of any congregation, but a member of the Universal church. Local membership is purely optional and they opt out. What would happen if every Christian did what Charles Holt taught. The church here would cease to exist as we know it. The elders would not have a flock to oversee so they would have no real purpose. We would not be able to rely on anyone to teach any of our classes. Come to think of it we would not have classes for who would come to those classes? No goals could be set for who would care? Without a treasury we could not have a bulletin, newspaper article, radio spot, television program, Gospel Meeting, Bible Class material, and so on. There would be no teaching list, or deacons, or lock up list. In short there would be no work and no fellowship. To those that are "permanent visitors" I have one question, what if every Christian here did the same thing? Think about it. -- Dennis Tucker |