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The Unexamined Church
In Plato’s apology, he presents Socrates as stating: “The unexamined life is not lived by man.” More commonly, it is phrased as “the unexamined life is not worth living” or “the unexamined life is not worthy of a man.” In the end, he conveys that a life lived without introspection, self-examination, and a critical examination of the heart is a life that will amount to very little once all is said and done. One of the things that separates man from the natural order is that we have the ability to think and reason, but if we are not to apply that reason to ourselves and our lives, what good will that reason be to us?
Certainly, this notion ought to resonate with the Christian as he goes through life. We are called to examine ourselves and the way we conduct our lives to determine whether or not we are walking in the faith (2 Corinthians 13:5). We are called to examine ourselves before we come to the Lord’s Table for Communion (1 Corinthians 11:28). The very title that is given to Elders in the church is that of “Overseer,” implying that one of the roles that these men play is that they are to examine the church as a whole to determine where it is walking in truth or where it may have lost its first love and is walking in error (1 John 1:6; Revelation 2:5).
And, it is that latter notion that we often miss as Christians. We do understand the importance of self-examination (though often we are not as honest with ourselves as we ought to be because we have grown accustomed to justifying sin), but we also feel uncomfortable when others in the church examine us. To that, we often cry out the world’s mantra, “Don’t judge me!” Yet, we need that judgment. How can church discipline be practiced (Matthew 18:15-20) if judgment is not exercised in the examination of the body? How will the Elders root out the wolves from the midst of the sheep if examination is not practiced (Matthew 7:15) and distinguish the antichrists who are seeking to lead people away from the body (1 John 2:18-19).
In turn, we should note that it is not just the Elders who should be examining the body, but the individual Christians should likewise be examining the body as a whole to discern whether they are in a true church or a false church. Is Christ the King of the church or is man its king? Is there true worship, faithful to the Scriptures, being practiced or do people practice what they most like or according to the traditions of men? Are the Scriptures taught faithfully, rightly dividing the Word of Truth, and is the Gospel of salvation by grace alone through faith alone proclaimed from the pulpit or are works somehow injected into the message of salvation? Are the sacraments practiced as Jesus presented them and is discipline used for the chastisement of sin?
It is my experience that churches are often happy to examine others but are want to examine themselves. They want to hold that their traditions are fine and that nothing needs to be changed and act like an ostrich, burying its head in the sand, ignoring any critical evaluation of their practices. Sometimes, they have practiced an unbiblical tradition so long that they are blind to it entirely. Yet, spiritual growth does not take place apart from examination. In fact, I would suggest that growth never takes place until a person, or a group of persons in a body, is willing to critically examine all of their practices in the light of the Word of God. And thus, just as the unexamined life is not worth living, the unexamined church is not worth attending.
Destroying Seth and the False Church
“He spoke, and the locusts came,
Creeping locusts that could not be numbered.
And they ate all the plants in the land
And they ate all the fruit of the ground.”
(Psalm. 105:34-35)
Word choice is always an interesting thing to pay attention to when reading through the psalms. In the first mention of locusts, the term אַרְבֶּה (arbah — migratory locusts) is used. This is what we find in the account of the eighth plague in Exodus 10:4-19 (and a judgment against Seth, the god of the deserts, from which the locust came). In the parallel use in the second clause of verse 34, the term יֶלֶק (yeleq) is used instead. While synonyms are regularly used to reduce redundancy in poetic works, what is interesting about this word choice is that the only other place that יֶלֶק (yeleq) is used is in the prophetic works and it is used to speak about God’s judgment on the people. Certainly, the choice fits the context as David reflects back on the events of the Ten Plagues. These creatures were not only a means to torment the people of Egypt, simply giving Moses leverage to change the Pharaoh’s mind; they were acts of judgment against the Egyptian people for being idolaters.
Sometimes people read the account of the Ten Plagues as a simply a means of God trying to persuade the Egyptian king, making things worse and worse in an incremental manner. But that is not how the Bible presents these plagues. They are not a matter of God hoping that just a little more pain and suffering will bring release to Israel. This is a matter of God bringing His wrath upon a wicked people — wrath that He has ordained that they receive in full measure. This is one of the reasons that we find the words, “God hardened Pharaoh’s heart” several times in the Exodus account. As Peter writes, God knows how to deliver His own while keeping the wicked under judgment.
Often, people in evangelical Christian circles speak about praying for our nation’s repentance. And, it is good and right to pray for such things. At the same time, I wonder sometimes whether or not we are at a point in our country where the full measure of God’s wrath is about to be poured out. Much the same can be said for what “passes” as the Christian church in the western world. God has blessed our world with prosperity and a voice that has opened wide the gates of missionary activity. With that, though, has come the propagation of false truths and false worship — often even of worship that is fueled by worldly things rather than by the Word of God. God has withheld his hand, perhaps in deference to the remnant of True Churches in our land…but the times remind me much of God’s conversation with Abraham…”If I find fifty, if I find forty-five, forty, thirty, twenty, ten…. The number of True Churches grows smaller and smaller every day it would seem.
What, you ask, are the marks of a true church? The Belgic Confession does a nice job of summarizing the Bible’s teaching on this matter. First, a true church is one where the pure doctrine of the Gospel is preached. This means that there is no mixture of Biblical and humanistic or Biblical and non-Christian being taught. What the Bible plainly teaches, this church plainly preaches without compromise or apology. Where the Bible teaches on creation in six-ordinary days, creation in six days is taught. Where the Bible teaches on election and the sovereignty of God over all things, well, this is what is taught. Where the Bible teaches on God’s hatred toward wicked men, God’s hatred toward wicked men is taught and practiced. Where the Bible teaches on the elements of worship (prayer, preaching, Bible reading, singing psalms, listening to the preaching, and proper sacraments, etc…) these things are taught and only these things are practiced.
Secondly, the True Church practices the Sacraments as Christ has instituted them. It leaves the sacraments as two: Baptism and Holy Communion. It does not add a sacrament or subtract from the sacraments. It recognizes those sacraments as Christ has presented them — as signs and seals that must be joined to saving faith to become effective. It does not make the sacraments idolatrous or something to adore. They are signs. And when it comes to the Lord’s Table, where there is no faith, the sacraments are fenced. Thirdly, discipline is practiced for the purpose of chastening sin. The true church takes sin and repentance seriously. It does not treat some sin more softly than other sins. It has the integrity of a body that cares about righteous living and desires to live under the authority of the Word of God in every area. It desires to live by God’s Law and not by the laws of men and practice follows principle.
In all things, these marks can be summarized by the recognition that the church does not belong to the members or to the denomination. The church belongs to Christ. He is its King and Bridegroom and just as a wife is to submit to her husband’s authority, so too, the church is to submit to Christ’s authority. Part of disciple-making, Jesus teaches, is teaching people to obey everything that Christ has taught us — that “Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven” would be the heart’s cry of the Church. Find a church that takes these things seriously and without compromise and you have found a true church. Yet, finding such a church is getting harder and harder.
Solomon writes in Proverbs 31 that an excellent wife is a rare thing to find. Let us, as the church, strive to be that excellent wife to our Bridegroom and King, Jesus Christ, lest we find ourselves consumed by judgment that God is bringing into our land.
God Preserves His True Church
“Wandering from nation to nation,
From kingdom to another people group,
He did not permit a man to oppress them,
And He reproved kings over them.”
(Psalm 105:13-14)
As God led his people, they met many different kings and kingdoms. They engaged with the kings of the Canaanite territories. They engaged with the king of Egypt. Then they faced many pagan groups on their trip out of Egypt and into the promised land, all before God gave them a home. And God preserved His own elect remnant in every case and situation.
As David seems to be writing this psalm, here he is also being prophetic. Even though God removed His people from the land as a form of discipline, he still preserved an elect remnant for Himself. Even though the people of the Church have been scattered to the Diaspora, once again, God is preserving His church against the powers of the world.
Sometimes people will say that the existence of national Israel today is proof of God’s faithfulness to His promise. To this, I say, “No!” God’s promises are “yea” and “amen” not in Israel, but in Christ (2 Corinthians 1:20-22) and thus, the sign of God’s faithfulness is not found in a nation made and secured by the other nations, but in the church of Jesus Christ. Though we are scattered to the ends of the earth. Though we are oppressed by false churches that parade in our midst. Though we are assailed by temptation and trial at every turn, God has preserved His elect remnant. And, we can be assured that He will continue to do so on behalf of His true church.
Further, if we desire to bear witness to this provision, it behooves us to leave behind the “pseudo-churches” and pursue the True Church of Jesus Christ that has Christ (and not the traditions of men) as its King. What does said church look like? It preaches the pure doctrine of God from the whole counsel of the Scriptures, administers the sacraments as Christ has instituted them, and practices church discipline to subdue sin in its midst (see Article 29 of the Belgic Confession). If a body falls short of these things and does not repent, it is not a true church and you are trusting your preservation to the hands and traditions of men. That did not work very well for the Pharisees; it will serve you no better.
Fruit of the Church
“And as they did not study to have knowledge of God, God delivered them to a worthless mind to do what is not lawful, being filled with all kinds of unrighteousness, wickedness, greediness, and evil. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, and meanness. They are gossipers, slanderers, and haters of God. They are insolent, proud, boastful, inventors of evil, and disobeyers of parents. They are without understanding, covenant breakers, without affections, and without mercy. They know the decrees of God, that those who practice such things are worthy of death, they not only do them, but also approve of those who do them.”
(Romans 1:28-32)
If one is to judge a tree by its fruit (Matthew 7:16), then the fruit of idolatry in a culture is unrighteousness, wickedness, greediness, evil, envy, murder, strife, deceit, meanness, gossip, slander, hatred of God, insolence, pride, boasting, inventing evil, disobeying of parents, lacking understanding, covenant breaking, lacking affections, lacking mercy, and approving of these things in others. As to our culture: guilty as charged. As to much of the church in America: guilty as charged. The fruit of our culture is bad enough but when the fruit of the church reflects the fruit of the culture we have a major problem that needs to be rectified. And, while at times, reform can be brought from within, there is also a point in time when one must “come out of her lest you take part in her sins” (Revelation 18:4, alluding to Isaiah 48:20).
The Belgic confession drives this point home in Article 28, where it reads: “It is the duty of all believers, according to the Word of God, to separate themselves from all those who do not belong to the Church and to join themselves to this congregation [namely the True Church], wheresoever God has established it.” The True Church, in principle, is referred to in this article as “the assembly of those who are saved.” How can light have fellowship with darkness, Truth with error, righteousness with evil? For the wellbeing of our souls, we must align ourselves with Christ’s church and not with the parodies of it that are so prevalent in society.
Remaining in such a place is at best to content oneself with spiritual mediocrity for the same of what? Tradition? A fancy building to which you are partial? Habit? Safety? Friendships? Fancy dinners? Personalities? All of these are likely answers that would have been given by the people of Laodicea. Yet, when the years of accumulated dust of the false church is finally kicked off the feet, one will discover just how encumbered we were while wearing those old muddy boots. In doing so, one can leave behind the stench of the rotten food described above and taste (maybe for the first time!) fruit that is healthy, good, ripe, and in season for the church. And, while it is true that even the True Church has to face its problems when sin raises its ugly head; when said sin is pointed out, it will be confessed, repented of, and put away; such is not the case of the False Church.
So, as Peter says, judgment begins with the household of God (1 Peter 4:17). Start with self-judgment so that you may not be judged (1 Corinthians 11:31) and separate yourself from the fruit of idolatry that is so prevalent in the pseudo-church all around us.
The True Church and being Citizens of Israel
“Remember that you were formerly gentiles in the flesh — called the uncircumcision by those called the circumcision in the flesh by hands — that you were at that time without Christ, alienated from the citizenship of Israel and a stranger to the covenant and the promise, being without hope and an atheist in the world.”
(Ephesians 2:11-12)
One more note before we move to verse 13…what is this language about the citizenship of Israel? Is this a reference to becoming part of national Israel as some would suppose? What is Paul referring to here?
First of all, no. In Romans 9, Paul has already distinguished between national Israel and True Israel, the latter being the children of the promise who are the spiritual children of Israel (Romans 9:6-9). This, in context, is a reference to those God elected to save (Romans 9:10-13). In Galatians 3:29, Paul refers to all of those who are in Christ as the ones who are Abraham’s offspring and thus heirs according to the promise (a.k.a… Children of Promise spoken of in Romans 9). And thus, all of the promises of God to Israel find their fulfillment in Christ and are directed toward the Christian church (2 Corinthians 1:20-22).
So, in the absolute sense, this is not just saying to the gentiles in the church in Ephesus that they were apart from the Jewish nation of Israel; this is saying that they were outside of True Israel and hence they lived amongst the sons of disobedience.
This raises an important point as to the significance of the church. Christians are not called to be “Lone Rangers” as it were; they were called to be part of a unified body with Christ as the head. Any time we are outside of that context, we find ourselves in a place of separation from the covenant and promises of God. Within it, those promises are meaningful and true, belonging to us.
Yet, in the west, we have embraced the notion of rugged individualism. And while that is an admirable thing in secular culture, it is an idea that is alien to Christian living. We have also embraced a form of commercial mentality when it comes to our church attendance. We go here for a while so long as the preaching pleases us and then we go there. That does not mean there is not a right time to leave a church, but leaving should not be predicated by whether you enjoy the preaching or the activities of the larger body. Leaving should be based on the question of whether the church which you are attending is a true church. If it is a true church, remain. If it is not a true church, flee to a true church.
What constitutes the true church? What distinguishes the gathering of the Children of Promise? There are three things found in the Scriptures and laid out for us in the Belgic Confession (Article 29): the pure doctrine of the Gospel is preached, the pure administration of the sacraments as instituted by Christ, and church discipline is exercised for the chastening of sin. If the whole council of God is not preached or if the doctrines of men are preached instead of the doctrine of God, then it is a false church. If sacraments are treated casually and not with prayerful introspection and commitment, then it is a false church. If church discipline either is ignored or if it is practiced to create a legalistic caste system in the church, then it is a false church. If the church leadership are confronted with their failure in one or more of these areas and they refuse to repent, then you are in a false church from which you must flee.
They may have good intentions in that false body, but of what value are good intentions when the Apostle Paul condemns that church body as “accursed”? If you graft a healthy body part into a body where the whole of the body is diseased and gangrenous, of what benefit is the healthy part? Will it not too become diseased and gangrenous? If you cling to the doctrines of men, will they save you? Of what hope can they bring?
While it is true that no church is perfect according to the standards of God, the question is, for what are they striving? Will they repent if their error is shown to them or are they committed and bound to human traditions? What is preached? What is taught? What is sung? What is their foundation? Shall it not be God’s word in all of these areas? Shall we set aside Divine Writ in favor for the ways of men? Is this honoring to God? I would say, “no,” and I would say that such an approach betrays the fact that you are committed to being outside of the citizenship of True Israel.
If you are tempted to doubt the concept of True and False churches. Maybe you just see me as a grumpy theologian who prefers to sit in his own corner and grump (sometimes I feel like that anyway), then I ask you to look at what has been held by the church fathers through the ages. You will find that they would speak very much like I have spoken. You will find that this notion of rugged individualism is an anomaly when it comes to the history of the church. Look to the confessions, look to the creeds, look to the ancient councils of the church. Over and again you will find that they proclaim the same message, that in salvation we are bound to a body and that there are things that define a true Christian church body, separating it from the false ones. Sometimes it is a matter of doctrine and sometimes it is a matter of practice. But, believe whatever you want to believe “just so long as you love Jesus,” is a notion alien to the church in history and it ought to be anathematized today.
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