Clearing the Air, Common Misconception About…the Church
Introduction:
There are many common misconceptions if the world. For example, French fries probably originated in Belgium and not in France. The name comes from the cooking term "to french" which means to cut food into strips, hence they are "frenched and fried". Also it is often assumed that shaving causes hair to grow back thicker or coarser. However, this is not true. This belief is due to the fact that hair wears down over time, whereas, immediately after it has grown back, it has had no time to wear. Thus, it appears thicker, and feels coarser due to the sharper, unworn edges. Also, warts on human skin are caused by viruses that are unique to humans. Humans cannot catch warts from toads or other animals. The phrase "separation of church and state" does not occur in the U.S. Constitution. It was first used in a letter Thomas Jefferson wrote to the Danbury Baptist Association of Connecticut, reassuring them that religious minorities would be protected under the Bill of Rights. Not only do we have many misconceptions about things in our world, there are many common Biblical misconceptions and many people in the church accept those misconceptions simply because they accept nearly all that they hear without any evidence. The Bible does not tell us the number of wise men who visited Jesus, it does tell us that they carried three gifts, but we assume and assume only that there were three wise men. There were not two of every animal aboard Noah’s Ark. Genesis actually tells us that all clean beasts would be in sevens and unclean beasts in twos. There are many times because of people’s misconceptions that they attribute something to the Bible. For example, the Bible never says, “God helps those who help themselves.” The list could go on and on. Perhaps all of these are but silly and trivial examples that do not really matter too much in the scheme of things. I doubt a person is ruined because they assumed there were three wise men and I doubt a person’s life was ever messed up because they attributed their wart to a touching a toad.
The point is this if we have bought into these common misconceptions so easily on things that really may not matter too much is it possible that we have believed and bought into some common misconceptions about other more important things. Perhaps we have bought into things which would affect our life or even our salvation. Over the next few weeks I want to “clear the air” and address some common misconceptions that are around the church that we might be tempted to believe. I believe it is important to spend time addressing these things because I believe that what we believe does matter. What we believe about various things impacts the choices we make. What we believe about various things will help establish our character. The bottom line is that bad doctrine leads to bad character. For example, for years the Roman Catholic Church taught that their priests could not marry. Incidentally, Paul even warned about those that would come forbidding people to marry. They taught that and then wondered why the Roman Catholic priests acted out sexually as it has been learned lately that droves of their priests have. Bad doctrine leads to bad character, therefore one step we can take is preventive and we can correct bad doctrine and common misconceptions which could affect our character decisions and even our eternal salvation.
Misconceptions easily spread and people begin to accept those misconceptions without ever investigating the facts. Misconceptions are dangerous.
The Bible says that the Devil is a liar and has been since the beginning. He has sought to sow seeds of confusion since the beginning of time, and he knows that if he can create doubt in people’s minds and cause them to believe common misconceptions then he can lead them further down a wrong path. Many misconceptions are the starting point of a never ending downward spiral away from the truth of the Word of God. Those misconceptions dilute God’s Word and cause us to rely less upon Him and more upon man.
Text: Matthew 16:13-19
I. About the Structure of the Church
Perhaps as much as any other aspect of the church there are countless misconceptions regarding the structure of the church floating around. Many of the misconceptions regarding the set-up and structure of the church are so well accepted and so wide spread that a majority of people and churches accept them. However, I believe that God set up a pattern for us to follow in the New Testament, and I believe that the one who established the church knows best how the church should be structured. Many people have come and sought to add their own flavor to the church, but those must be thrown off as manmade ideas and not God’s ideal.
It is almost universally accepted that the preacher of a congregation is referred to as the church’s “pastor”. This trend developed around the turn of the 20th century and continues on today, to the point that most people do not even question the reference. Here at Falls Mills we state that we want to do Bible things in Bible ways and call Bible things by Bible names. If we are going to do that and if we are going to use the Bible as the foundation that we fall upon for the structure of the church it forces us to challenge many widely accepted views of the structure of the church. However, for us to truly be a New Testament church we must do things after the New Testament model.
The New Testament teaches that there are three distinct offices of leadership in the church. Those distinct offices have distinct functions. First, there is the office of an evangelist. The evangelist’s role is clearly defined by his title. His job is to set lead the people in the work of evangelism, to appoint elders and to set things in order in the local church. The office of an elder is also clearly defined by it’s title in the original Greek. The word that is used many times for elder is the Greek word, “poimen”, which means, “Shepherd” or “Pastor”. As was taught to us clearly in our revival the elder’s main function is to shepherd the congregation. It is the elders who are the “pastors” of the church and not the preacher. Then there is the office of “deacon”. The word “deacon” means “servant” and that is exactly what the function of a “deacon” in the church consists of.
What we have done is we have bitten into the misconceptions of the structure of the church. Those misconceptions have come from denominational churches and from the secular world, and we have simply incorporated them into our churches. We have blurred the lines between the three offices of leadership and in doing so have ceased to be a New Testament Church.
Furthermore, many churches are not governed by the examples and clear commands of the New Testament, but rather they have a committee, a synod, a convention, a creed, or a board legislate the church’s doctrine. We have men voting on what is right and wrong, even on issues clearly revealed in the Word of God. We have congregations voting on issues with a majority vote winning, but we fail to understand that the church is not a democracy and we do not have a vote all the time. No preacher, elder or church member is the head of the church, rather Christ is the head of the church and His Word is our only rule of faith and practice.
If we as the church are going to grow and succeed we must model ourselves after the New Testament Church. We must examine ourselves. We must throw off manmade ideas, traditions and doctrines. We must break common misconceptions and trust that God’s revealed structure for the church is the most effective way to do things.
II. About the Importance of the Church
a. Misconception of where the church is
To many people church is just something you do once a week and then are done. To many people it does not matter what church you go to as long as you go somewhere. To the people that accept those misconceptions church is a compartment of their lives and so is God. These are the people that you hear say, “You shouldn’t say that at church”. To them when the dismissal prayer is offered at the end of the service on Sunday they leave the church behind. Many people might not say it, but the misconception is regarding the importance of the church in your life. Of course people who view church as something they attend and then leave use that idea to justify character flaws throughout the rest of the week. We do not just go to church a few times a week, we are the church. Many people, no matter how often it is taught and how clearly it is explained will continue to make a distinction between church and the rest of their life and between their spiritual lives and their secular lives. It is vital that we are not just a member on a church roll book somewhere; but that we are a part of the church and that we live like the church each day of the week.
b. Misconception of who the church is
If anyone is a Christian they are a part of Christ’s church. However, there are many who attend church that are not a part of the church. On the other hand many people undermine the importance of the church by believing that it does not matter where you attend church as long as you go somewhere. The “one church is as good as another” misconception is widely accepted. We use the term “Christian” so loosely as to apply to anyone who attends a church of any kind anywhere. I don’t buy into the idea that one church is as good as another. I believe there are some churches that blatantly abuse and ignore certain teachings in Scripture and in doing so are leading many people down the wrong path. Those churches and their leaders will have to give an answer to God for their mishandling of the Word of God.
I Timothy 4:16
Perhaps this is exactly why Paul gave such a warning to Timothy and is perhaps why we read of countless warning against false teachings in the church.
I Timothy 6:3-5
Furthermore, just because a building sits outside with a sign in front of it that says they are a “church” does not make it so. I could take a sign down to your house with my name on it and stick it in your yard, but that doesn’t make it my house. One church is not as good as another because many churches pervert abuse and mishandle the Word of God. The church you choose to attend ought to be one who is striving to the best of their ability to teach and practice the truth as revealed by the Word of God. We like to think one church is as good as another because it makes us feel better about things. It makes us feel better about our lack of efforts to talk to those people trapped in false teaching. It makes us feel better about our relatives who attend those churches despite their false teachings. There is a lot of misconceptions floating around about who the church is. Let us understand that all true Christians are a part of the true church. However, becoming a part of the church does not come by a church writing your name on a roll book somewhere or by a congregational vote of approval. You become a part of the church when God adds you to the church at your baptism.
The church is not an accident or is it the product of any man, but the church is something that was planned by God many years before it came into existence. Isaiah prophesied about a time when God’s people would be called by a new name. The church is vital. If it is that important to God it ought to be to us as well, and we ought to seek to free ourselves from common misconceptions which trivialize and undermine the church.
III. About the Purpose of the Church
Perhaps one of the greatest ways the Devil has sown seeds of confusion is by spreading misconceptions about what the purpose of the church is. If he can get us sidetracked or get us to forget the main purpose of the church then he has rendered us ineffective. The purpose of the church is quite clear in the Scriptures. Jesus gave clear instructions that the church was to preach the Gospel, baptize, and teach them to obey.
Ephesians 3:7-11
The primary function of the church is to reach the lost. Of course we also ought to put a strong emphasis on teaching the saved and upon ministering to those in need, but our goal is to connect people to God. Often times though churches get so sidetracked and they forget what is most important. Instead they worry so much about building upkeep, church politics, budgets, committees, meetings, silly arguments and quarrels and other issues rather than working to fulfill the great commission. In many places because of those distractions the great commission has become the great omission.
I have heard it said that many times soldiers in battle would much rather wound a person than kill them. The reason why is because if they kill an enemy soldier it takes one person out of the battle, however if they wound them it often takes two people to help the wounded soldier off of the battlefield and in doing so takes three people out of battle.
I wonder if this isn’t the ploy and tactic that the Devil is using today. He is wounded Christian people just enough whereas it takes two others to help them getting many soldiers of the battlefields.
I would be willing to bet that if you asked a random sampling of people what the purpose of the church is you would get a variety of different answers. On one occasion a person told me that the church existed to dole out money to those in need. Now, I believe that the church can and should help those in need, but that is not what the church is there for. The church is not just a pretty little building on the side of the road that came about on a whim, but rather the church is and has been God’s means of spreading the message of Jesus to the whole known world. Everything else is secondary at best.
Many churches have been sidetracked and distracted from accomplishing the most important things because of misconceptions about what the purpose of the church is. The bottom line is that if you cannot support the clear purpose of the church then you cannot be a part of the church. I have known many Christians who do not want the church to grow. I have heard many stories of preachers getting fired when the church began to reach lost people. I often wonder what the people expected. The expected someone to maintain them. We ought to stand by and support the purpose of the church. We ought to support it with our efforts, with our words, with our time and even with our money. Certainly there are other things that we must deal with from time to time, but the purpose of the church is primarily to reach the lost.
