That
the word “Church” is on a sign in the front of a
building does not guarantee what’s inside.
That is why Christians throughout history have
summarized “the marks of the Church,” beliefs and
practices (including preaching and prayer, sacraments and
fellowship, unity and discipline) that serve as a guide for
determining whether an organization, whatever its label, is
truly the Church.
The last issue of
The Presbyterian Layman considered
the question “What is the Church?” Following a brief
summary of that article, we will explore Biblical and
confessional understandings of the marks of the Church and
possible responses when an organization fails to exhibit those
marks.
What is the Church?
In the New Testament, the Greek word normally translated “church”
is
ekklesia, which was used to mean “a people who
are called by God.” The Church is also called “the
body of Christ,” which means that it is not primarily an
organization or institution but a living organism, one made up
of many parts that relate to and depend on one another, all of
which have Jesus Christ as their head and depend on him for
their growth.
Nowhere does the New Testament distinguish between
congregation
(the body of Christians gathered at a specific place) and
Church
(all Christians in all times and places), for Christ is not
divided (I Cor. 1:13).
With this background we considered the controversial question
of “leaving the church,” and found that widespread
lack of precision concerning the meaning and use of the words
“church,” “congregation,” and “denomination”
has created much confusion. Some suggest that “leaving
the church” is schismatic, a tearing apart of the body of
Christ, and therefore sinful. However, if the Church is the
body of Christ, and if the body of Christ is indivisible, then
leaving the Church is not a sin but an oxymoron.
These observations led to the questions considered in this
article, What are the marks of the Church? and How may
Christians respond when a group that calls itself a “church”
fails to exhibit those marks?
The marks of the Church
Perhaps the earliest identifying marks of the Christian
Church are found in Acts 2:42: “They devoted themselves
to the apostles’ teaching and to the fellowship, to the
breaking of bread and to prayer.”
In response to questions troubling fourth-century
Christians, the Nicene Creed declared, “We believe one
holy catholic and apostolic Church.” More than a
millennium later, attempting to reform the Church from the
harmful influences of medieval Catholicism, John Calvin
identified two marks, “Wherever we see the Word of God
purely preached and heard, and the sacraments administered
according to Christ’s institution, there, it is not to be
doubted, a church of God exists. … If it has the ministry
of the Word and honors it, if it has the administration of the
sacraments, it deserves without doubt to be held and
considered a church. For it is certain that such things are
not without fruit” (
Institutes, IV.i.9).
The Scots Confession retains “the true preaching of the
Word of God” and “the right administration of the
sacraments of Christ Jesus” and adds “ecclesiastical
discipline uprightly ministered, as God’s Word
prescribes, whereby vice is repressed and virtue nourished.”
Some ecclesiastical organizations obviously fail to show any
of these marks. But most situations are less clear cut, making
it more difficult to tell whether, or to what extent, a
congregation or denomination shows evidence of the beliefs and
behaviors that are the Biblical and confessional marks of the
Church.
Why such confusion? Here John Calvin helps us by
distinguishing between the visible and invisible Church.
The visible and invisible Church
“Holy Scripture,” writes Calvin, “speaks of
the church in two ways. Sometimes by the term ‘church’
it means that which is actually in God’s presence, into
which no persons are received but those who are children of
God by grace of adoption and true members of Christ by
sanctification of the Holy Spirit …
“Often, however, the name ‘church’ designates
the whole multitude of men spread over the earth who profess
to worship one God and Christ. … In this church are
mingled many hypocrites who have nothing of Christ but the
name and outward appearance. There are very many ambitious,
greedy, envious persons, evil speakers, and some of quite
unclean life. Such are tolerated for a time either because
they cannot be convicted by a competent tribunal or because a
vigorous discipline does not always flourish as it ought.
“Just as we must believe, therefore, that the former
church, invisible to us, is visible to the eyes of God alone,
so we are commanded to revere and keep communion with the
latter, which is called ‘church’ in respect to men”
(
Institutes, IV.i.7).
Missing the marks
Change occurs over time. The Church is not exempt. However,
change is not always beneficial, nor does it unfailingly
produce the intended results. Even with the best of
intentions, it may miss the mark. “I didn’t leave
the church, the church left me,” summarizes the sentiment
of many who have fled mainline congregations in recent
decades. They found that the marks were missing, so they left.
Did they leave the Church? Were their actions divisive,
schismatic, even sinful?
When a congregation does not devote itself to the apostles’
teaching, fellowship, the breaking of bread and prayer; when
the Word of God is neither rightly preached nor rightly heard;
when the sacraments are mocked and discipline abused or
ignored; when the practices and pronouncements of a
denomination contradict its claim to be one, holy, catholic
and apostolic, such a congregation or larger aggregation is
not, in any Biblically or confessionally meaningful sense of
the word, the Church.
Therefore, to leave such an organization is not to leave the
Church. Such decisions, of course, ought not be made lightly.
After all, the earliest Christians continued to worship at the
temple and synagogue until the leaders of those institutions
made it clear they were no longer welcome.
Martin Luther wanted to re-form, not leave, the Roman
Catholic Church but was excommunicated. And contemporary
evangelicals are quite rightly inclined to be intensely loyal
to congregations and denominations that have nourished their
faith.
But until Christ returns, the visible church, will include
wheat and weeds (Matt.13:24-43). As a result, strife, and even
division, are inevitable.
Nevertheless the invisible church, whose membership is known
to God alone, is now and always will be indivisible, for the
people of God are the very body of Christ, and Christ is not
divided.