In the religious world, we have what seems to be a countless number of churches. All have their particular name, creed, organization, and practices. But when we turn to the pages of the New Testament, we read of the one true church. Jesus promised to build one church (Matthew 16:18). Jesus purchased one church (Acts 20:28). Jesus is the head of one church (Ephesians 1:22-23). The one true church is the universal body of the saved.
Whenever we read of churches (plural) in the New Testament, it refers to local churches. “All the churches of Christ greet you” (Romans 16:16). Paul wrote “to the churches of Galatia” (Galatians 1:2). The book of Revelation was addressed to the “seven churches” in Asia (Revelation 1:11). Notice these are all local churches, not confederations of local churches, or denominations (i.e. the Baptist church, Methodist church, Episcopal church, etc.).
Yet this teaching that there is but one true church is not popular. Most professed Christians believe that one church is as good as another. People are told to join the church of their choice. After all, they all believe in Christ, so they are all basically the same. This is the mentality of many. They do not want to condemn or be critical of any other church. They do not think we should do so either. So they tell us to preach Christ, not the church.
This concept is foreign to the New Testament. In order to preach Christ, one must also preach the church. The church is Christ’s body (Ephesians 1:22-23). Are we at liberty to sever the head from the body in our preaching? No! Philip provided an example of how gospel preaching includes both Christ and the church. When he went to Samaria, he was “proclaiming Christ to them” (Acts 8:5). We have inspired commentary a few verses later explaining what it means to proclaim Christ: “But when they believed Philip preaching the good news about the kingdom of God [the church, cf. Matthew 16:18-19] and the name of Jesus Christ, they were being baptized, men and women alike” (Acts 8:12). Our preaching must include teaching about Christ and the church.
At the heart of the “preach Christ, not the church” message is the spirit of ecumenism. It is the unity-in-diversity mentality that says we can have fellowship with anyone based solely on our belief in Christ and that the church with which one is affiliated makes no difference. Therefore, the concept that there is one true church is not popular. As a result, many merely “preach Christ,” because, as they say, one church is as good as another.
Unintended Consequences
In order to survive, a congregation must attract and retain members. This is true of every congregation, whether it is a faithful congregation or not. [Incidentally, a congregation failing to attract and/or retain members is not necessarily a sign that the congregation is failing to do what it ought to do.]
In working to attract and retain members, most congregations cannot do so by appealing to the fact that they are a sound church. A sound church is one that follows the New Testament pattern (2 Timothy 1:13). Following the New Testament pattern is only important to one who believes there is one true church and that church is found in the New Testament. Because many do not believe this, they cannot go to the New Testament to show why they teach and practice the things they do. They have spent so much energy convincing people that all churches are the same. Now they have to find a way to convince people to go to their church.
Introduce the “Social Gospel”
The “social gospel” refers to the practice of supplementing the gospel with social activities in order to make it more appealing to people. This includes the use food, recreation, entertainment, and social relationships. Churches have lost faith in the pure, simple gospel as the “power of God for salvation” (Romans 1:16). So they implement numerous social programs to draw people in. The intention, they will say, is to make opportunities to teach people the gospel. While this is a noble goal, they have a faulty means of achieving that goal.
The first problem with this is that we do not see this in the New Testament. Churches and individuals simply preached the gospel. The second problem is that they are using these things to promote their church. They have to do this in order to survive. Because they believe that one church is as good as another, they draw people to them by having the programs that people desire. If they can give people what they want, they will survive. The irony in all of this is that they are critical of our emphasis on the church in the first place, then they market and promote their church as if it were a business. They are not drawing people to Christ. They are drawing people to themselves.
Our Responsibility
Our responsibility is to preach the gospel, period. We are not responsible for the decision of others to obey the gospel. Paul said, “I planted, Apollos watered, but God was causing the growth” (1 Corinthians 3:6). We simply need to “preach the word” (2 Timothy 4:2), and let the word of God do the rest (Romans 1:16).
What if people will not listen? The fact that many are not interested in hearing the plain, unadulterated gospel is the reason often given by those who defend the practice of supplementing the gospel with other things (i.e. the social gospel). But if someone will not listen, it is their problem, not ours. We cannot “pervert” the gospel or else we stand “accursed” (Galatians 1:6-9).
When people will not listen to the gospel, we do not need to look for gimmicks to get them to listen. Instead we need to look for other hearers. Jesus told His disciples to “shake the dust off your feet” and move on when people reject the message (Matthew 10:14). Paul and Barnabas did this very thing in Antioch in Pisidia. The Jews opposed Paul’s teaching. When they rejected it, Paul and Barnabas did not plan some community outreach programs in an attempt to make the Jews more receptive to the gospel. Instead they said, “We are turning to the Gentiles” (Acts 13:46). If we encounter some who will not listen to the gospel, we need to move on and find others who will.
The events in John 6 show us that people converted with physical things will not be converted to Christ. At the beginning of the chapter, Jesus performed a miracle to feed five thousand people (John 6:1-13). Later Jesus came to Capernaum and the crowds followed him there. The text says they were “seeking Jesus” (John 6:24). At first, this may appear to be a great thing. But Jesus knew their hearts. He said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, you seek Me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate of the loaves and were filled” (John 6:26). When Jesus taught them there, they said, “This is a difficult statement; who can listen to it?” (John 6:60). Then, “As a result of this many of His disciples withdrew and were not walking with Him anymore” (John 6:66). If we convert people with gimmicks, we will not only have to continue to provide more gimmicks to keep them, but we will also have to water down the message of the gospel because they will not tolerate “the whole counsel of God” (Acts 20:27).
Conclusion
Neglecting one aspect of the gospel – such as teaching about the one true church – will have a compounding negative effect on everything else we teach and practice. We do not need to corrupt the gospel message to make it more appealing to people. Those who love the truth will be receptive. Those who do not love the truth will be lost (2 Thessalonians 2:10). As we have opportunity, let us find as many as we can who love the truth.
This article is one of the fifty articles included in the book Plain Bible Teaching: The First Ten Years. Click on the link to read more about the book.
