Last week, in our newsletter The Calling of the Church, we posed a question and asked for feedback from all of you. As expected, the answers were wide-ranging, which we included in Part 1 of this series, Training Ground. You can read some of those responses here if you missed it:
markcahill.org/training-ground-part-1/
But today in Part 2, we begin to lay a biblical foundation for sorting out this topic, beginning with defining the word church.
What is the Church?
Acts 11:26
And when he had found him, he brought him unto Antioch. And it came to pass, that a whole year they assembled themselves with the church, and taught much people. And the disciples were called Christians first in Antioch.
The word church here is ekklesia in the Greek, which means the “called out ones.” Now, you can tell immediately that church doesn’t mean a building. As you read through the book of Acts, it talks about people meeting in homes. When persecution breaks out, the last thing you do is build a big building on a street corner! Believers will typically meet underground. But are those gatherings still considered the church? Of course! They are the “called out ones.” They are the ones who have become a new creation. They are the ones who are born again. They are the ones who are separated unto Christ. They are the ones called out to live, speak, and behave differently from the world.
1 Peter 1:16
Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy.
We are called to be different.
The word ekklesia is also used to describe the assembly of believers. So, yes, it can easily mean “a building” when it has believers in it. But it can also refer to cities, like the church at Corinth, the church at Rome, etc.
You may not know this, but in some countries, governments will have certain people become fake believers. They will infiltrate the underground church to find out what is going on there. That is so interesting to me. Why don’t they just walk through the doors and attend that church? Well, those churches know that their get-togethers are only for believers. They know the government wants to persecute them. So the church has to know the believers inside and out, so to speak, to make sure the enemy is not infiltrating their group.
Who Has Discernment?
1 Corinthians 2:13,14
Which things also we speak, not in the words which man’s wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual.
But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.
Look more closely at those verses. If someone has not been born again, how will they spiritually discern what is going on in a church setting? If pastors are supposed to be teaching meat to their congregants, how will the unsaved person, who is inquisitive about all of this and needs milk, really understand what is being taught?
I think another way to look at it, if you were a teacher, is like this: Let’s say you are a math teacher, but your class has elementary kids and college-level students in it as well. Do you see the problem? You really can’t teach Calculus to that group, can you?! The young ones wouldn’t have a clue what is going on. You will end up catering to the lowest denominator. Could this comprehension difference also become an issue in assemblies if the lost and saved are lumped together?
Equipping or Entertaining?
Through the years, we have shown you some of the foolishness that goes on inside the walls of the visible church. But if you really think it through, they wouldn’t pull those stunts if they were just in the business of growing and equipping saints. They perform those antics to make the lost person feel comfortable and to entertain them. But is that what church is really for?
Maybe the real key is that we are supposed to be going out to where lost folk are at instead of asking them to join us at church. Outreach vs. invite. But if we view the church as the training ground for believers, then resolving this issue becomes simple. We are supposed to get equipped at church and then go out into the world to let our lights shine brightly before men!
Matthew 5:16
Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.
Acts 1:8
But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.
Luke 10:1-3
After these things the Lord appointed other seventy also, and sent them two and two before his face into every city and place, whither he himself would come. Therefore said he unto them, The harvest truly is great, but the labourers are few: pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he would send forth labourers into his harvest. Go your ways: behold, I send you forth as lambs among wolves.
Did Jesus send out the seventy merely to invite people to church? The answer to that question is very obvious.
Changing the Church
I have thought, for many years, that Rick Warren has done a lot of damage in the Christian community, but especially to local churches. Why? Because he didn’t go to the Bible first to find out what the local church should be. Instead, he went to the world to find out what they wanted from a church.
The following excerpt was taken from Grok:
Yes, Rick Warren did use a survey approach to determine what people were looking for in a church when he founded Saddleback Church. Before starting the church in 1980, Warren went door-to-door in the Saddleback Valley area of Orange County, California, for 12 weeks, talking to residents and asking them a series of questions. His goal was to understand the needs, preferences, and perceptions of the unchurched people in the community—those who did not regularly attend church.
Warren asked questions such as:
“What do you think is the greatest need in this area?”
“Are you actively attending any church?” (If they said yes, he thanked them and moved on, focusing only on the unchurched.)
“Why do you think most people don’t attend church?”
“If you were to look for a church to attend, what kind of things would you look for?”
“What could I do for you? What advice can you give to a minister who really wants to be helpful to people?”
Based on the responses, Warren identified common complaints about traditional churches—such as services being boring or irrelevant, members being unfriendly to visitors, and a perception that churches were only interested in money. He used this feedback to create a composite profile called “Saddleback Sam,” representing the typical unchurched person in the area. This profile guided the design of Saddleback Church’s services, ministries, and overall approach, aiming to address the “felt needs” of the community and make the church appealing to those who were not regular churchgoers.
This survey method was a key part of Warren’s “seeker-sensitive” strategy, which he later detailed in his book The Purpose Driven Church. The approach was influenced by the Church Growth Movement, and figures like Donald McGavran, emphasizing the importance of understanding and adapting to the target audience’s preferences to attract them to the church.
___________
As you can see, this approach is not biblical. We don’t survey the unchurched to figure out how to model our churches.
Since Rick Warren and the Church Growth Movement, much has changed in the church. Should the church have reimagined how to “do church,” or should it have stayed true to the church teachings found in God’s Word? In Part 3 of this series, we delve into the real purpose for the church as God designed it.
Until the nets are full,
P.S.
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