Church and parachurch and their relationship

Not long ago I sat in a meeting of a parachurch organization and the speaker said, "you did not leave the Church when you came here." Now that was one cryptic statement. It could mean any of the following: 1. You were part of a local church and you are still part of them. 2. You were part of a local church and we [the parachurch organization] are also a local church. 3. You were part of the global Church and you are still part of the global church. I had a queasy feeling about something so undefined, and started to do some reading about the definitions of church, parachurch, and how they relate to each other. Thus Biblical Missiology would like to feature a three part article, which explores this dynamic. We will come to see that it has huge practical ramifications, especially if a parachurch organization starts to think and act like it is a local church. Here is the first of the three parts: Part 1. Defining the church and why it matters. Part 2. Defining the parachurch and why it matters. Part 3. Parachurch and Church: Competitors? Co-operators? or Coopters?

Defining the church and why it matters:

In order to define what constitutes a church, I have gathered a few quotes from far and wide. They range over church history, as well as from different denominational perspectives. Drill down and you will find Baptist, Orthodox, Presbyterian, and Pentecostal flavours--just to mention a few. They are not a systematic study of the Biblical words like 'ekklesia' or the Old Testament antecedent 'qahal' even though these are vitally important. For a great study on those, I would direct the reader to Edmund Clowney's works that are referenced below. As you read the quotes think about your own definition of church. [Some of these are not going to give you right or wrong answers]. Is it?: 1. More like an amoeba with no skeleton or more like a sea-urchin with all skeleton? Or a bit of both? 2. More like a box with solid walls or more like something elastic? Or a bit of both? 3. More like a museum piece with a lot of history, or more like a Samsung Galaxie S4 just off the assembly line? Or a bit of both? 4. None of the above?

1. St. Cyprian of Alexandria

"No man can have God as his Father who has not the church as his Mother."
2. John Calvin, Institutes of Christian Religion Wherever we see the Word of God purely preached and heard, and the sacraments administered according to Christs institution, there, it is not to be doubted, a church of God exists. 3. Lutheran Augsburg Confession, Article 7 This is the assembly of all believers among whom the Gospel is preached in its purity and the holy sacraments are administered according to the Gospel. 4. Evangelical Presbyterian Church, "The Church Defined" (p. 5) [this depends strongly on the Westminster Confession of Faith] 1-1 The true Catholic Church is described by the two terms, invisible and visible. 1-2 The invisible Church is compiled of all those saints of all limes who truly belong to Jesus Christ, claiming only Him as lord and Savior. This invisible Church will be the Church Victorious when Jesus comes again finally to establish His Kingdom forever and ever. 1-3 The visible Church is the Church on earth established by Jesus, its Lord, for the gathering and perfecting of His saints. This visible Kingdom of Grace is the one and the same in all ages. The members of this Church are all those persons in every place who profess Jesus as their lord and Savior, who submit to His law and His Lordship, together with their children. 1-4 The Church on earth, sometimes called the Church Militant, is not defined by, nor limited to, particular forms of government or denominational structures. While such divisions may more or less obscure the true Church in its visible form, nevertheless, such uniformity is not essential to its existence. 1-5 The Visible Church, though more or less divided and obscured, is bound together in its essential unity where scriptural discipline is practiced, where the Word is rightly proclaimed, where the sacraments are properly observed, and where loving fellowship is maintained. Such groups who demonstrate this fundamental integrity of the Church shall be recognized as true parts of the Church, the Body of the Lord Jesus Christ on earth. www.epc.org/mediafiles/epc-book-of-order-2011-12.pdf 5. J. Gresham Machen, Christianity and Liberalism "An evangelical church is composed of a number of persons who have come to agreement in a certain message about Christ who desire to unite in the propagation of that message, as it is set forth in their creed on the basis of the Bible." (p. 168)

6. Hendrik Kraemer, The Christian message in a non-Christian world : The Church is, according to the New Testament, the ecclesia, the community and fellowship of those who are united in common faith, common love and common worship of Him who is their Life and Head, bound in loyalty towards Him, permeated, inspired and chastened by His Spirit. (1956, p. 416) 7. J.I. Packer, Concise Theology " Essentially, the church is, was, and always will be a single worshiping community, permanently gathered in the true sanctuary which is the heavenly Jerusalem (Gal. 4:26; Heb. 12:22-24), the place of Gods presence. Here all who are alive in Christ, the physically living with the physically dead (i.e., the church militant with the church triumphant) worship continually. In the world, however, this one church appears in the form of local congregations, each one called to fulfill the role of being a microcosm (a small-scale representative sample) of the church as a whole. This explains how it is that for Paul the one church universal is the body of Christ (1 Cor. 12:12-26; Eph. 1:22-23; 3:6; 4:4), and so is the local congregation (1 Cor. 12:27)." http://www.monergism.com/The%20Church%20by%20J.I. %20Packer.html 8. Lee Irons: Although one common use of ekklesia in the New Testament is to refer to the local church, that meaning is secondary to its universal meaning as the entire church of Jesus Christ, or what Paul calls "the fullness of Christ." Local congregations like the house churches of Ephesus are merely particular expressions of the worldwide body of believers united to Christ and to one another by the Spirit. http://www.geftakysassembly.com/Articles/BiblicalExposition/EcclesiologyOfE phesians.htm 9. John Boonzaijer, "One, Holy, Catholic Church" ...ekklesia, the assembly of the Lord, continues to be a congregation of people brought into existence by God, which receives its sustenance, faith and identity from His presence. ....The Reformers identified the following three marks of the true church: (1) the true preaching of God's Word, (2) the proper administration of the sacraments, and (3) the exercise of biblical discipline. 10. Alan Knox Therefore, when we read the word church in the New Testament, we should always remember that the author is talking about a group of people. The New Testament writers are constantly talking about the church in relational terms. Primarily, I divide these relationships into three types (although they are interrelated): 1) the relationships between God and his

people, 2) the relationships among Gods people, and 3) the relationships between Gods people and others (i.e., those who are not Gods people). http://www.alanknox.net/2011/04/definition-church-or-ekklesia/ 11. Mark Driscoll, Vintage Church The local church is a community of regenerated believers who confess Jesus Christ as Lord. In obedience to Scripture they organize under qualified leadership, gather regularly for preaching and worship, observe the biblical sacraments of baptism and Communion, are unified by the Spirit, are disciplined for holiness, and scatter to fulfill the Great Commandment and the Great Commission as missionaries to the world for God's glory and their joy. http://marshill.com/2010/10/13/this-is-how-we-define-church 12. Elmer Towns, 11 Innovations Our working definition of church is "an assembly of professing believers, uniquely indwelt by Jesus Christ, under the discipline of the Word of God, administering the ordinances and led by spiritually gifted leaders." (p. 18) 13. Andrew Purves, Reconstructing Pastoral Theology "The starting point in ecclesiology is the ontological connection between Christ and the church. The church exists as church only insofar as it is Christs body, in union with him, meaning also our union in him, both of which are a matter of his free and gracious choice. The church has no other ground of being than Jesus Christ. This means in a primary way that the church is not the church as institution, or a voluntary collection of free, religiously and ethically motivated individuals, or, with its episcopate, as an historically ordered hierarchy that determines what it is and what it does. It is Christ alone who determines the that and the what of the church, who loves the church and calls and forms it according to his own purpose. The church is what he is in that he is Lord of the church in whom and from whom alone it has life. As such, the church belongs to Christ, not to itself. The church is not self-referenced. In a primary sense, its being is iconic, not institutional, as it points away from itself to Christ." (p. 97) 14. Edmund Clowney. The Church "To avoid bewilderment among these many perspectives on the church, we need to focus on the apostolic gospel by which the New Testament church was founded. The saving truth of the gospel is to be believed, and proclaimed to the nations. The gospel is also to be lived, for holiness, no less than truth, marks the Spirit's work. Further, this believing, proclaiming and living take place within a community. Those who are in Christ are joined to one another in an organism. There is a holy, spiritual order to God's community. It is not formed like other organizations, but it is a colony of heaven, a pilgrim people, traveling toward the day of Christ's return." (p. 72)

15. DCPI definition A church is a group of believers in Christ who meet for biblical worship, learning and mission. www.dcpi.org/files/.../Biblical%20Definition%20of%20Church.pdf 16. Eerdman's Dictionary of the Bible: The NT understands church to refer to the visible expression of the gathered followers of Jesus Christ who have been grafted into a community created by God, under the banner of Jesus Christ, embodying in an anticipatory way the life and values of the new creation 17. Baker Encyclopedia of the Bible The use of this word in the NT is somewhat dependent upon the OT and the Greek world. In the former, the word designated the congregation of the Israelites, especially when they are gathered for religious purposes and specifically for the purpose of hearing the Law (Dt 4:10; 9:10; 18:16; 31:30; Jgs 20:2; Acts 7:38). In the Greek world the word church designated an assembly of people, a meeting, such as a regularly summoned political body, or simply a gathering of people. The word is used in such a secular way in Acts 19:32, 39, 41. The specifically Christian usages of this concept vary considerably in the NT. (1) In analogy to the OT, it sometimes refers to a church meeting, as when Paul says to the Christians in Corinth: when you assemble as a [in] church (1 Cor 11:18). This means that Christians are the people of God especially when they are gathered for worship. (2) In texts such as Matthew 18:17; Acts 5:11; 1 Corinthians 4:17; and Philippians 4:15, church refers to the entire group of Christians living in one place. Often the local character of a Christian congregation is emphasized, as in the phrases, the church in Jerusalem (Acts 8:1), in Corinth (1 Cor 1:2), in Thessalonica (1 Thes 1:1). (3) In other texts, house assemblies of Christians are called churches, such as those who met in the house of Priscilla and Aquila (Rom 16:3; 1 Cor 16:19). (4) Throughout the NT, the church designates the universal church, to which all believers belong (see Acts 9:31; 1 Cor 6:4; Eph 1:22; Col 1:18). Jesus first word about the founding of the Christian movement in Matthew 16:18 has this larger meaning: I will build my church, and the powers of death shall not prevail against it. The church, both as a universal reality and in its local, concrete expression, is more specifically designated in Pauls writings as the church of God (e.g., 1 Cor 1:2; 10:32) or the church of Christ (Rom 16:16). In this way a common, secular Greek term receives its distinctive Christian meaning, and sets the Christian assembly/gathering/community apart from all other secular or religious groups.

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18. Evangelical Dictionary of Biblical Theology: At the heart of the expression of the churchs faith are the sacraments of baptism and the Lords Supper. The former symbolizes entrance into the church while the latter provides spiritual sustenance for the church. 19. Holman Treasury of Key Bible Words Thus, when reading the New Testament, Christians need to be aware of the various ways in which the word church is used. On the most basic level, the ecclsia is any gathering of believers. On another level, the ecclsia is an organized local entity, comprised of all the believers in any given locality. The ecclsia is also the universal church whose constituents are all the believers who have ever been, are now existing, and will ever be. The New Testament writers used all of these various meanings of ecclsia. 20. Internal Revenue Service, USA "DEFINING "CHURCH" - THE CONCEPT OF A CONGREGATION" by Robert Louthian and Thomas Miller "To be a "church" a religious organization must engage in the administration of sacerdotal functions and the conduct of religious worship in accordance with the tenets and practices of a particular religious body." In applying the analysis to determine whether a religious organization may properly be characterized as a church, the Service considers whether the organization has the following characteristics: (a) a distinct legal existence, (b) a recognized creed and form of worship, (c) a definite and distinct ecclesiastical government, (d) a formal code of doctrine and discipline, (e) a distinct religious history, (f) a membership not associated with any other church or denomination, (g) an organization of ordained ministers, (h) ordained ministers selected after completing prescribed studies, (i) a literature of its own, (j) established places of worship, (k) regular congregations, (l) regular religious services, (m) Sunday schools for religious instruction of the young, (n) schools for the preparation of its ministers, and (o) any other facts and circumstances that may bear upon the organization's claim for church status. See IRM 7(10)69, Exempt Organizations Examination Guidelines Handbook, text 321.3(3). IRS Summary: The presence or absence of a congregation is a key factor in analyzing whether an organization should be classified as a church www.irs.gov/pub/irs-tege/eotopica94.pdf

For further thought: 1. Have the definitions helped you to define church? Did you have a truly Biblical view of the church? 2. Were you challenged as I was by the definition of Andrew Purves who suggested that it is not really all about us in the final analysis? 3. Is the Internal Revenue Service definition any where near the mark? 4. Is there a chance that the person who said, "you did not leave the Church when you came here" could be right? Could be wrong? Could be right on a certain level and wrong on another level? For further reading: 1. The Bible, especially words referring to the assembly in the Old Testament, Jesus' sayings and the book of Ephesians, as well as the letters to the seven churches in the Book of Revelations. An article which examines the church in Ephesians and also lists the various word-pictures for the church in the Bible is entitled: " "Corporate Identify formation: The ekklesia in Ephesians" St. Francis Magazine. Online www.stfrancismagazine.info/ja/images/stories/ephesians-corniche.pdf 2. The books where the quotes came from 3. Edmund Clowney, "A Biblical Theology of the Church" This is a comprehensive Trinitarian, God-centered explanation of the origins of the church, and its roles in worship to God, nurturing the saints, and witnessing to the world. It also has an extensive, though slightly dated (1987) bibliography] http://beginningwithmoses.org/oldsite/articles/btchurch.pdf 4. DeYoung, Kevin, and Ted Kluck. Why We Love the Church: In Praise of Institutions and Organized Religion. Chicago: Moody Publishers, 2009.