Church: For the Christian or the Non-believer?

Church: For the Christian or the Non-believer?

I’ve been writing a lot lately on Church, its purpose, and how today’s church model is very different from the church in Acts’.  I’ve felt led to write such posts mainly because when I look at the Christian Church, I see many churches that fail to equip God’s people for the evangelistic work that we are supposed to be doing, too many churches manipulating non-believers into “salvation” by not revealing the deeper things of God, and too many churches practicing churchianity as their lifestyle rather than performing the work that a Christian is called to do daily as their lifestyle.

I’m not bashing, condescending, or hating in any way.  The most important thing as a Christian is to have a real relationship with God.  But also do not forget that we are all accountable to God, and because of this, strive to uphold what God calls of us.

So let’s get to the point: is Church for the Christian or an opportunity to reach non-believers through a specifically catered service?  The first church was mentioned in Exodus 19:5:

“Now if you obey me fully and keep my covenant, then out of all nations you will be my treasured possession.”

Possession (Strong’s 5459) is equivalent to peculiar.  Therefore, God is calling the assembly a peculiar possession.  God selected his bride and proposed to her.  She was special in God’s eyes (for more info on the marriage relationship to Israel, see Israel’s Marriage with God).  This church was an assembly of Hebrews, whom God had chosen to enter into a relationship with Him.  This assembly was closed off to all foreigners (Exodus 12:43), unless the foreigner became circumcised (Exodus 12:44) – which is to say, the foreigner becomes an Israelite.  This is because in order to partake in the celebration (at the time, Jewish festivals/feasts) of God, the assembly needed to maintain its purity and unity by not allowing any idolaters into their assembly, or church.

Although God commanded Israel to not allow foreigners to celebrate Israel’s festivals with Israel, God did not call for complete segregation from foreigners.  In Leviticus 19:33-34 God says:

“When an alien lives with you in your land, do not mistreat him.  The alien living with you must be treated as one of your native-born. Love him as yourself, for you were aliens in Egypt. I am the LORD your God.”

Therefore, while assembling as a congregation to celebrate God, foreigners were not allowed to partake.  But while living their daily lives, Israel was called to love foreigners.  This should start to sound somewhat familiar to you since the Old Testament was a shadow of the things to come (Colossians 2:17).

So what about the church of Acts?  There are 7 key characteristics that define what the church of Acts did (see The Church of Acts for more details): Prayer, witnessing outside the church, devotion to all things of God within the church, christian fellowship, proper delegation of church authority, baptism, and a focus on the entire church body (not just a particular church).  The church in Acts was socialistic, where no brother was ever found in need because possessions were sold to distribute wealth.  All characteristics of the church in Acts and all teachings within the New Testament point to a church with the entire purpose of preparing and equipping God’s people so that they can successfully go out into the world to witness to non-believers.  The church is not supposed to be geared toward bringing in non-believers for the following reasons:

1) Churches should replicate the teachings within God’s word for how to run and manage a church

2) If a church is geared toward non-believers, it is not possible for it to properly equip God’s children.  How can a church celebrate God and His word to the fullest if its service is “watered down” for the non-believer?

3) In the Old Testament, God forbade foreigners to partake in the celebration of Jewish festivals and other holy days so that the congregation can maintain its purity and unity.  This obviously has an implication for today’s church (Colossians 2:17).

Similar to the Old Testament, where although God forbade Israel to allow foreigners into its holy celebrations but mandated Israel to love its foreigners that lived in its lands, the church today should follow this example as well.  Inside the church, focus on raising up God’s people by following the example of the church in Acts and the teachings within God’s word.  Outside the church, love non-believers and be strategic witnesses.

If you are a church leader, remember that you are accountable to God.  If your heart differs from what His word tells us, clearly in this case your heart is not being guided by God.  Be ever discerning and seek the heart of God at all times and be sure to adjust your service to what God’s word tells us out of the fear of the Lord.

-Mark