By Landon Coleman
Pastor, Immanuel
Who defines the church? As you look around the landscape of churches today, you’ll find four broad answers to this question: the future, the present, the past, or the Bible.
First, the future. The biggest names in evangelicalism typically argue that the future ought to define the church. That is, we should allow the wants and desires of future generations to guide the appearance, the doctrine, and the functioning of the church. After all, don’t you want to reach the next generation?
Second, the present. The loudest voices in theological liberalism typically argue that the present ought to define the church. That is, we should allow the accepted wisdom of our culture to shape the appearance, the doctrine, and the functioning of the church. After all, don’t you want to be relevant to the world as it exists today?
Third, the past. The most nostalgic people in church life typically argue that the past ought to define the church. That is, we should allow the accumulated wisdom and traditions of the past to guide the appearance, the doctrine, and the functioning of the church. After all, don’t you just want church like it used to be?
Fourth, the Bible. Those who recognize the inspiration, inerrancy, sufficiency, and authority of the Bible aim to allow the Word of God to define the church. That is, we should allow the Word of God to shape and appearance, the doctrine, and functioning of the church. After all, God has spoken, hasn’t he?
Recently, at Immanuel, we worked our way through the book of Titus. Paul’s letter to Titus is what New Testament scholars refer to as a “Pastoral Epistle.” Alongside 1 and 2 Timothy, Titus provides us with instructions that pastors need to know as they lead the church.
Titus in particular reminds us that God wants his church to be “put into order” (Titus 1:5). In other words, God has not left us to dream up our own designs and desires for the church, nor has God invited us to innovate and redesign the church for every generation, nor has God called us to mimic the spirit of our age, nor has God told us to cling to the man-made traditions of the past.
Instead, God has clearly spoken to us about how the church ought to be established, what the church ought to believe, and how the church ought to function in the world.
Who gets to define the church? God does, and God has revealed his desire for his church in books like Titus. As we worked through Titus, we noted several aspects of a church “put into order.” These include right leadership (Titus 1:1-2:10), right doctrine (2:11-15), and right living (3:1-15). We pray that God would give us more churches that are put into biblical order.
