. . . but in case I am delayed, I write so that you may know how one ought to conduct himself in the household of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and support of the truth. (1 Timothy 3:15)
Could it be true that we live in a post-Christian age? This is what some have proposed. If by that they mean that we live in an age where there is no common Christian consensus then they are probably right. There is no doubt that we have moved past the point where there is a Christian consensus in America. At one time there was a more common understanding of Christian teaching. Today, there is a condition that might be described as rank ignorance.
This ignorance is due in part to a lack of teaching by the church, but it also has its roots in the increasing religious diversity of our culture. Whatever the case, we cannot assume that people know what we mean when we use Christian terminology. Indeed, it would also be a mistake to assume that people in the average church know what we mean. This is why we need to carefully examine what the Bible says concerning even the terms we employ in speaking about Christianity.
This is certainly true concerning the church. An understanding of the church is at high risk of being lost in our culture and even in our churches themselves.
Our culture is filled with a multitude of organizations. Civic organizations and social clubs have multiplied. Unfortunately, many see the church as one more such organization. For them the church is just another option to choose. Like the Lion’s Club, it is engaged in benevolent works, only with an emphasis on spiritual things. So, if you want to engage in benevolent work with a spiritual flavor, then join the church. If that doesn’t interest you, however, then simply join another kind of organization. Any will do. All are optional.
In this view of the church, the church is seen as primarily organizational in nature. We are very organization conscious in our culture, after all. We hear terms like "The Institutional Church" and "Organized Religion." Usually people use these terms whenever they are trying to avoid getting involved in church. This is because the church as an organization is not seen as particularly relevant. People therefore believe that they can "opt out" of this organization.
Our text, however, indicates that the church is much more than simply an organization. The apostle Paul, in writing to Timothy, instructing him in how one ought to conduct himself in relation to the church, calls the church the household of God and the pillar and support of the truth.
The fact that the church is described as God’s household in which we ought to know how to behave is significant. This means that the church has a special importance in God’s plan. And it also means that we ought to know how we are to live and function within that plan.
The church is not optional. Jesus established the church. He did not merely establish individual Christian living, he established corporate faith. When Peter made his confession that he believed that Jesus was indeed the Christ, the Son of the Living God, Jesus announced that He would build upon that confession a community of believers. This community of faith would be called His church.
The New Testament assumes that people who are believers are connected to a local church where they live out that faith. Individual and independent Christianity is no where to be found on the pages of Scripture. So the church is not man’s invention, but God’s. Because Christ instituted the church, we should know what it is and how we should function in it.
What is the church? How should we define it? The church is composed of people redeemed by the Son of God, brought together by the will of God to live together as the family of God, in order to do the work of God in the power of the Spirit of God, all for the glory of God.
Many images are used to describe God’s people in the Scriptures. We’re described as a living temple, an army, a body, a fellowship, and a family. All of these images depict different aspects of the nature of the church.
One of the most powerful images is that of the church as family. It is powerful because it focuses on the essential ingredient of relationships. In families we are related to one another by blood. It is a strong bond, one which focuses our allegiance and fidelity.
And so it is in the church when we view this community as family. We are brought together into this covenant community where our bond is the relationship we share both to God and to one another. We are committed to one another because we are family. As brothers and sisters in Christ, we experience an inter-connectedness that is more than our common human experience. This inter-connectedness is based on our common spiritual life.
Do you see yourself as part of this family of God called the church? Do you see yourself as related to these people sitting all around you? If you are a Christian, a part of God’s family, then you most certainly are related to every other member of God’s family. And just as in your physical family you did not get a chance to choose your brothers and sisters, so in the spiritual family you did not get to choose. If they are God’s sons and daughters, they are your brothers and sisters.
This has powerful implications concerning how one ought to conduct himself in the household of God. One of the purposes for the church is to share God’s love. We call it ministry. We are to care for one another. When one member is hurting, all the other members suffer, and they come to the aid of the one hurting. Another purpose is to equip God’s people. We call this discipleship. In other words, we are to bring one another to maturity. When someone needs encouragement, or admonition, or even rebuke, we are there to provide it. These things are not done by programs, they are done by people. Christian ministry and discipleship are relationship-oriented. We must get involved in the lives of one another if ministry and discipleship are to occur. They can only occur within the context of community. This is why we must become involved. This is not an option. It is not an option to be involved, and it is not an option with whom to be involved.
God puts us together with a variety of people. He puts us with people we like and people we like less. He puts us together with people who fit our comfort zone and people who do not. He does so for two very good reasons. We need them and they need us. Yet, so often we respond just like the world responds. We choose to associate with those we like and hold the others at arm’s length. We justify it in a number of ways, some of which have an element of truth to them. But in reality what we do is form a little clique into which others can never be accepted. Many in the church do this. Do you do this?
Is it God’s intention that we should hold other believers at arm’s length? I am not talking about having close friends, but about becoming exclusive, about not sharing your life with others. Who do you think you are that you have a right to hold your brothers and sisters at arm’s length? Don’t you realize that God has composed the church so that each member needs every other member? What makes you so special that you can both deprive yourself and others of this needed interaction? You may mistakenly think that you don’t need it, but what about others who need you?
What we do matters. Our behavior impacts every other believer in the household. We need each other. I need you and you need me. You need what I have in God and I need what you have in God. When we hold one another at arm’s length then the whole church suffers — when we open up to one another, become involved even when it is uncomfortable, and share our lives with each other, then the whole church is built up.
Unless we see the church as the household of God and ourselves as related to every other believer, we are not seeing the church biblically. But when we do, and when we surrender to that way of life, then we will begin to experience life on a new level. Jesus called it abundant life. Abundant life is not abundant unless it can be shared.
Our text reveals the church not only as the household of God but also as the pillar and support of the truth. In other words, the church is a place where truth can be discovered and known.
But why the church? Is there something special about the context of community in coming to know the truth? I believe there is. There is something about the community of faith which safeguards the truth. Any one of us can go astray. Indeed, as individuals, often we magnify one aspect of the truth above another and over-emphasize our particular pet doctrine. Within the context of the community of faith, however, we can be brought back into balance.
This is in marked contrast to the current pop-psychology which passes for truth in our age. The modern town hall meeting is experienced daily on the popular but depraved talk shows which blight an already odious television line-up. Every day millions sit at the feet of Oprah, Montel, Phil, Geraldo, Sally, and others like them. Before them is paraded every form of novel perversity, with the singular message coming through loud and clear — anything goes. Does anyone ask what is right? Does anyone have a regard for the truth? Why, let them speak up! When they do, they are roundly booed by the audience. They are obviously not "with it." After all, this is the nineties, and there is no such thing as absolute truth. Just ask the all- wise audience.
This trivializing of truth and parade of perversity is cutting the heart and mind out of our society. We make a grave mistake to look for truth there. If we are to find truth, the one place we must look is the church.
The big difference between the gathering of God’s people and the gathering of a studio audience is the presence of God’s Spirit. In the church we are led by God’s Spirit within confirming His Word. We are not merely expressing our opinions. What we want are not more opinions, but a clearer view of the truth. And this is what we receive in the church.
But we receive substantially more. You see, God not only confirms His truth to us in the context of the community of faith, but He also applies that truth to our lives. We mentioned it earlier. It is called discipleship. And only in the context of the accountable family relationships we enjoy in the church can discipleship really happen. Again, this is why we must be involved in one another’s lives. We must be involved because we must hold one another accountable to the truth of God.
The church is not the pillar and support of the truth so that we can feast intellectually upon wonderful ideas. The church provides us with an environment where we can be challenged to live our lives on the basis of truth we have come to know. We are told in Scripture that the truth sets us free. The truth is not given so that we can know, it is given so we can live. And the only way we can be challenged to apply that truth to our lives is in the family of faith, the household of God, the community of the King, the church of the Living God.
This is another reason why we cannot hold one another at arm’s length. We must be involved and accountable. The church is not an optional part of life. For believers the church is a fundamental and foundational way of life.
Remember, the church is composed of people redeemed by the Son of God, brought together by the will of God to live together as the family of God, in order to do the work of God in the power of the Spirit of God, all for the glory of God.
Thinking biblically about the church means we must change patterns of thought and behavior that make the church an optional buffet of items from which we can pick and choose based on what appeals to our appetite. The church is the community of God in which we are placed for our good and His glory. We are to open our hearts to Jesus and our lives to one another and experience together what we can never experience alone.
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