Throughout its history, the church has tended to be considered extraordinary; for example, in medieval times, the church was an extraordinary place outside the world, the sacred separated from the unholy, the place of salvation, the possessor of the mysteries of heaven.
The church contained extraordinary people: monks and nuns, priests and bishops and, above all, the Pope as Christ’s representative on earth. These extraordinary people were the ones who called the department; everyone else just worked. In addition, the church had extraordinary means: sacraments that transmitted grace through the operation of the rituals themselves. While monks and mystics performed powerful works and fed the laity with heavenly food, some of the extraordinary achieved holiness, while craving them for the final deliverance of sin and a glimpse of God in heaven.
- To enhance the extraordinary appearance of the church and its most sacred agents.
- The Church’s own buildings were built with the extraordinary altar at the end of the sanctuary separated from the common people by a fence.
- Screen.
- Or railing.
- In which the laity were denied the opportunity to participate in wine (like the blood of Christ).
- For fear of what might happen if it was shed.
- The Christian church was full of reminders of the extraordinary.
One of the main contributions of the Reformation and Protestantism in general was the emphasis on the common aspect of the Church. It is quite certain that John Calvin would approve of Cipriano’s observation that the Church is our mother and that “far from her womb, one cannot expect forgiveness of sins or salvation,” or as Westminster’s Confession of Faith teaches:?is the visible Church [?] the Kingdom of the Lord Jesus Christ, the home and family of God, of which there is no possibility of salvation. ? (25,2). The church is the natural place of God’s grace. However, God’s grace is not obtained through extraordinary demonstration; Instead, God uses his common church to support and nurture believers through ministry, people, and ordinary means.
Joint Ministry
In his common church, God works through the common ministry. Reformers made a distinction between the biblical functions that were extraordinary and made to last a while, as apostles and prophets, and those biblical functions they were?Common and perpetual?in the church, as elders and deaconos (Ephesians 4: 11-13; 1 Timothy 3: 1-13; Titus 1. 5-9). The extraordinary ministry of the Apostles and prophets established the Church (Ephesians 2. 20), with its fundamental teaching consisting of the canon of scripture; However, from the end of the canon to the day, God used the common and regular ministry of elders and deaconos to build the church (1 Timothy 3:15).
These elders and deaconos are chosen by God’s people, according to Christ’s own determination to present officers to his people (Acts 6. 1-7,14. 23; Ep 4. 7-12). Far from implying a supernatural or extraordinary call, the call to common ministry comes from God’s people who seek among themselves men, of good reputation, full of Spirit and wisdom (AT 6. 3). These men are set apart to take what they have received from the gospel and faithfully transmit it to others (2 Tim 2:2). And while some of these men will do this full-time and receive a payout (1C 9. 8-12; 1 Tim 5. 17), others will continue in their daily work as tent builders, fishermen, teachers, and doctors, while maintaining God’s flock (To18,1-4,24-28; 1 Cor 9. 6-7). The elders are mainly engaged in prayer and the ministry of the Word, and deachonos deal with the physical needs of the people, but both work to build God’s common church (Acts 6. 1-7).
This is the normal ministry by which God works: elders and deaconos who exercise a common ministry in response to God’s call that comes through the regular processes of the Church; but the church promotes its cause not only through a common ministry, but also through ordinary men. and women who live daily life in the world and in the church.
Ordinary people
Reformers insisted that God’s cause in the world progresses through ordinary people who live their calls in all areas of life. By trusting in Christ in his daily work, men and women do good deeds. These works are as good as those of a shepherd when he preaches or preaches. An old man acting by a woman’s bedside on the brink of death. Luther expresses it this way: “If he finds his heart convinced that he pleases God, then the work is good, even if it is something as small as picking up a straw. “The work of believers is acceptable to God not because he is connected to the church or because he has a reputation in the world; it is acceptable because it is done in faith, because it pleases God and because God uses it to make his world prosper. God uses ordinary people as a kingdom of priests who represent and media the common grace for all creation.
This priesthood of all believers also changes our understanding of the ordinary life of the Church. Since each believer is a priest before God united to the high priest, Jesus, the worship of every believer is significant (1P 2. 4-10). Prayers are as appreciated and precious in God’s eyes as the Sunday minister’s prayers. The accountant’s teaching in Sunday school is as valued and valuable in God’s eyes as seminary teacher conferences. All believers have the ation of God, they are all priests before God, they are all important in building up the kingdom of God (1 John 2:27).
This does not mean that God did not endow one another, nor that God did not order a structure for his church with the elders called to shepherd the flock and be able to teach (1P 5:1-5; Hey 13: 7. 17). However, this means that in the ordinary Christian church, God uses ordinary men and women as “priests for his God and Father” (Ap 1:6), whose worship is meaningful and whose work is acceptable in Christ.
Common ways
When this common church meets, ordinary men and women served by a common ministry, he finds that God works by common means. Westminster’s brief catechism refers to “ordinary means of grace” such as the Word, the sacraments, and prayer. These common forms seem simple and even ridiculous to some, does God use them powerfully because It makes them effective for those chosen for salvation?(P. 88; cf. 1Co 1. 18-31).
As we read and especially preach the Bible, God works to convince and convert sinners and to convince and comfort the saints, that is, all believers. In the sacraments of baptism and the Lord’s Supper, God works to confirm His Word and secure our hearts through the work of His Spirit and the response of our faith. In our prayers, God works in our hearts and in our lives when we offer our desires to God. Through His work, God makes these common means effective for our salvation (BCW, P. 89-91). In other words, they confirm and sanctify us in Christ, while we await our glorification.
The ordinary Christian church does not need the latest ways to call sinners or those who are looking for something, but needs these ordinary means, as well as faith in God that uses these means. crisis of trust and faith in the common means of grace. God calls us to remind ourselves once again that He does not need extraordinary experiences or events; rather, he likes to use these common means to do his job in people’s lives.
Because when God’s people use ordinary means, even the least educated person can learn the great story of salvation, grow in faith and grace, and serve as a priest in God’s house. The Westminster Confession of Faith admits that not everything in the Bible is simple or clear to all readers, but can the uneducated, in the proper use of the common media, come to a sufficient understanding? ? things necessary for salvation (CFW 1. 7). Also, do we need an extraordinary revelation? or a special manifestation of the Spirit to obtain assurance; on the contrary, is there an infallible guarantee of salvation? in the proper use of the common media? (CFW 18. 3). Such learning and assurance require that God’s people participate in their common Christian church, Lord’s Day after Lord’s Day, in order to utilize these common means of grace. And when we get involved in this common Christian church, God does amazing things. He bestows mercy and grace, enlightens our minds and guides our will, effectively calls and justifies, sanctifies his adopted children, and brings them home safely. So God is not calling us to prioritize the conference, the podcast, the book or the magazine, which are useful, but extraordinary. Rather, he calls us to love his beautiful, blood-bought, ordinary Christian church.
This book is a call to live the joy of ordinary Christian life. Michael Horton demonstrates that the attempt to seek great experiences in spiritual life has left many Christians disappointed and disappointed and invites us to regain a sense of satisfaction in these simple and common things of Christian life.
By: Sean Michael Lucas. © 2014 Ligonier. Original Ministério: The Ordinary Christian Church.
This article is part of the August 2014 issue of Tabletalk magazine
Translation: Joel Paulo Aragono da Guia Oliveira. Criticism: Yago Martins. © 2016 Ministério Fiel. All rights reserved. Website: MinisterioFiel. com. br. Original: God Uses Ordinary Church
Authorizations: You are authorized and encouraged to reproduce and distribute this material in any format, provided that the author, his ministry and translator are no longer no longer modified and not used for commercial purposes.