A Biblical View of the Church

“It is very much in vogue for a consultant to ask church leaders, ‘What do you want your church to be? Figure out your needs and desires, tell me where you want to go, and I will help you craft a philosophy that will take you there.’ Such people are asking the wrong question! The right questions is, in Scripture, what does God say the church is? Based on that, we need to ask, where should it go and how should it behave? Then we must ask, what does scripture define as a need and how should it be met?” 

“I believe most evangelicals would have no argument with  looking first to scripture. But we cannot safely assume that this task is ever seriously undertaken. Most churches venture no further than their prepackaged and often predigested denominational doctrinal statement. The crafting of a philosophy of ministry based on scripture is very rare. Doing that kind of theology takes time, effort, and a serious commitment.” (pp. 60-61, “High commitment in a low commitment world, Bill Hull)

I. The term “Church”

The earliest New Testament reference to the Church is found in Matthew 16:18. In this verse, Jesus promised, “I will build my Church.” The New Testament records how Jesus did this through the leadership of the apostles and those appointed by them.  Continue at Thinkpoint


See Also: Overview of leadership in the local Church