When the church meets together in the New Testament, it comes with praise to him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb; it comes together for mutual encouragement (not least in psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs), for the kind of well-rounded admonition, instruction, and correction that the comprehensive teaching of Scripture entails (2 Timothy 3:16-17), and for the Lord's Supper (1 Corinthians 11:17-34). Its meeting may see the conviction and conversion of outsiders (1 Corinthians 14), and serious matters of discipline are weighed there (Matthew 18:15-18). Its distinctive leaders - pastors/elders/bishops and deacons - have certain assigned responsibilities. The metaphor of the church as an organism - at least two distinctive uses of "body," for instance, not to mention pictures of the church as a unit being the bride of Christ - makes one wonder if one is doing full justice to the word "church" if it can be said to refer to two or three Christians who happen to meet at a bus stop and happily exchange a biblical verse or two. No doubt Christ is with them, but does this small collective of Christians function the way the church does in the New Testament?(1)He goes on further to say a word distinguishing the obligations of the church and that of individual Christians:
It is hard to ignore the many injunctions of Scripture to do good, to show mercy, to care for the poor, to be concerned with matters of justice. If all such responsibilities belong to the church as a church, to the church as an institution, then surely the leaders of the church - its pastors/elders/bishops and deacons - should take responsibility for them and direct them. But what we find in the New Testament is that the initial leaders, the apostles, were careful to carve out for themselves the primacy of teaching the Word of God and prayer (Acts 6:2). Even matters of justice within the congregation were in some measure handed over to other spirit-filled men (6:1-7). When the distinctive duties of pastors/elders/bishops are canvassed, the priority of the Word and prayer is paramount. These ministers preach and teach and evangelize (the ministry of the Word extends beyond preaching). It is within the church that people are baptized and come together around the Lord's Table. Yet at the same time Christians are busy serving as salt in a corrupt world, as light in a dark world. Like the exiles in Jeremiah's day (Jeremiah 29:1-7), Christians learn to do good in the city where they live, knowing full well that the prosperity of their city is both for the city's good and for their good. This may not be the church's mission, under the direction of the church's leaders; it is certainly the obligation of Christians.(2)Meredith Kline, playing both off of Carson's distinctions and Abraham Kuyper's notion of sphere sovereignty, makes the distinction (without separating) between the "holy-cultic" sphere and the "profane-cultural" sphere.
In the postlapsarian world the people of God function in both the holy-cultic and the profane-cultural spheres and as they do so they are to be conscious of doing all things, whether in holy or common spheres, as a matter of thankful obedience to God and for his glory and thus as a religious service (Col. 3:17,23). Nevertheless, this religious integration of the believer's life as a comprehensive service of Christ does not mean that the distinction between holy and common spheres gets obliterated. On the contrary, it is precisely because of our religious commitment to obey the commandments of the Lord we love that we will honor and maintain this distinction which has been established in his covenant Word.(3)(1) Carson, Christ and Culture Revisited. Eerdmans Publishing, 2008, pp. 150-151.
(2) Ibid., pp. 151-152.
(3) Kline, Kingdom Prologue. Wipf & Stock Publishers, 2006, pp. 160.
No comments:
Post a Comment