PerryDox – BeJustAChristian

 Let’s approach the topic positively.  Did God provide the work? Did God provide the way?  How did God provide the way?  Who did God provide for the work?

Did God Provide the Work?

   There are only four works God provided for His local congregations to do:

• Reaching UP – Worshipping God (1 Corinthians 11);
• Reaching IN – Spiritually building up Christians through teaching (Ephesians 4:11-16; 2 Corinthians 11:8);
• Reaching OUT – Evangelizing non-Christians by supporting preachers (Philippians 4:10-20; 1 Corinthians 9:14);
• Reaching DOWN – Physically supporting needy Christians, those part of the spiritual family (1 Corinthains 16:1-2; Acts 6:1-6). 

There are no other works God ordains local congregations to perform.  It’s that simple.

Did God Provide the Way?

Evangelists (i.e., Preachers, Ministers), Pastors (i.e., Overseers, Elders, Bishops), Deacons (i.e., Servants), and Saints (i.e., Christians, Disciples, Believers, etc.) work together in unity.  In gathering together we worship God and build up another through our worshiping, teaching (1 Corinthians 14; Ephesians 4:11-16) and financially giving together of our material blessings (1 Corinthians 16:1-2; Philippians 4:10-20).  These workers are God’s people to build up each other spiritually.  Our free-will offerings collected on the first day of the week is God’s way of providing for these works to be done.  Our free-will associations are God’s way of providing for these works to be done.

How did God provide a way?

Our assembling together allows us to “stimulate one another to love and good deeds” (Hebrews 10:24-25).  That is why we have church buildings. Our giving from our hearts is how God provided for preachers to be supported and saints to be helped (1 Corinthians 16:1-2).  That is why we sing, study, and pray together.  All our congregational activities are designed to build the spirit.

Who did God provide ?

Obviously for a spiritual organism such as a congregation, the spiritual works are to be done by the spiritual (Galatians 6:1; Ephesians 4:11-16; Phillippians 1:1).  This includeds our overseers, saints, deacons, and the preacher.  Looking back through the scriptures, we see physical responsibilities that men, selected upon qualifications (1 Timothy 3:8-13), are responsible to perform (Acts 6:1-6).  They help the spiritual with the physical needs of those who are spiritually God’s.

Conclusion:

Simplifying the above, God provided everything.  Amazing, isn’t it?!  Not really, if you trust God to do all the providing.

Some “churches of Christ” imitate more of denominations than they do the scriptures.

For example, some churches, out of the treasury, support human institutions such as colleges, so-called homes, and other entities foreign to the scriptures.  I ask a simple question: if all these human institutions are the work of the church, shouldn’t they be overseen by elders, and worked in by deacons?

Some churches are more heavily involved in suppers, sports, and other activities that are physically aimed.  The only physically purposed congregational activity I see in the Bible is that of helping physically needy Christians. 

Let’s always let God do the providing!

Tags: Article, Denominationalism, Institutionalism, Work of the Church

This entry was posted by PHall on Monday, October 12th, 2009 at 12:29 pm and is filed under Acts, I Corinthians, Ephesians, Philippians, I Timothy, Hebrews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.