The Model Church
The Baptist Faith and Message says, “A New
Testament church of the Lord Jesus Christ is a local body of baptized believers….”
Although its definition contains much more, this brief partial statement
provides a starting place. Most theology books or Bible studies on the subject
of the church will then generally begin their discussions with reference to the
Greek word translated “church” in the New Testament, e,kklhs,ia (ekklēsia). The word “church,” they will
tell you, comes from the word ekklēsia,
meaning “called-out ones,” making the church a body of called-out people. In
fact, Baptists usually define the New Testament church as an “assembly of
called-out believers,” a fact which is certainly true, but only in part.
“Church”
does translate the word ekklēsia, but
it does not come from that word. Instead, the word “church,” in a round about
way, comes from another Greek word, kuriako,s (kuriakos). Kuriakos
literally means “belonging to the Lord.” Although this word is not used in the
New Testament specifically of the church, it is, according to the Oxford English Dictionary, the
linguistic source for our word “church.” This bit of information changes the
focus of our study significantly. No longer should we focus on ourselves as
just an assembly, but rather on the Lord to Whom we belong and Who called out
the assembly.
The
character of the church as a unique possession of God gives it an importance
far above any “called-out assembly.” Other assemblies have been called out for
various reasons. In fact, the term ekklesia
was used by the Greeks before New Testament times to designate their city
councils, assemblies called out to discuss and legislate the laws governing
their cities. The New Testament borrowed this word from the prevailing culture
and gave it a new meaning, an assembly called out by God to worship Him. As a
result of this new meaning coupled with the significance of kuriakos, no other assembly has the
distinction of being called out by and of belonging to the Lord.
In
addition to our calling out by and our possession by the Lord, what marks
distinguish the church from other assemblies? In 1 Thessalonians 1:6-10, Paul
offers a few characteristics.
1. The Word of God dominated their assembly.
Paul says they “received the word in much tribulation with the joy of the Holy
Spirit.” (v. 6) Further, “the word of the Lord has sounded forth from [them].”
(v. 8) In 1 Thessalonians 2:13, Paul adds that he thanked God for them because
they did not receive God’s Word as the word of men, “but for what it really is,
the word of God.” If we belong to the Lord, we will love His Word, we will live
by His Word, and we will fill our hearts and minds with His Word so that His
Word literally saturates our lives both individually and collectively.
2. They recognized the Lordship of Christ.
Paul repeatedly called Him, “Lord Jesus Christ,” “Lord Jesus,” or just “Lord,”
as he discussed their faith in Him and their response to Him. This is not a
concession to the so-called doctrine of Lordship Salvation, but recognition of
a relationship that follows our maturing in the faith as we grow and get to
know Christ in all His glory. Paul; describes that Lordship even more clearly
when he commends their repentance. In 1 Thessalonians 1:9, Paul notes that they
turned to God from idols, an excellent description of what repentance really
involves. They turned to God “to serve [because He is Lord] a living and true
God [not dead, false idols].” Again, they serve Him because He is Lord.
Their
response to Him is first one of love, then a response of obedience, obedience
because of love and gratitude, no doubt, but obedience nonetheless. He is Lord
and Savior at this point, not merely Savior. In our salvation the Father “rescued us from the domain of darkness, and transferred
us to the kingdom of His beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the
forgiveness of sins.” (Colossians 1:13-14; see also 2 Peter 1:11) Our salvation
not only places us in this kingdom, but also makes us servants as well as sons.
Salvation begins with receiving the gift of eternal life through Christ, but it
also eventually includes submission to the King of kings and Lord of lords.
3. They “mimicked” the apostles and the Lord.
That is, they lived lives that transparently revealed the power of Christ
living in them. They did this by first imitating the example of the apostles
(cp. v. 6). Christ’s power working through the church showed the world that
they were truly Christians—“little Christs,” they truly were a kuriakos, a prized possession of the
Lord.
I’ve
given you here only a few characteristics of the model church at Thessalonica
for you to think about and meditate on. Read all of 1 Thessalonians 1:1-10 and
see how many more characteristics of the model church you can find. There are
more, many more. How many of them does your church measure up to? How many do you measure up to?
Unless
otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the New American
Standard Bible, 1995 Version.
