Who is the Church?

Who is the Church?
Is not the composite body of Christ, which spans gender, generations, geographical communities, States and Continents, Centuries, and joins us with Christians never seen with human eyes?

Who is our shepherd?
Is it not Christ himself who meets our needs by supplying pastors, teachers, evangelists, and church fellowships to allow us to learn more fully of Him, and to minister to each other?

Who is our Loyalty to?
To mere men, or to Jesus Christ, our Savior and Redeemer. To Christ Jesus.

What about Authority?
We are all first under Christ’s authority, then women are under their husband’s authority, children under their parents authority, and so on. As Church members, we are to be in submission to church leadership in as much as they are also in submission to the headship and leadership of Christ. This authority is within the church structure and regards moral and sin issues. Beyond that, it is ministry, and counsel.

Following Leadership:
Are we to blindly follow the leadership of those in authority positions or to check out for ourselves from the Scripture as the Bereans were instructed to do. The scripture makes it plain that we are to check out what is being instructed, with the scripture, and if it is contrary to the Word of God, then we are to not follow that authority, as it is not in submission to the Word of God. We are not to be following after men; I.E. “I am of Paul, or I am of Apollos, or I am of Cephas”. We are to be followers of Christ.

When Christians seek God regarding their fellowship locality, this is a Spiritual direction that they are asking God to lead them and their family in. This is not to be regarded as leaving the church. This is not leaving the church! They are leaving one local assembly for another local assembly. We ourselves ARE the church. We are the Body of Christ. Each one of us is a member of the Body of Christ. If our children move to Chicago, taking with them the grand children, do we say that they are not part of our family? No, they just moved to a different geographical location. Sometimes our needs change, as we have children, or we grow older and don’t drive so well. Sometimes alterations need to be made. This is not leaving Christ. It is allowing ourselves to find a more convenient location to make it possible to still go to worship!

What about the balance between authority and responsibility? Is the Shepherd there to make his living off of the sheep? No. He could hire a hireling for that! The Shepherd’s responsibility is to care for and protect the sheep, to serve them sacrificially, at great cost to himself. There is a great parallel between the correct balance between law and grace, authority and responsibility. In Christ, In His Word, there is always balance. You could make the Word of God say just about anything, if the verse was not used in context, or with in the setting it was written in. The key is balance.