Do you understand the purpose of the church? Or do you just kind of go with what others have told you?
My Dad was a pastor, so I heard him talk about church a lot and learned much about it from him. I’ve been to Bible school and studied what it means to be a Christian and the church’s role in the Christian faith. I have also taken note as I study scripture and see what God has to say about church and its ministry. But to be honest with you, even in that it is incredibly easy to read the Bible through the lens of what I’ve been taught.
Questions I Have about Church
The older I get, the more questions I have about church. Questions such as,
- What is the point of “the church”? No, really. Not just the trite answers we can all quote because we needed it for a test. But why did God institute the church?
- How should the church function?
- Should there be structure to the church?
- What should the church be structured around?
- Should the church have standards?
- How should church standards be enforced?
- What should church leadership look like?
- What is the role of laypeople in the church?
- When is someone considered apart of the bride of Christ?
- Should that be what we use for local church membership requirements?
- Speaking of the local church, what is the point of it?
- Where do denominations come from?
- Is it right to structure ministry around anything other than building up a local body of disciples?
- How should differing local churches relate with each other? Should they?
- Do we need to be members of a specific local church?
- If so, what scripture passages support that?
- Do mega churches help or hinder the purpose of the church?
- Should we bring unbelievers into church?
- How should leaders respond to members within the local church who directly move away from the values of the church?
- When is a local church considered dead and should simply close its doors?
A Study on Church
These twenty questions just scratch the surface of what I still wrestle with concerning church. That’s why I am embarking on a Biblical study of the church and its purpose, how it should function, and the relationships therein. I’ve never done an in-depth study of church, so I’d like to take some time and study what exactly the Bible has to say about church. Over the next year, I plan to dedicate one to two posts a month for addressing this study.
To help me get started, though, I’d like to hear what your questions are. What about church confuses you? What excites you and makes you feel passionate? What down-right frustrates you? If you don’t mind, just leave a comment below with your questions and I’ll use that to help give direction to my study and deal with them in my posts over the next year.
You in?
