We waited three years to get the church documents in order and suffered as a result.
We had a statement of faith: did we need it to finance?But we didn’t know how to use it. No one has ever encouraged us to adopt (and take seriously) a church constitution or alliance. Even if they had, I wouldn’t have known.
- Church documents seemed obsolete and rigid.
- Did you want to touch the people who did it?I wanted people who didn’t like the church.
- People looking for something different.
Three years later, did we get the documents in order?And it was painful.
At the time, we attracted a group of people, many of whom despised the local church. We knew we were against legalistic and strict churches, but we didn’t know what kind of church we wanted to become. Everything seemed to provoke discussion and debate, including the inerrance of scripture and atonement for substitution. Without any concept or ability to exercise ecclesiastical discipline, sin has remained uncontrolled. The challenges didn’t work because everyone appealed to personal preferences and proposed “agreeing not to agree. “
After three years it was pretty clear that we were sinking. If Jesus’ prayer was for unity in the Church, his request does not seem to have an answer in ours.
Finally, we have some documents in place. Our statement of faith played a leading role in establishing what the Church believed about teaching the Bible. After many conversations and investigations, we established a church constitution. We have found a time-tested Covenant of the Church that simply describes what the Bible requires of all believers.
And in the months that followed, a lot of people left, some angry, some frustrated.
Church sowers, don’t wait three years to get some documents in order!
A restaurant can be organized in hundreds of different ways, the best human wisdom can organize an excellent non-profit organization, but only Jesus can organize the local church. The Bible is where we find your principles of organization, and let me tell you: the Church is truly the countercultural institution!
As you read the responsibilities church members have with each other in passages such as 1 Corinthians 5 or leadership qualifications in 1 Timothy 3, do you deeply realize this?(As my mother would say) while organizing a new church will not work. Without clear biblical guidelines, the new established church can well blend in with pop culture and develop in an unused way.
Drawing theological lines seems contradictory to our postmodern era; however, ecclesiastical settlements are not naturally inclined towards orthodoxy. Not establishing doctrinal lines from the beginning leads the Church to turn away from God’s unity, integrity, and revealed truth. As a result, the developing church is likely to be distracted by endless debates about fundamental issues, such as inerrance and surrogate atonement, rather than getting involved in what the planter really wants to get involved in: on the mission!
Ecclesiological instability
Who runs the church? Who is a member of the church and what is expected of him? Who can serve in the church? Before our church was organized, the diversity of responses we received to these questions was enormous. The biblical system of church government in general is countercultural in society. Ancient men, authority of the congregation (for us Baptists), members of the church. Baptized and regenerated? These are not ideas that we are simply suggesting to ourselves. A church without guiding principles on church governance is likely to stray from biblical faithfulness.
What is required of a church member and who determines it?An establishment of undocumented churches established its new herd in confusion. Can a man and a woman who live together without being married become members?Can a man who lives in an open sin without repentance?serve in a public indictment How to treat a sister who rebels against Jesus?
Without clear biblical documents, the establishment of churches will tend to legalism or debauchery; as for legalism, they can impose on their members spiritual demands that Jesus himself does not impose on them; instead, its members can surrender to sin, adopting a lyceous and uncontrolled lifestyle.
Because sinners are called to establish and organize local churches, we need guiding principles that transcend human wisdom. We need biblical guidance from the beginning.
As a pastor, I often have the opportunity to advise the bride and groom, as part of our prenuptial counsel, I always explain in detail the expectations and requirements of marriage, can you imagine someone getting married and discovering the expectations and requirements of marriage three years later??
The lack of foresight and clarity about what the church is and what the church does will lead to infinite divisions, responding to these divisions with documents (three years later) will seem reactionary and people will leave. Starting with the documents, we will say, from the beginning: “This is the Church and that is what we must become. “
Having documents from the beginning says, “We are a people of the Book. “
Sometimes people ask: isn’t the Bible enough?
Well, in a sinless world, perhaps, we would all agree on what the Bible teaches. But in a fallen world, many interpretations abound. Bible-saturated documents indicate that the vision of a church must be “built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets” (Ephesians 2:20).
When we finally established the records, we were able to speak clearly to the people God gave us, “This is what we believe the Bible says, and it is on this basis that we stand. We not only recognize the need for biblical church leadership, we explain it. Ultimately, our documents detail and cast a vision of what we will be as a Church. Not only do we accept that the Bible requires pastoral integrity, but we formally place ourselves under the responsibility of the church. These documents will provide the Church with protection against rebellious, cowardly, and authoritarian church planters. We not only discuss what membership is, but we detail what God requires of the Christian. and what we are waiting for, as a church. These documents provide immediate assistance in dealing with cases of unrepentant sin and ecclesiastical discipline. They provide a discipleship vision for each member of our church planting team, as well as for new converts. Not only do we preach Galatians 1. 6 (that we should not move on to another gospel), but we use these resources to articulate what is the only true gospel. Are these documents used to protect the church from false teachers and wolves?
The Bible asks churches to organize in a way that is contrary to current culture and fallen wisdom, so the establishment of churches needs documents.
“As a church, we have made considerable progress in spiritual health since we voted for these documents,” said a member who has been with us from the beginning. He changed our church and changed our members. While some left, others responded positively, embraced the biblical vision, submitted to the local church, and grew up. The establishment of churches consists of making disciples, and documents are useful tools for making disciples.