How Church Can Change your Life
By Josh Moody
‘Why should I go to church at
all?’ This question is addressed in this book and the book is divided into 10
questions.
John Stott said in his book Basic
Christianity “people love Jesus but are not sure about the church.”
Why go to church? Or rather what does this thing called the
local chuch have to do with Christianity (or spirituality)? Can’t I just be spiritual but not be
religious? (which seems at least in part to mean not wanting to have an
affiliation with a religious institution)
More and more people are asking this question today and not just ‘How do
you do church?’
It would be easy to oversimplify
or shove down people’s throats an answer - simply make the church more
contemporary. The writer is not opposed
to ‘bringing the church up-to-date’ (though what that means depends on who is
proposing it) as long as that does not also mean abandoning what Jesus said, in
his word, the church should be. His
instinct (and experience) is that people are not asking the qustion ‘why do I
need to go to church?’ because they are looking for more rock drums. Smoke machines, dry ice, skinny jeans and
laser shows are not wrong. But they are
not the answer either!
Josh attended many events when he
was exposed to all sorts of ideas from consultants and denominational leaders
about how to draw people (back) to church.
He realised that there was no point putting in place a really cool rock
band (much as he was in favour of that sort of thing) or building a better car
park (again, as much as that can be a good thing to do). But there was no point doing that when people
were not coming to chuch because they thought church in itself as pointless. The prior questions with relation to church
are simply ‘is it necessary?’ ‘do I have to go?’ So we need then to cast a
vision for what the church is, so that the questions ‘do I have to go to
church?’ is replaced with ‘what can I do to serve the church?’ The trouble of course is that people’s ideas
of church are so miscued that if church – biblical church – were really like
they think it is, then I don’t much blame them staying away.
Christ came to die for the church
– and it needs saving.
There is another point though –
pride. It is very hard for us to believe
that the secret of the universe, the centre of the infinite majesty of all
reality, the revelation of God in Christ, the word eternal, is all being
discussed in one rather small building on the corner of our street – or even in
one very large building in the centre of our town.
To help us we start off with humility. Going to church gets us out of our
self-oriented prison. We are forced to
put up with music that is not our taste.
We are made to listen to truths that we wish were rather not true. All this is good for us. It is more than that – it is essential if we
are to find joy. “Blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of
heaven.” (Matthew 5 verse 3)
QUESTION 1 – Is church only for Christians
There are quite a lot of people who think that
going to church is something that you should only do if you are a Christian. Some people who are not Christians believe
that if they turned up one Sunday morning at a church service they would be
intruding. Really many people who are
regular church-goers are absolutely thrilled when new people decide to show up
and check out church for the first time.
They want new people to have the freedom to find things out and wish to
see if they encounter the God that they believe is real. Why this feeling then that someone who is not
yet a Christian perhaps should not be allowed to come to a church? Of if they
do turn up, why do they sometimes feel uncomfortable? Some of this comes down to the sheer
awkwardness of many church services.
William Temple “Church is the one society that
exists for the benefit of its non-members.”
The whole point of the church to be a living
testimony to who God is for those who are looking to discover him. The church is a “means of grace”. It is a zone which God has designed where, if
you come with an open heart and if the Spirit is at work in your life, you will
encounter God himself. It’s not our
place; it’s his place. It’s not a
sanctuary in the sense of a special religious area which is separate from
normal human reality. This ‘temple’ is
really Jesus himself and church is simply a means to that encounter with Jesus.
QUESTION 2 – Do I need to go to church if I am a
Christian?
Augustine “There is no salvation outside the
church.” Certain groups of Christians
might instead say today “There’s not much of any salvation in the church.” Today the mantra is “Love Jesus ... not quite
so sure about the church.” Strange
historically but even stranger biblically.
Biblically the church is the body of Christ – 1
Corinthians 12 verse 27. That means that
a Christian is a part of that body. Paul
was talking about the ‘universal church’ (that is church everywhere and at all
times). He meant that actual church in
Corinth. “You” he said, writing to the
Corinthians, “you are the body of Christ.”
To be a member of Christ – that is, to be real,
true Christian – is to be a member of the church. There is no distinction because the church is
the body of Christ; therefore, you cannot be a member of Christ without being a
member of a church.
Paul is talking about the organic church, but he
also does mean an actual church – an actual local church. To be a Christian is to be a member of one of
these churches. The New Testament has no
example, not a single one of a Christian who is not a member of a church.
The early chapters of Acts also provide evidence
for this. There, when many people became
Christians, not only did they put their faith in Jesus, but they were joined to
the church. The two go together – Acts 2
verse 41 and 47.
Going to church does not save you all on its own. Mere institutional allegiance, mere actual
physical presence in a church building at a church service, however regular, however
devoted in being there every time the church meets, is not what will save
anyone. We are saved by faith in Jesus,
not by church attendance.
What does it mean?
It means that if you say you follow Jesus but you are not a member of a
local church that is biblically founded and gospel-preaching, there is no
reason to know for sure whether you are actually following Jesus. Church is the natural expression of someone
who follows Jesus in the same way that the natural expression of a hand is to
be attached to its body. Going to church
means going to a local church that calls itself a church.
QUESTION 3 – Which church is the true church?
Jesus only talks about the church, using that
specific term, twice. That’s it, no more
than this. That’s not to say that the
people of God more generally are not at the background to just about everything
he is doing (of course they are). In
fact Jesus’ disciples are the church in miniature; 12 disciples for the 12
tribes of Israel (as has been pointed out many times). But Jesus only uses the actual word ‘church’
2 times.
The first occasion is related to Jesus’ famous
declaration to Peter. Peter has
confessed that Jesus is the Christ (Matthew 16 verses 15 and 16). Then Jesus calls him ‘Peter’ (a kind of
nickname; previously he had been Simon, now he was Peter, that is, Rock). Then after that name-calling (in a positive
sense), Jesus says that ‘on this rock I will build my church’ (Matthew 16 verse
18).
Jesus means what Peter has said (Jesus is the
Christ), not who said it (Peter). The
reason I think this is because, right after this moment, Peter then goofs up
big time. After having confessed Jesus
as the Messiah, he then goes on to tell Jesus not to die on a cross. Jesus then looks at Peter and says, ‘Get
behind me, Satan!’ (Matthew 16 verses 22 and 23).
Jesus means the same as he means in the first
instance – in both instances Jesus is talking about what Peter said. When Peter said Jesus was the Messiah, Jesus
is saying that that confession of Jesus is the rock on which he will build his church. And when Peter says to Jesus not to die on a
cross, what Peter said then is devilish.
This means that the foundation, the rock of the church is the message of
Jesus Christ and him crucified.
The apostle Paul said exactly the same thing a
little later. He resolved to preach nothing but Christ and him crucified – 1
Corinthians 2 verse 2 - the power of the gospel – and that is the foundation of
the church.
The true church is the one that has at its
foundation the proclamation from the bible of Jesus Christ and him crucified.
Jesus mentions the word ‘church’ one other
time. In this instance it is when Jesus
is asking how on earth his followers are going to get along and live together
in community. The answer is that they
have to forgive each other. How are they
going to do that if someone sins against them?
Jesus gives a 3 step plan.
First go and tell the person his fault, just
between the 2 of you. Keep it private,
don’t let egos enter in, have a nice friendly chat and most likely the other
person will apologise and you will then say ‘I forgive you’ and all will be ok
again. However, sometimes the person who
hurt you won’t listen. Well then, the
second you go with one or two others to the person. The 2 witnesses are there to help discern whether
the person making the accusation is really the bad apple.
But if it is not (here comes the word ‘church’)
then, third, Jesus says ‘tell it to the church’ (Matthew 18 verse 17). So the other mark of a real church is that it
takes seriously its responsibility to act in a way that represents what it
means to follow Jesus. The church as a
community is intended to be able to showcase what it means to follow Jesus
authentically.
So the other sign of a true church is that it is a
church that is serious about discipleship (and discipline).
There’s one other sign of the true church and that
is the way it deals with baptism and communion.
If you want to find a true church you are looking
for 3 things – for the true preaching of Jesus Christ and him crucified. You are looking for healthy discipleship and
discipline. Also you are looking for the
way that the church does baptism and communion to be biblical.
QUESTION 4 – Why are there so many different kinds
of churches?
Behind this question is usually the thought that
it shows that the church is disunited, and therefore somehow witnesses against
the truth of the church as an expression of God today.
But really, this is all a fairly massive
misunderstanding: both of the value of having lots of different kinds of
churches and of Jesus’ prayer. Jesus
prays that his disciples would be one as he and the father are one. He does not pray that they would all be able
to fit into the same box, like having the same music or architecture, wearing
the same clothes and being part of the same institution. He never prays any of that, which is probably
a good thing, because to achieve that would take a miracle almost as big as
walking on water every day.
No the point of Jesus’ prayer is relational, not
institutional. To be one as Jesus and
the Father are one is a relational oneness. Jesus is part of the trinity – he
is fully God and fully man in one person.
Christians believe that God is one in 3 person: God the Father, God the
Son (Jesus) and God the Holy Spirit.
Therefore, what Jesus means is that we are to be ne like that. It is a relational oneness, a oneness like
the way really good friends are one even though they are different people, or
like the way husband and wife are one even though sometimes they annoy each
other.
Why are there so many different kinds of churches?
Probably because there are quite a number of different kinds of people.
QUESTION 5 – What is the point of baptism and
communion?
A – these are church things. They are designed to be the entrance to the
church (baptism) and the expression of ongoing involvement within the church
(communion).
B – these things have a particular meaning. Baptism is an expression of being born into
the Christian family by the Spirit of God.
When you are born of the Spirit you die to your old way of life and you
rise to a new life in Jesus. Baptism is
an outward expression of this inward reality.
Communion is a sign of what Jesus has done on the cross. It was designed by Jesus to help us remember
that what he did on the cross was enough to take away all our sins. Communion is intended to say that Jesus’
death was enough.
C – a lot of the other distinctions – and there
are many – about these 2 matters are fine and worth considering and getting
straight in your own head, but are not to be divisive between Christians.
The challenge with both of these things – baptism
and communion – is actually a more basic level still. They are both ‘signs’ that is, they are
designed to point somewhere, but signs if they are not interpreted can easily
become misunderstood.
People love signs. The signs feel significant
(sort of mystical and mysterious) but because signs by themselves don’t say
much of anything, if they are not interpreted when you actually ask people what
is going on, or what they mean, they usually do not have a clue. No idea at all. They could not explain it – but ‘wow, it is
like deep, man, oh yeah, so deeeep.’
This is why the best way to think of baptism and
communion is as ‘visible words’. That
helps explain how they function in relation to the bible and to the preaching
and teaching of the bible. They are
designed to be visible signs pointing to the same reality that has just been
explained. Without that they become
signs pointing all over the place rather than pointing in one particular
direction. Baptism says: the way to be
saved is to humble yourself, put your trust in Jesus, and then you will come to
experience new life now and forever. But
it needs to be explained first. Then,
when you see the sign it becomes doubly meaningful. You get the ‘visible word’ as well as the word. Communion says: Jesus has died for your sins,
once for all; don’t forget it, don’t ever forget that his death was sufficient
and has covered everything. But it also
needs to be explained first. Then, when
you see the sign of communion, it too becomes doubly meaningful. You get the ‘visible word’ as well as the
word taught.
QUESTiON 6 – Why is preaching important?
Preaching is important because it is how God
speaks today to his people through the bible.
“Preaching is the God-ordained means by which he meets with his people
through his word and by his Spirit in such a way that his people’s eyes are
opened to see Jesus and be captivated by him.”
·
Preaching
is not a bunch of funny jokes stuck together for maximum humorous impact
·
Preaching
is not a whole mass of theological content downloaded to educate everyone,
willing or not.
·
Preaching
is God’s way of meeting with people to show them Jesus, so that they are
thrilled by him.
The reason why preaching is important is that
Jesus is important. Jesus has set up
preaching to show us himself and help us see how great he is. The more you love Jesus, the more you will
love preaching.
Preaching therefore is not only an information
download. Preaching is teaching but it
is more than teaching. Preaching is
motivation, but it is more than motivation, it is, when genuine, God addressing
us through his word, the bible, to show us the beauty of Jesus.
Biblical preaching is important because it is
Jesus’ way to meet with his people and show us his glory, his beauty, his love
and to help us be captivated by who he is.
1.
We
should come to hear preaching not merely with a desire to learn more stuff, but
with a desire to encounter Jesus. You
are listening as if you were discerning what it is that Jesus wants to say to
you. This will forever change your
attitude to preaching.
2. We should leave from
having heard biblical preaching with a desire to do something about what we
have just heard. Jesus makes this point
at the end of the most famous sermon ever given, the Sermon on the Mount
“Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice
is like a wise man who built his house on the rock.” Matthew 7 verse 24 There’s no point being shown Jesus in all his
beauty and being moved to embrace him anew as the Lord of your life, and then
doing absolutely zilch about it. You
might as well have not listened at all.
3. We should pray for and
support our preacher. Do it before he
preaches as he preaches and after he preaches.
You want to gather around the preacher, not to idolize him but to keep
the channel of preaching as clean and as open to the work of the Spirit as
possible.
4.
We
should advocate for and ensure that there is enough time, space and resources
for the continued development of excellence in preaching.
QUESTION 7 – Why is there
so much politics in church life?
If you read the New
Testament, you will find that most of the letters in the New Testament are written
in response to some problem in the church to which it is written. This should not surprise us but at the same
time it should also not satisfy us. We
should be aiming for our churches to grow in godliness, in Christlikeness, in
love for each other, in simple humble appreciation of each other, in the ability
to submit to one another out of reverence for Christ, for that is love. Love for God.
Love for his Word. Love for each
other. Love for the people around us. In the same way that we should not be satisfied
that we are not (yet) who we are meant to be as Christians individually, so we
should not be satisfied that churches are not (yet) who they are meant to be as
Christian communities. We should aim to
be presented without spot or blemish, holy and pure, without stain or wrinkle,
that is, full of Christ and full of his love.
If it should not satisfy
us, how should we go about improving?
First, we all need to
chill a little. A lot of stress and
strain in church life results from people being too intense.
Second, it is important
that the Word is not only theoretically central to church life but functionally
central. We have to leave time for the
explanation of the bible and to have that at the heart of what happens when we
meet in big gatherings, as well as in small ones.
Third, love, love,
love. The bible says that love covers a
multitude of sins. It means to love
somehow: to seek what is his or her best.
Love does not mean avoiding tough conversations or not doing any
life-on-life accountability, but it does mean that all those sorts of things
are not from an arrogant position, but from a loving, humble, gracious,
self-giving position. That changes
everything; it changes ow we speak and it changes how we listen. Jesus said you could tell his disciples by
how they love one another – John 13 verse 35 – and so we who are loved by him
love each other in turn.
Fourth, true Christians
join the membership of the church.
Fifth, leadership, it
really matters who churches have in leadership as elders and pastors.
QUESTION 8 – Should I go
back if I have been hurt by church?
The wounds that this
creates are not susceptible to glib answers or easy solutions. ‘There is an authority structure that
churches represent – and to some extent still today possess – that gives them
unique opportunities to bless people, and unique opportunities to not be a
blessing as well.’
Unlike other
relationships, you can’t just avoid church forever. If church is the local representation of the
body of Christ, and if you are a member of Christ, you will be longing to be
actually and practically reunited with that body of which you are truly and
spiritually a part. You will not want to stay away forever. If at some point you are going to want to
re-enter church life, the next question is when and how? Here are some
suggestions:
1.
Don’t
just join any church. Some churches hurt
people because they are not healthy churches.
You want to join a church that not only says they follow Jesus but
actually does follow him. That means the
bible should be taught from the pulpit.
That means that the gospel of Jesus Christ should be central to the
church’s life. That means that the
church should not only be well ordered and structured, with a healthy eldership
or leadership but a place of committed love, authentic discipleship and
disciplined Christian living.
2. Guard your heart against
cynicism. No-one in church claims to be
perfect. In fact, the whole structure of
a biblical church is proclaiming the message that only in Christ can we be
saved. We know full well we are not
perfect. There are plenty of sinners
around here.
3. Practice a biblical
authenticity. Being authentic does not
mean being who you are without processing what you should be or trying to be
who you should be. We need to aim to live up to our authentic self, not
downgrade ourselves to an inauthentic, unfocused, lowest-common-denominator
self. The author of the authentic self
is you as God has designed you to be. To
be truly and genuinely authentic is to be who you are as designed by God.
4. Understand the difference
between friendship and fellowship. To be
in a church with other Christians means that you are called to love them. That does not mean that you are called to
like them. A lot of people get hurt in
church life because they misunderstand this distinction. They think that being
in church means you have to like everyone around you and everyone has to like
you. Not at all. There may well be some people in the church
who you like, who can actually be your friends but there is no reason to think
that includes everyone. Church is
family: you love your family, but sometimes you’d rather watch a baseball game
with your friends. Some of your family
are also your best friends. The two
don’t always go together. That’s okay.
5. Don’t import into your
next church the baggage from your last church.
That means not projecting onto people around you the stuff you have from
the people at the last church. There may
well be someone you need to say sorry to from your last church. You want a fresh start. You want a sense of starting over.
6. Take commitment slowly but
steadily. When you’ve been hurt, you’re
a little gun-shy of commitment. This is
understandable and completely normal.
Perhaps you’re someone who in the past tended to jump right in with both
feet with hardly a second thought. Now
you are not so sure. Don’t run to
extremes. Don’t get into the habit of
never committing. Take it slowly. Keep progressing steadily. Start with attending. Then find a small group. Then get involved with serving. Give of your time, your talents, and your
treasure. Bit by bit, slow but steady
wins the race.
7.
Guard
your ultimate centre of loyalty for no-one else but Jesus. John said of Jesus that he did not entrust
himself to people for he knew what was in them – John 2 verse 24. You are called to love and serve people and
to be in fellowship with Christians. All
this requires a degree of trust, commitment, loyalty and involvement. But it does not require the ultimate degree
of trust. Only God is worthy of that
sort of worship. Some people get hurt
because they are really exposing the inner person to another human person, when
the only person who can handle that level of vulnerability and tenderness is
Jesus.
QUESTION 9 – What should I look for in a healthy
church?
By God’s grace and mercy, there is in our church
culture a commitment to core convictions that tend historically to maintain
gospel health in a church, here are 5 that matter:
First, a thorough commitment to the prevalence and
prominence of the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Second, a thorough commitment to the actual
teaching of the bible and its functional and genuine authority over all matters.
Third, a biblical involvement in each other’s
lives through life and fellowship and community.
Fourth, a thorough commitment to reach out with
that gospel to those around us, locally and globally, to be part of God’s
mission for the whole world.
Fifth, a biblical commitment to authentic, Word-driven,
Spirit-filled worship around the biblical trajectory of the gospel.
Gospel FLOW = the gospel driving forward
Fellowship (F), Learning (L), Outreach (O) and Worship (W). It’s all about the gospel. The gospel is not just the ABC of the
Christian life; it is the A-Z, as Christ is the Alpha and the Omega, the
beginning and the end – Revelation 22 verse 13.
Each of the 4 core values is driven forward by that gospel and expresses
that gospel in various ways.
There is another side to this question, which is
not so much “What am I looking for in a healthy church?” But more “How can I
contribute to make this church more healthy?” To do that:
1.
Support
your leaders
2. Be committed in your
attendance at worship services
3. Give regularly,
consistently and joyfully with generosity of your money, your time, and your
commitment to the work of the gospel in the church
4. Find ways to serve in the
church
5. Find ways to tell others
about the church and live a life whereby you are inviting people to Jesus and
to church
6. Forgive others quickly, do
not bear grudges, love and have mercy
7. Live a life of gospel holiness, that is pursuing Christ with all you have, loving him above all else and loving your neighbour as yourself. Be devoted to regular bible reading and prayer, take care of your family spiritually if you have one and turn your household into a place of godliness and Christlikeness so that church is not just one day in 7, but a 7-day-a-week, 365-day-a-year living experience.
With a healthy church and increasingly healthy people involved – the church, under God’s grace and only by his favour, as it remains committed to Christ and his word, will organically, gradually become more like Christ and more effective at his mission to the world. That’s not just health, it’s life, vitality and dynamism.
QUESTION 10 – How can I serve in a church?
It is much better to actually speak the truth in love and tell each other what we perceive are each other’s gifts. There needs to be a level of community discernment that rubs against the grain of our individualism. The ‘niceness’ culture of some churches can prevent striving for excellence in all things.
SERVE
S – Start small –
E - Every Endeavour
R – Real Relationships
V – Virtual Virtue
E – Exceptionally Excellent
