Lesson 4. Go first to establish a Bible-believing church and then a denominational church.
In Matthew 28:18-20, Jesus said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
In Acts 2:38-40, after the disciples had received the baptism of the Holy Spirit, the Apostle Peter preached and said, “Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ so that your sins may be forgiven; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is for you, for your children, and for all who are far away, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to him.” And he testified with many other arguments and exhorted them, saying, “Save yourselves from this corrupt generation.”
After I became a Bible-believing Christian in January 1979, I told Dr. Schaeffer that I needed to relearn everything, so I spent a lot of time listening to him teach in different settings, listened to his tapes, and read the books of both Francis Schaeffer and Edith Schaeffer. I also began a serious study of the life, sermons, and theology of Charles Finney, because he was so successful in promoting revivals.
On one occasion, I remember Schaeffer talking to a group of new ministers and those God had called to start new churches. He made it clear that the first reason to go into a community must be to start a Bible-believing church, a church that believes and teaches that everything the Bible affirms is true; then, and only then, should the emphasis be on starting a church of a particular denomination.
Keeping this in mind, those in churches today, whether old or new, need to make their first priority maintaining a congregation and a church that is Bible-believing. I like to say of my congregation that we are Christ-centered and Bible-believing, along with our practice of all the lessons I have learned from Dr. Schaeffer. For me, this means keeping my focus on Jesus Christ in worship, study, fellowship, and service. It means doing all I can to help everyone in our church keep their focus on Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. For that reason, I have stated our congregation’s vision in a way that does not read as a vision but as something we need to do daily, “As we Serve God and others, let us Know, Love, and Follow Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior, in the power of the Holy Spirit according to the Scriptures.” From time to time, I speak on this vision to remind people of what we are about as God’s people.
The second priority for many will be the establishment of a particular denominational church in a community that does not have a church (or enough churches) of that denomination. If the denomination is Bible-believing, the creation of a denominational church will not be inconsistent with being Christ-centered and Bible-believing. If the denomination is not Bible-believing, then the minister, church leaders, and members will have a different set of problems.
When I became a Bible-believing Christian and resolved to follow Jesus Christ as faithfully as I could as a pastor in my church, I talked to Fran about whether or not I should stay in my church and denomination. He told me this, “The Holy Spirit calls some to stay in these denominations and the Holy Spirit calls some to leave these denominations, and I am not the Holy Spirit.” He went on to say that if I stayed that I would need to speak out and speak against those teachings and efforts in my denomination that were not Bible-believing or in accordance with the Scriptures. I stayed in my church for another nine years and tried to do as Schaeffer recommended before leaving my church for a nondenominational church. Later, I served a congregational church, and now I am happily serving the Lord in a Cumberland Presbyterian Church that is a denomination with a history of being Christ-centered and Bible-believing, though there are some who are trying to indoctrinate others into theological liberalism. In these cases, the Bible-believing Christians need to speak out against their teachings with love. In this context, Francis Schaeffer also said that once a denomination’s hierarchy and seminaries have been lost to theological liberalism that it is impossible to turn the denomination around. Knowing that fact is one of the reasons I left my former denomination for the Cumberland Presbyterian Church, a denomination that I serve happily in the Lord, though a denomination not without its problems (as with every denomination or nondenominational church).
Copyright 2009 by L.G. Parkhurst, Jr.
International Bible Lessons
Prayer Steps to Serenity
Serenity Groups
A Psalm and A Prayer
