The Then-Church & Now-Church Dissimilarity

By Max Strange 9/20/2010

Project: Make a list of the contrast between the first-century Church experience and the normal 21st century local church.

My assumption here is that the Christian church’s mission in skeletal form is found in the book of Acts. This framework is located in Luke’s letter that allows me to make a simple contrast to the Then-Church and the Now-Church. The intention here is not to build an exact theology for mission. Though my scope of the world-wide church is limited and partial, I hope to make a plain comparison. This rough contrast should help us verify how far off the map the church may have wandered from the God-given framework for mission. Together, the framework for mission and the Scripture’s increase by the omnipotent power of God caused the expansion of the church during those early years.

The Comparison:

The Now-Church gives the impression of an individual focused, all-about-me mentality that is quite different from the community focused Then-Church. It may be that Christian opponents have so successfully pushed the Christian faith out of the public sector and have made a community reality into a deeply personal and private matter, called privatization. Secular society has influenced some Christians to turn inward and focus more on a top-secret and classified relationship with Jesus Christ. The termite of privatization has found its way inside the church walls. Whereas the Then-Church, saw a brotherhood of unified people joined under the unilateral preaching of the Word of God and the Gospel of Christ. They were a Scripture investigating community, a prayer-laden community, a new society within the secular society, all bound together as a chosen collection of purchased people under the Jesus banner.

The Then-Church undertook mission and Gospel expansion by the best men the church had to offer (Acts 6, 13). They were sent by local churches and to each were given by public transmission, the authority of elder. The Now-Church work of mission is often carried-out by para-church organizations that work autonomously from the local church. Because of this, the best men are not sent. The best men are those whom mission organization deems to fit the personality type and for those itching to go. Some of our mission men are apparently self-appointed entrepreneurs and business-minded rogues who are looking for ways to avoid the so-called “red tape” of church structure and organization. This individualism is quite different than the Then-Church framework. In Acts, the best and qualified men, with deep character, possessed with a granite Christological understanding of the Scripture, were sent out. They were men who were first under a loving leadership by the Church at Antioch and then given the same-self authority. They went out on behalf of the sending leadership, not as Scripture novices but as skilled craftsmen ready to upbuild Gospel communities.

The Then-Church’s preaching was the Christ-centered message of the Gospel. At the core of the preaching and teaching was the person and work of Jesus Christ. The Now-Church seems to be about human-motivation, good suggestions, great outlines, and the Christian ethic.

The Then-Church trained its own people from their local congregations and grew spiritual in the local context in which they were schooled. The Now-Church farms-out and ships-out the best and brightest to Seminary.

The Then-Church seemed to be under heavy persecution. Though it was ordained of God, it arose because of the bold witness of Gospel messengers, like Stephen, Barnabas, and Paul. The Now-Church, at least in America, seems to enjoy cushions and recliners. It may be that the Now-Church loves comfort and ease and with the loving embrace of tolerance to all worldviews, and as such, the Gospel is not heralded as it should be. Thus, we lack the opposition that motivates the church to move its butt.

The Then-Church had a Christian capitol city called Antioch from which missionaries and financial support were sent to its sister communities. There was a loose but vital inter-dependence between Antioch and the churches that spawned from its hub. The Now-Churches tilt toward complete autonomy and independence, seemingly an island each to themselves.

The Then-Church seemed indicative determined which were followed by the imperatives of Scripture. This has become contorted today in the Now-Church. The Now-Church has either reversed it where the imperatives come first and the indicatives later or unfortunately abandoned altogether. Who God is, what He has done through His Son Jesus Christ, and who we are due to that (Indicatives) are no longer the thrust of modern preaching and teaching. The cry for more application and the ‘tell me what to do’ mentality, artificially slices the way the Scripture has carefully placed the imperatives (commands) flowing from the indicative facts of who God is and what He has done. The Now-Church, if it continues in this muddy track, will eventually lead people into Moralism, law eroding grace, and works salvation.

For me I see quite a difference from the Then-Church to the Now-Church. I do believe there are many Now-Churches that model the Then-Church and are operating from the Biblical framework to the glory of God. We must not forget God’s Word and see in the early stages of God’s work through the Church, how God developed the framework for mission and how it applies for us as a model for present mission in the 21st century. God’s Word keeps on the path to be a people who are unified around the Gospel, working hard to train local leaders for missions, who are inter-dependent with other like-minded Christians, who embrace suffering for God’s glory, and who are indicative-driven in its preaching and teaching.

Paul’s Normative Strategy for the Churches Today

By Max Strange 10/31/2010

After ten years of mission work, the Apostle Paul spoke as if his work had been completed. How can this be after such a short time? Missionaries in the field have spent their whole life dreaming of doing what Paul did in the time it takes a kindergartener to achieve the tenth grade! Missionaries at home and abroad have lingered all over the world doing the most bizarre so-called ministries and labeling them as mission. Many “missionaries” lay no foundations, no lasting gospel/Christocentric community, no instructed people, no self-propagating society; no permanent people rooted and built up in Apostolic doctrine, which marches forward in zealous mission. Paul did have a strategy and there are clear implications that it is normative for the church today. The church is in peril when we are absent a strategy from Scripture for without a strategy a wide world of anarchy introduces itself. It welcomes her through the front door and heartily greets the so-called “mission” work with a legitimate smile when in fact it is not. If there are no guard rails, anything goes, and so does the church.

We see a clear and normative strategy in the Apostle Paul. It was said by Paul that he completed the Lord’s work of establishing the churches…the people of God. He was a “wise master builder” (1 Cor. 3:10). He was the Apostle to the Gentile world who A/authored two-thirds of the New Testament (Acts 9:15). He founded the first Christian churches across the whole Mediterranean landscape, covering three Continents, and does so by using the same ways that strongly point to a laid-out strategy. He also instructed that elders be appointed (Acts 14:23; Titus 1:5) and that they were to set in order the church (Eph. 3:8-10; 1 Tim. 3:14-15). He also instructed believers to imitate him as he imitated Jesus Christ (2 Thes. 3:7-9; Heb. 13:7). Therefore, Paul, the wise master builder, Gentile directed, chosen, one to imitate, founder of many churches, is the ultimate church planter who gives us a normative strategy for church mission today.

It is also to be considered that Paul’s strategy had deep roots. Being worthy of investigation, it seems that Paul learned his strategy from his Jewish training as a Pharisee (Matt. 23:15; Ph. 3:4-6) and thereafter as a Christian, his gospel centered/church-planting strategy was crystallized by Jesus Christ. It was further modeled in and by the churches of Jerusalem and Antioch (Gal. 1:17; Acts 13:1-3; 16:1-6). Paul’s strategy has therefore a universal quality and normative value for Christians today since it was modeled by God in the Old Testament and given by Jesus in the New and passed along to Paul and confirmed by the church. On this side of the Cross, where else should we go to discover how to do Mission? Absolutely no where! In Acts, Paul lays out a pattern for Mission.

It is important to note that Paul’s methods were malleable but not his strategy. He did not have a white-knuckle-grip on his methodology. He held his methods open-handed. He was willing that they be changed, redirected, tweaked, or altered by the Holy Spirit’s providential and pressing circumstances (i.e. ran out of town by jealous Jews). However, his strategy was concrete. It was not wobbly jelly. It was marble strategy that could withstand all the changing gust of time and culture.

If Paul had no genuine strategy and if Jesus did not give Paul his plan, then we should say that any work, in the name of Jesus, is legitimate. Paul’s strategy is Biblical and it gives us guide post to do mission the way God would have us do His mission. We should not look for pragmatic results to justify our ministries. If the pattern is to gather believing congregations upon the gospel of Jesus Christ, leave behind a well instructed and duplicating society of Christians, and to upbuild the church for this very goal, then we ought to get in line with God’s strategy for his global gospel plan.

This strategy fits into the normative pattern we see in Acts which is Word increase and disciple multiplication to the ends of the earth (Acts 6:7; 9:31; 12:24; 16:5; 19:20; 28:30). Paul brought the Word and all its power to bear upon the minds of people. This resulted in new converts by the Spirit’s Word-work. Paul simply lived out the pattern in Acts –by preaching the gospel (Word increase) and gathering new believers (disciples multiplied) into gospel instructed, local assemblies called churches. This work expanded all over the Roman world. Was it the strategy that made it successful? Perhaps, Paul’s success should be rightly directed toward the unified work of the church that sent Paul to speak his clarion gospel in strategic centers, and implement his ancient, yet Christianized and lucid strategy, by the undeterred work of the Holy Spirit.

Unfolding the Great Commission from Ascension to 28

By Max Strange
10/3/2010

Gathered gospel communities of Christians are essential to the grand unfolding of the Great Commission. For many decades and seasons, it has been common to view church mission as being a philanthropic enterprise. Clarification is greatly needed since many things have side-tracked and deterred us from the primary task. Where can we go to understand the primary task in mission? For some, the definer of mission is the inward whisper to simply launch out.  Unfortunately, many on mission get caught up in this individualistic enterprise prompted by the rising hairs on the back of the neck. Church wide, missions at home and abroad appear to have minimal lasting results. In the end, we find that true disciples were never made or well schooled and that the work to multiply believing gospel communities, from which mission evangelism and philanthropy could rightly pour from were never initiated. It is my aim to trace briefly this historical unfolding of the Great Commission all the way through Acts 28. I believe this will help Christians gather their bearings, find true north, and throw a ray of sunshine on Jesus’ intention for the churches participation in His Great Commission.

God’s plan all along was to give spiritual life to dead people and call into existence a multitude from across the world to worship, love, and adore Him. This was the gospel seed promised to Abraham in Genesis 12:1-3. He would become the father of many nations who would share in the same sola fide (justification by faith alone) that Abraham had and thus making Abraham the spiritual father of us all (who first led the way of faith) and we the sons of Abraham(Romans 4:16-25;11:11b; Gal. 3:7-9; Eph. 3:6). All those who share in the same kind of faith as Abraham are gathered into the Christian church.

God’s divine plan for the ages has always been to bring about the Christian church as His arm to reach the nations (Eph. 3:10). The New Testament described the church in various ways that endear the church to any believer in Jesus Christ. The church is building (Eph. 2:19-21), it is Jesus' spiritual body (Eph. 1:22-23), and the object of His love and dedication called His bride for which he died (Eph. 5:25-33). This is the “one new man spoken” in Ephesians 2. The gaze of Jesus is on this “one new man” whom He has brought near by His grace and mercy. He loves the household of God and all those who are fellow citizens of it. Jesus is vitally apart of the church as its cornerstone. He built it upon Himself and upon the Christological expounding of the Apostle’s teaching. In this last eschatological day, God is consumed with and in love with His people, consisting of both Jew and Gentile. Jesus builds it, structures it, joins it, grows it, indwells it, and raises it as a holy-temple-people by the Spirit. The Jewish people are also included if, by grace through faith in Jesus Christ, they believe. There are not two distinct tracks in the New Testament-Israel and the church, Jew or Gentile. Jesus has created in Himself one new man in place of the two (Eph. 2:13-22). The church is God’s plan in these last days of grace (Eph. 3:10).

Now, the Great Commission is vitally tied to the local church. In Matthew 28:16-20, the risen Christ with all authority issues mission to his men and promises the power to carry out the global enterprise in Acts 1:8. He gives the promise and courage to carry it out by not leaving them or us to accomplish it alone. He promised that the mission will be Spirit-driven through regenerated hearts by the sons of Abraham.

As the book of Acts progresses we begin to see the pattern of the mission. Acts 1:8 reveals the pattern of an unstoppable force called the Gospel to the ends of the known world at that time (Rome). This force runs next door, next neighborhood, and next nation through the proclamation of the gospel. Believers are gathered, baptized, gathered into local churches, and instructed. This is the heart of Christian mission and the essence of Jesus’ charge in Matthew 28:16-20.

As Acts unfolds, we see a geographical ripple of the gospel and we also see another pattern indicated by Luke. Luke gives us several markers that indicate this: when the Word increased-disciples multiplied (Acts 6:7; 9:31; 12:24; 16:5; 19:20; 28:30). To say it plainly, Word proclamation produced Kingdom expansion. The Gospel created the church because it is an organizer, a gatherer, a magnet into the one Body. It is like a tornado that sucks everyone into its funnel and then shoots them out on mission. The Gospel fetches people into a spiritual house called “the one new man.” The Gospel creates and sustains Christians and it necessarily then creates a community of people called the church. This global church is not some man-made institution. It exists as a bi-product of Gospel pronouncement when the Spirit moves to bless the declarative Word (See Peter in Acts 2; Stephen in Acts 7; Paul in Acts 17; 22:1-29; Acts 24; 26).

Paul’s primary mission was to preach the gospel, and then gather the newly converted people for gospel instruction. The massive outreach that Paul endeavored upon shows signs of a solitary strategy which was, in the final analysis, always left to the Holy Spirit’s redirection and rerouting. Furthermore, Paul was not alone in this endeavor. There were the twelve Apostles, Barnabas, Timothy, Silas, Stephen, Philip, Paul, Titus, Lucius, Manaen, and others all engaged in Word proclamation, kingdom expansion, and church formation. They all contributed to the founding of churches and the establishment of gospel communities. Those communities included the churches in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, Antioch, Cyprus, Antioch in Pisidia, Lystra, Iconium, Philippi, Berea, Thessalonica, Ephesus, Corinth, etc…and eventually to Rome.

This all unfolded in a relatively short time. The commission bomb was dropped in Acts 1:8. This exploded outward when the Holy Spirit gave the power and the presence to the Apostles and the disciples. Through the proclamation of the Word, the Kingdom of God expanded by the Spirit of Christ. It was the Apostles intention to preach the Word and to organize the new disciples into local gospel communities. The Gospel of Jesus Christ was the agent that multiplied disciples and pulls them together into a new heavenly citizenry called the church (The One New Man).