How embarrassing it is to drag out this discussion of “church.” Thank you for kindly bearing with
me.

I have defined a church as: Individuals committed to life together under the Lordship of
Jesus Christ. We have explored “Christ” (No Christ—No Church), “life together” (No
Community—No Church: part 1, part 2), and are in the middle of “individuals committed” (No Conversion— No Church, part 1 ). This is a second installment on the relationship of conversion and church.

During one of my many nights in a motel room, I discovered a magazine on the coffee table.
The title on the cover caught my eye: True Redemption. Being a religious person, of course I
had to find out what this was all about. To my disappointment, the magazine was not about
things of cosmic importance. Rather, it was about a “frequent guest program,” that awarded
points that could be redeemed at 750 hotels and resorts in over 80 countries, including 60
hotels that Condé Nast Traveler readers had selected as the best in the world. The points I
earned could be transferred to airline services and could be redeemed any time, instantly
online, over the phone, or at the hotel.

Any preacher worth her/his salt could do lots of things with that. How many “frequent guests”
are in our churches, hoping to collect “points” that could be redeemed later? But you can work
on that!

“Redemption” was one of the driving passions of the Reformation, and as children of the
Reformation, early Baptists had the same motivation. That fleeting (even suspect) “Baptist,”
Roger Williams, pursued a truly redeemed community of faith. Freedom of conscience was not
so much an absolute humanistic value as it was a means to recover the “lost Zion,” in William’s
words. Baptist ecclesiology was a reaction to the nominalism they saw around them. It was cut
and dried: “New Testament churches consist only of those who were believed to be
regenerated by the Spirit of God, and had been baptized on a personal confession of faith in
Christ.” (Vedder)

But we found that there is not such an easy 1 to 1 correlation between redemption and church
membership. What about children? What about seekers? What about backsliders? What
about the mentally challenged? What about those who are deceivers or those who are
themselves deceived?

Can we not tell the difference? Didn’t Jesus say “by their fruits ye shall know them?” So what
are the “fruits?” And how many must you have, and how consistently must you show them in
order to demonstrate your conversion? And if it is really all in God’s hands, why is it important
to discern the “true” church from that group which may include seekers, children, backsliders,
etc? Are the debates about “eternal security” or “apostasy” nothing more than diversions; our
spouting off about things that God alone knows? Or is church meaningless when it comes to
conversion, and therefore irrelevant except as a utilitarian means to accomplish good things?
Have we substituted a creedalism of good works for the old creedalism of words?

Even the classic division of “visible” versus “invisible” church is not entirely helpful, because we
too easily confuse “church” with programs, ministries, and worship services. And we know (even
hope) that unconverted persons may participate in any or all of these. What does it mean to
observe “Bob was in church today?”

In our despair we might throw up our hands and cry, “My God, who can tell the difference?”
Exactly! Wasn’t this Christ’s response to the Disciples exasperated “Who then can be saved?”
(Matt 19:25) or the hope in Paul’s lament “Who shall rescue me …?” (Romans 7:24)

In practice, we have made an uneasy peace with the notion that no human church can be pure,
in the sense that only those who have experienced “true redemption” are associated with it.
There is an unavoidable tension between the divine call to holiness and the reality of living as
persons with unclean lips among a people of unclean lips. There are obviously “tares among
the wheat,” and will be until the end of time, and God alone will be able to sort them out.
Salvation is a mystery that demands care when we speak.

However, even if we acknowledge the imperfection of any particular “real” church, that does not
totally negate the proposition of “no conversion—no church.” As Calvin admitted: “Where there
is a good faith effort to maintain purity of preaching, lawful sacramental life, and discipline in
earnest, one may conscientiously embrace a church even if blemished.” (Institutes IV.1.12)

With the intent to make that “good faith effort,” coupled with a congregationalism that embraces
the responsibility of being a self-defining, self-sustaining community of faith (rather than a
collection of individuals), Baptist churches define their membership. That is most often done by
the process of voting. However, the voting process should is not an indication that this is a
mere political decision. Any vote in a Baptist church is sustained by the belief that those who
vote are individuals committed to life together under the Lordship of Jesus Christ, that they will
accordingly seek the guidance of the Holy Spirit, and that, collectively, they are more likely to
approximate the mind of God than any isolated individual.

So, why “join” a church? In particular, why submit myself to something as unspiritual as a vote?

I suggest four reasons:

1. It is a concrete expression of our congregational nature, and the relative independence of each community of faith. I become a part of each local community of faith only by intentional action. My former church cannot force any other church to accept me. Likewise, no priest or bishop or small group of “super saints” unilaterally determines if I am “in.” The whole body must decide.

2. My intentional action in seeking to join a church is a witness—I bear public testimony to my faith in Jesus Christ. Part of that witness is the confession that the normal mode of
being Christian is to be in community. The congregation’s intentional action in response
to my testimony is an affirmation and encouragement. It is not an eternal decree
regarding the state of my soul.

3. When I present myself to the congregation, and the congregation affirms my desire, a
covenant is being established. We are openly committed to life together under Jesus
Christ.

4. The congregation entrusts me with the privilege to participate in decision-making that
impacts the whole body. I become invested in the mission and ministry of the church. I
become responsible for the life and health of the church.

 

 

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