A Model for the Local Church

I'm becoming increasingly convinced that many churches have lost focus on what's important. As I've posted about before, it seems that many Attractional model churches have placed Evangelism above any other pursuit - a position that is understandable, but nevertheless unBiblical. Too many Traditional churches have placed Preaching above any other pursuit - again understandable, yet still unBiblical. And in my limited understanding of Incarnational models, it looks like many of them are placing Community above all other pursuits - tempting, but not Biblical.

Lest this begin to sound like an advert for "The Purpose Driven Church", let me say upfront what most of you already know about me - I'm not a huge Attractional model fan, nor do I think Saddleback is the model for us all to follow. This post is not motivated by Warren or Saddleback. It's motivated by a growing sense of unbalance that I see around me. My pastor is always preaching the virtues of "balance", and with good reason. The more churches I study, the more case-studies I read, the more I visit, the more I dialogue ... the more I think so many of us are missing the very simple truth of the local church...

Let me start with some theology. If you ask most OT scholars what the fundamental message of the OT is, they tend to say something like "God is Holy". This is, I understand, a generalization - but many OT Theology guys do make this claim. And I tend to agree. If you trace the pages of the OT, every page is full of His Holiness. That's not to say other principles don't run through the threads of the OT - I'm just attempting to assign a primary thread.

In the same way, many NT Theology guys would tell you that "Love" is the primary thread running through the NT. In particular, "love God and love your neighbour". So if these claims are true, shouldn't our model for understanding the local church have heavy doses of His Holiness and Love? Stay with me...

Now let's turn to the Westminster Confession (WC), which proclaims what virtually all Christians would agree to: "The chief end of man is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever". Where Piper would change the "and enjoy Him" to "by enjoying Him", he - like most Evangelicals - would still agree with the fundamental thesis of the WC.

So drawing from the theologies of both the OT and the NT, as well as the great wisdom of the WC, it looks like our model for local church should include His Holiness, Love, and God's Glory. Still with me?...

Now turn to the pages of Scripture themselves and we find all manner of "good" things that local churches and God's people should be involved in doing. Probably all of us could quickly turn to verses that admonish us to "preach the Word" (2 Tim 4:2), to "love one another" (John 13:34), to "love mercy" (Micah 6:8), to "worship Him" (John 4:23), to "pray without ceasing" (1 Thess 5:17), etc... But simply compiling a list of these virtuous behaviours is a rather "shotgun" approach to finding a model for the local church. Each could turn to his own personal favorite and declare it to be the primary purpose. Some would (and have) declared Preaching the primary purpose of the local church. Other would (and have) declared Worship the primary purpose of the local church. Isn't there some framework we can hang all of these truthes on?

I think there is. Let me illustrate it this way:


This is what I'm increasingly coming to believe is the best general model for the local church to follow. It leaves room for local communities to emphasize whatever their local context requires, but it keeps us grounded in a Biblical view of things - and it keeps us balanced.

Let me explain the model. I can see no higher purpose recorded in pages of Scripture than "God's Glory". I whole-heartedly agree with the WC on this point - as has, not coincidentally, virtually every Christian thinker in the history of the Church. If this is the case (and can it really be otherwise?), then it must be the "umbrella" under which all of our efforts are concentrated. But the NT provides a more specific framework for the local church. As so many have already pointed out, the two primary statements given to God's people in the NT are 1) The Great Commandment and 2) The Great Commission. Hence, I've placed these as the sub-headings under "God's Glory". Then, under each of these two great statements, I've randomly placed many virtuous behaviours that support one (or perhaps both) of these sub-headings.

Within this framework, if a local church has a special giftedness or calling toward ( for example) preaching and teaching then they should feel free to emphasize those outworkings - but not to the exclusion of others. And certainly not in such a way that elevates them to where only "God's Glory" should be! Let us never say that Worship (for example) is really the label on the umbrella! Only His Glory can be in that exalted position. And let us never ignore those two great statements given to us in the NT. If we focus too much on Community, how are we ever to give enough weight to "Go and make disciples"? If we give too much weight to Preaching, how are we ever to focus enough on "Love God and your neighbour"?

So let me know, guys - is this framework useful to your thinking? Does it strike you as unbalanced in any way? Have I forgotten something big? What should be added or taken away? Is it truly as flexible to a local context as I'm implying?

This is a BIG issue, guys. I really covet your input.

Hatushili