The Nature of the Church: Collective Responsibilities I. Introduction A. A very contentious issue revolves around the work of a local church 1. What are the functions of the local church? 2. Where do the members fit in? 3. What are the guidelines to determine who is to do what? B. "Christendom" has come up with varied answers to these questions 1. More often than not, the collective is engaged in many practices 2. The logic supporting them tends to be Biblically specious C. In order to understand the nature of the church fully, it is imperative for us to spend some time attempting to establish, from the Scriptures, what precisely is the work of the church 1. What is the church to be doing? 2. Are there some underlying principles guiding what the church is supposed to be doing? D. Let us explore the Scriptures to answer these questions II. The Individual and the Church A. As we begin, it is essential for us to lay out groundwork for our discussion B. We see two parties in the church-- the individual and the collective 1. Individual Christians are spoken of consistently in the Scriptures, and have a wide range of activities in which they are to engage 2. The work of a collective of Christians is also spoken of many times (cf. 1 Timothy 5, 1 Corinthians 16:1-4, 2 Corinthians 8-9) C. In the New Testament, we see that the church is simply the collective of people in Christ Jesus, either on a local or universal level 1. The "universal church", the body of the saved (Ephesians 5:25-33) 2. Local congregations of Christians (cf. 1 Thessalonians 1:1-2, etc.) 3. The church, then, is comprised of people D. Many make the deduction from this principle that whatever the individual can do, the church can do 1. It is attractive logic: if the church is simply a plurality of people, in theory, whatever one of its constituents can do, the collective can do 2. Such a deduction might work if the Scriptures approved of it E. Yet we can see, from the Scriptures, that such is not so 1. 1 Timothy 5:16 is the essential passage in this discussion 2. Context: Paul is speaking to Timothy regarding the church and its support of widows 3. Widows are to be supported by the church only if they are "widows indeed" and meet certain qualifications (vv. 9-10) 4. Paul goes to some length to do whatever possible to have the widows be supported by other entities-- younger widows are to remarry (vv. 11-15), and if family can support the widow, the family has the burden (v. 16) 5. v. 16, then, demonstrates clearly that the work of the individual and the work of the church are not inherently the same: the church is not "to be burdened" so that it can take care of those who truly are in need F. We can derive some essential principles from this verse 1. The church is not to be "burdened" a. many times in discussions of benevolence, the heartstrings are pulled so as to win support for an argument b. the discussion is never framed in terms of the work of the church, but in terms of the "poor widows and orphans" c. while we should have compassion for those in need, it is of great importance that Paul speaks of assisting some widows as being a "burden" on the church d. The tenor of the discussion will change if you ask for evidence that the church has been "so burdened"! 2. The church has different priorities a. Paul speaks of those widows as a "burden" because the church is to focus on helping those who are "widows indeed" b. This demonstrates a prioritizing of issues-- the church must ascertain what the greatest needs happen to be, fill those, and then work on other needs 3. Individuals are called upon to not "burden" the church a. We see that the individual is to first receive the burden, and only when there is no family to take care of a widow should the church be burdened b. The individual, then, is to bear the burden of benevolence (in this case) so that the church can focus on other priorities G. We can see clearly, then, that the individual and the church do have their own roles 1. The individual is called to bear burdens that the church ought not bear 2. Since this is the case, we cannot so simply dismiss this matter by believing that whatever the individual can do, the church can do H. Let us, then, establish from the Scriptures how the church, as a collective, has been burdened III. The Work of the Church A. A clear example of the work of the church is benevolence to saints 1. Many Scriptures attest to this-- Acts 11:28-30, 1 Corinthians 16:1-4, 2 Corinthians 8-9, 1 Timothy 5:1-16, among others 2. When the saints had physical difficulties, especially financial difficulties, brethren were always there to help 3. Collections were made in the churches, and relief would be sent 4. Acts 2-5 present many examples of exemplary giving so as to help the brethren B. The church also is to support evangelists 1. We see from 1 Corinthians 9:1-15 that one who does the work of the Lord has the right to receive material benefits from that work, and we can see from Philippians 4:15 that the church in Philippi thus supported Paul 2. The church, then, has the opportunity to not only support evangelists working in its own midst, but can also support evangelists in other communities C. The church also can support evangelism 1. The church, as the pillar and support of the truth (1 Timothy 3:15), has the obligation to support the proclamation of that truth in the community D. Such are the financial obligations of the church E. The church is also to work for encouragement 1. Hebrews 10:24-25, 1 Corinthians 14:12, 26 2. All things done in the assembly are to be done for encouragement F. The church must be supporting the truth and holding to it 1. 1 Timothy 3:15, Revelation 2:2: the church is to remain strong in the truth 2. The church is not to tolerate that which is false G. Such things represent the essence of the work of the church 1. Yet why is this the work of the church, and not other matters? 2. We can clearly see why this is the case IV. The Purpose of the Church A. To understand why the work of the church is as it is, one must understand the purpose of the church B. What is the purpose of the church? 1. The church is to be a spiritual body offering spiritual truth and refreshment, providing the spiritual encouragement necessary to strengthen itself (Colossians 1:18, Hebrews 10:24-25, 1 Timothy 3:15) 2. The work of the church, then, will be consistent with its purpose C. Indeed, all of the work of the church is entirely consistent with it being a spiritual body offering spiritual benefits 1. While benevolence is on a more physical level, it provides refreshment to fellow brethren-- the community in Christ Jesus, our fellow brothers and sisters 2. The existing bond between brethren is strengthened by such 3. Evangelism and evangelists work to make the church grow and to strengthen the Kingdom, thus encouraging the body and making it stronger D. The church is inward-looking 1. Underlying the purpose of the church is its inward nature 2. The work of the church is to grow and perpetuate itself 3. That work only looks outside to bring in and is not to look to the outside just for the sake of the outside 4. The time is too short and the resources always too thin to do both! E. Despite all of these things, most denominations spend as much effort if not more effort in working on the outside 1. Is that what we are to do as the church? 2. Let us look at the Scriptures-- and what their attitudes have caused-- to see V. The Result of Overburdening the Church A. The 20th century in particular has seen many denominations putting much emphasis on their work to help those outside of their churches 1. Many hospitals, centers of education, and food resources have been created or sent 2. There is no doubt that such things have bettered people physically B. Yet is this really what the church should be doing? C. The overburdening of the church has led to two distinct problems D. Problem #1: Lack of Focus on Members 1. When a church is focused on helping those outside, many times the work on the inside suffers 2. This is precisely what we see in mainline Protestant denominations: shrinking churches 3. They have lost their spiritual focus in their attempt to make the world a better place 4. Their attempts to physically better some people have led to them missing the real priorities E. Problem #2: Perversion of the Gospel Message 1. Not only does such cause problems on the home front, such actions lead to a distraction when trying to convert souls 2. When you try to go and present the true, spiritual, Gospel of Christ to many places in the world, the people will ask you where your hospital is, or your food pantry, etc. 3. To such people, Christianity is not about a spiritual relationship with other people and with God-- it is about getting things from Americans and others 4. Such makes it extremely difficult to try to get people to consider spiritual matters F. The reasons for these flaws are found in the Scriptures 1. The church has not been burdened with benevolence to non-saints because the time is short and its focus is to be inward, as we have seen 2. John 6, particularly in John 6:26-27, shows clearly that it is easy to convert the stomach, and far harder to convert the soul, especially when trying to do so through the stomach! G. This is why we must stress that the work of the church is spiritual-- otherwise, the important message gets lost! 1. It is a noble desire to want to help people get out of poverty... 2. ...but what does that really do? 3. What if you could eliminate poverty and give everyone on earth a middle class lifestyle? Would that really end all of mankind's troubles? 4. Jesus manifestly did not come to end poverty-- it's still around. He said the poor will always be with us (Matthew 26:11) 5. Jesus did come to save souls from sin, and the sufferings of sin exist no matter where one falls on the class level 6. We must not let any physical thing distract us from the necessary spiritual considerations-- it will not profit anyone, in the end, if we save people from hunger but not from sin H. The church, then, must remain true to its spiritual, inward focus! VI. Conclusion A. We have spent some time today looking at the work of the church B. We have seen that while the church is made up of individuals, there are distinctions between what the individual is to do versus what the church is to do C. We have seen that the church has been burdened with benevolence to saints, evangelist support, evangelism support, encouragement, and purity D. These burdens are consistent with the purpose of the church-- to be a spiritual body uplifting souls E. We can see from the Scriptures and the examples of denominations how overburdening the church represents the downfall not only of itself but also of its perceived work F. Let us strive, then, to recognize the obligations of the individual and the obligations of the church, and to make sure that we are doing both G. Songbook/invitation H. The purpose of the church is to be a place of spiritual uplifting I. If you are not a part of the church, you cannot fully receive that encouragement, for you are not obedient to the Head 1. please consider becoming obedient to Christ today J. If you are a part of the church and need encouragement, that's why we are here K. Whatever you need, let us please help you; come to the front now as we stand and sing