Tuesday, December 1, 2009

The Church, Part 1 - December, 2009

Biblical Moorings

If the dough offered as fruits is holy, so is the whole lump; and if the root is holy, so are the branches (Romans 11:16).

As a tree is connected with the root, so are the descendants of Abraham. The Lord God planted this tree as a precious planting. Many branches have been broken. But the tree still stands, and many broken branches shall be grafted in again. Children fallen away shall return to the faith of their father, Abraham.

The essence of this verse is its witness to the faithfulness of God. What a great comfort this should be to us Christians with whom God has also made a covenant. This is a "better covenant” (Hebrews 8:6). We, branches of the “wild olive tree,” have been grafted into the tree whose root was Abraham; that is, we through faith are united with the first congregation and with Abraham because we are united with Christ (Romans 6:4).

C. O. Rosenius (1816-1868), Romans: A Devotional Commentary, J. Elmer Dahlgren and Royal F. Peterson, translators (1978), p. 152.

The church, in the New Testament sense of the word, is not a building erected for the worship of God, nor an organization of people more or less interested therein and supporting it. The church is vastly more than that; it is made up of persons who have accepted Jesus Christ as their Savior, Lord, and Master, persons who are resolved to follow, obey, and serve him and have united into a Christian brotherhood open to all true followers of Christ.

The word “church” is derived from a Greek word, kyriaka, meaning “the Lord's.” It may originally have been applied to the house or place--the Lord's house--where the believers were wont to assemble for worship 0n the Lord's Day. But we find that the worshipers themselves, the group of believers, were also called “God's house” (1 Timothy 3:15), “God's building” (1 Corinthians 3:7-9), and “temple of God” (1 Corinthians 3:16). The implication is that the followers of Jesus Christ, joined together in a Christian church, belong to Christ and are consecrated to his service.

Hjalmar Sundquist (1869-1949), “The Christian Church,” in Covenant Church Membershi(Late 1930s), p. 8.

From the biblical point of view there is nothing that can be called “free churches.” Certainly, Covenanters hold the view that the local church must maintain a certain independence, so that it might fulfill its missionary task by addressing the unique needs of people living in its own area. A certain independence is necessary as a guarantee for faithful ministry to the Gospel. But that certainly does not mean freedom in the sense of total independence. Every church is related to other churches in the same community or far away. The interdependence of Christian churches is total. A Christian church in Minneapolis is related to churches in Mexico City, Matadi in Zaire, Mjölby in Sweden, and Minsk in the USSR. There is no way out.

The blood shed for us on Golgotha and handed to us as a gift as we celebrate Holy Communion is what gives nourishment to the whole body. It is the same blood in Minneapolis and in Minsk. When two women drink from the cuat the Lord’s table in Minneapolis and Minsk, they feel the pulse of the body of Christ, the heartbeat of Golgotha. How could they ever live as if they were not members of the same body, dependent upon each other? Above all, they are brought together by Christ himself.

“Free churches” do not exist if we take seriously the Gospel. Christ’s life is one, indivisible. Only as such can it be a sign of hope for a divided world, a challenge to all the disrupting and distorting powers of the earth. Those who proclaim only the independence of their own church or denomination are nothing less than heretics, weakening and betraying the vision of Pentecost.

Olle Engström (1920- ), “Together with All the Saints.” From Amicus Dei: Essays on Faith and Friendship, PhiliJ. Anderson, ed. (1988), p. 164.

Chosen seed and Zion’s children, ransomed from eternal wrath,
trav’ling to the heav’nly Canaan on a rough and thorny path:
Church of God in Christ elected, you to God are reconciled;
but on earth you are a stranger, persecuted and reviled.

Still rejoice amid your trials, nor regard your lot amiss,
for the kind and loving Savior is the source of all your bliss.
May he ever be your portion, he who gave you life and breath;
in his keeping fear no evil, now or in the hour of death.

Pleasantly your lines have fallen underneath the tree of life,
for the Lord is your salvation and your shield in all your strife.
Here the timid bird finds shelter, here the swallow finds a nest,
trembling fugitive a refuge, and the weary pilgrim rest.

Faith and love are the conditions--all on faith and love depends;
love of law is the fulfillment, faith God’s mercy apprehends.
Who has faith shall see salvation, who has love shall life obtain;
may, O Lord, your love possess us and your Spirit in us reign.

And upon this blest foundation, Lord, our Lord and Savior King,
may your Spirit e’er unite us, to it may we ever cling.
May we, members of one body, grown into a perfect whole;
grant, O Lord, that in your people there may be one heart and soul.

Anders Carl Rutström (1721-1772), “Chosen Seed and Zion’s Children,” tr. Claude W. Foss (1855-1935), alt., from The Covenant Hymnal: a Worshipbook (1996), No. 421.

Body of Christ
The Church is often spoken of as the Body of Christ. Paul, for example, says, “Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it” (1 Corinthians 12:27). Everyone understands that the important thing about a body is the life within it. If you took that away the body would be incapable of any action. So it is with the Church. It is the body in which Christ lives and through which he carries out his work. A body has many members--eyes, ears, nose, arms, and legs. The Church also is made uof many members, each differing from the other but all sharing in the life of the whole.

In one sense the Church may be said to be invisible. It is made uof all of those who sincerely believe in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. Some of its members are now living on earth and some are in heaven. It is the company of the redeemed who make uthe great family of God. We call it invisible because God alone knows all who belong to it.

In another sense, however, the Church must be visible. Here on earth the Church is always a visible reality. It is an organization of men and women who acknowledge Christ as Lord--a company of Christian people in whom the Holy Spirit dwells. It is an imperfect Church. While it strives toward perfection, it is aware of the fact that it falls short of what it ought to be. Nonetheless God has chosen to work through this imperfect Church, and every Christian should gladly take his [or her] place in it as a servant of God.

Clifford W. Bjorklund (1921-1986), Harry J. Ekstam (1918- ), Karl A. Olsson (1913-1996), and Donald C. Frisk (1911- ), According to Thy Word (1954, 1955), pp. 395,396.

While faith is always personal, it is not subjectivistic or individualistic. Faith is experienced in community. It cannot be lived in seclusion; to be a Christian is to be a member of the Body of Christ and to share in the koinonia of the Spirit. The grace of God reaches us through the ministry of others and calls us into a ministry to others.

Donald C. Frisk (1911- ), “To Teach the Faith,” from Bound to Be Free: essays on being a Christian and a Covenanter, James R. Hawkinson, ed. (1975), p. 54.

A person must be introduced to the body of Christ as well as to the head. The Book of Acts gives us a picture of people being added to the church as the body of Christ (Acts 2:41; 2:47; 5:14). Only when an individual begins to draw his resources from the body can we have assurance of his conversion. The actual conversion may, in some cases, take place after a person has been introduced to the Christian fellowship. Reasons for this may be many. He may not have been as inwardly convinced as he appeared to be. He may have been saying words that he did not understand. He may not have realized what he was actually doing. These are matters we cannot know. However, our work of introducing a person to Christ is not complete until the person we are visiting has become an active participant in a Christian fellowship.

Wesley W. Nelson (1910- ), Learning to Love People (1973), p. 29.

It is important in the church and in our common fellowshiin the body of Christ to be as clear as we can with each other about our understandings of God in Christ, the rock on which we place our faith, and of our doctrinal formulations. It is also crucial to remember that the Church has been attempting to do this for two thousand years and has not yet succeeded in finding a formulation that is wholly adequate to express the fundamental mystery to which it points. While it may appear to be intellectually sloppy, it is a matter of wisdom to adopt the position of early Covenanters in their debates about communion, atonement, last things, and so on. Skogsbergh [an early Covenant evangelist, often called “The Swedish Moody,”1850-1939] said, “It is not always so important to know everything. It is always tremendously important to preach the gospel.

So whether I am free or whether I am bound, I may be either and yet preach the gospel. So let us try and stop being omniscient, and get on with the work of planting.” And, I think he would have added, in its appropriate way, of church building, and necessarily of fencing. The thing at all costs we have to avoid is the state of mind and the kind of movement that begins to insist that the Christian life is fundamentally a life of doctrine, that that is what the life is. Most Covenanters have not and will not take that position.

Zenos E. Hawkinson (1925-1997), “Fencing” (1978)
From Anatomy of the Pilgrim Experience: Reflections on Being a Covenanter, Edited by Philip J. Anderson and David E. Hawkinson (2000), p. 45
.

The kingdoms of this world are by their nature characterized by law and order–by the freedom and security of the life and property of their subjects--while the Kingdom of God is righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost for them who belong to it. The kingdoms of this world commend themselves to people, take root, and are established through various external laws and institutions, whereas the Kingdom of God comes to men only through the Gospel, which, because it proclaims the righteousness of Christ, appropriated through faith without the works of the law, addresses peace to the conscience, imparting the Holy Spirit, and filling the heart with joy and a glad confidence in God.

Paul Peter Waldenström (1838-1917), “Sermon for the Twentieth Sunday after Trinity”
From Glenn P. Anderson, Covenant Roots: Sources and Affirmations (1980), pp. 116,117.


In flesh and blood families, children grow up and are scattered. Husbands and wives die, leaving lonely widows and widowers. Many people are denied marriage and family love. Some families break uthrough misunderstanding or unfaithfulness. At best, flesh and blood families remain intact for only a few years. With passing years, ties are broken by death, and we must adjust to being left alone. In deecontrast with all this is the church, as God intends it to be. No matter what our background, personality, maturity in Christ or the cause of our alienation, this church will become closer to us even than flesh and blood families, for we know it will never desert us or be removed from us by death.

Jesus said that he considered his followers to be his true brothers and sisters (Matthew 12:49-50). The New Testament teaches that the church is intended to be a body, of which Christ is the head, in which the members are as close as the parts of the human body (see Ephesians 4:15-16).

The ideal church, therefore, is a close knit body, like a family that is always there to care, to minister, to discipline, and to reach out in love to one another. The head of this family is Christ, whose love holds the entire family together in ties that are stronger than flesh and blood. This love will be nurtured by the Holy Spirit, who lives in the members of the body. This same love will reach out to the people who have not yet begun to trust Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. Therefore, this same love will be the motive for evangelism.

We have generally thought of the church this way in theory. In practice, however, it has not reached this ideal. There are members who are out of fellowship with the body, who have cut themselves off from it, and the love of Christ in the church has not been strong enough to break through. Even among the most active members, there sometimes are areas that have been sealed off from the ministry of the brothers and sisters in Christ. [We must] seek to develop a means of nurturing this love and family spirit until it becomes the strongest force in the church.

Wesley W. Nelson (1910- ), A Plan for Letting the Church Become the Family of God (1973, no page numbering).

The church, with the pail and dipper, is still the bearer of God's invitation--good news for the thirsty. There is a meeting place with an address where you are not only welcome but where your thirst can be quenched. There is a Word. There is a font of life. There is a table. There is broken bread. There is a water pail and dipper. “In, with, and under” these earthy things is the presence of the living Christ, God's chosen One, the Bright and Morning Star, the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. The One who offers the gift of eternal life freely to all who thirst says, “Come, the gift is yours, without money and without price.” There is no better menu any place. The source of life is not a concept, nor a theology, nor a ritual, nor an organization, nor even an experience however ecstatic. The source of life is a Person--Jesus, the living One who speaks and with outstretched hand says to you, "Welcome!"

Glen V. Wiberg (1925- ), This Side of the River (Published by Salem Covenant Church, New Brighton, Minnesota, 1995), pp. 56,57.

Influence of Pietism
By the end of the sixteenth century the spiritual fires of the Reformation had grown cold. In each country, every citizen was a member of the State Church whether or not he or she was a true believer. Faith itself was reduced to a cold intellectualism, the formal assent to official doctrines, which bred intolerance of divergent views or practices. Once again, the Holy Spirit moved to stir souls to revival. In 1605-09 Johan Arndt, a German Lutheran pastor and bishop, published Four Books on True Christianity in which he called for a return to a genuine spirituality exhibited in “new life” in each believer. His influence has earned Arndt the title, “the Father of Lutheran Pietism.” Pietism began to spread throughout the Lutheran Church, aided greatly by a new hymnody that stressed devotional themes.

In 1675 a German publisher planned a new edition of some of Arndt's sermons, and asked Philip Jakob Spener, the leading pastor in Frankfurt-am-Main, to write a suitable preface. Spener obliged, calling his remarks Pia Desideria (Pious Wishes). After cataloging the spiritual problems that existed in the church, Spener set forth six proposals to renew the spiritual vitality of the church:

1) There should be a more extensive use of the Bible among us, not only in preaching but in private reading, discussion, and meditation.
2) The spiritual priesthood of all believers should be established and diligently exercised in the church.
3) Christianity consists of the practice of love rather than merely the knowledge of the faith.
4) We must beware of how we conduct ourselves in religious controversies.
5) The reform of the church must begin with the process of calling and training pastors, with an emphasis on practical piety.
6) Sermons should be plain, powerful, and pointed for the salvation and edification of the hearers.

The heart of Spener's proposals was not to form a new church but to reform the church from within through small groups (collegia pietatis) of clergy and lay people committed to true spirituality. Spener occupied several positions of great influence through which he was able to guide the whole Pietist movement. Even before his death in 1705 he was able to pass on the leadership to a successor, August Hermann Francke, professor at the newly established University of Halle. Pietism continued to spread from its base at Halle and through extensive publishing efforts....

The Pietism of Arndt, Spener, and Francke made its way northward from Germany into Sweden.

Paul A. Day (1952- ), Unity and Freedom: One Hundred Years of the East Coast Conference, (Published by the East Coast Conference, 1990), pp. 5,6.

The Pietists believed with the sectarians that salvation must be individuated by choice, but they also believed that the Church played a crucial role in bringing the child to the place where such a choice was possible. The Pietist believed that in some sense every person was his or her own interpreter of the Bible, but they also believed that the historic Church had played an indispensable role in establishing canonical Scripture, cleansing it of improper accretions, providing accurate readings, developing the sciences of hermeneutics and theology, and relating it meaningfully to the changing scene of human history and culture.

That is why the Pietists tried to live in the middle place between the seculum (the order of this world) and the kingdom of God which is the order of the world to come. They did not want the Church so closely identified with the secular order that it served only that order or was corrupted by it, but, on the other hand, they did not want the Church to live in a sour disregard of the orders and structures of this world, as if they were already condemned, or to purge its own life of the presence of sane and healthful coherence.

That [the Lutheran Mission Friends] survived at all as a synod and were able to play a vital role in the formation of the Swedish Evangelical Mission Covenant in 1885 was due to the existence of a strong synodical community, to the commitment on the part of the leadership to a New Testament principle of “order and decency,” and also to the presence and strength of the founders themselves.

Karl A. Olsson (1913-1996), Into One Body...by the Cross, Volume One (1985), pp. 98,99.

Only Believers, All Believers
The Covenant's policy in regard to church membership is that only believers shall belong to the church of God--that is, persons who have experienced new birth and know that they are children of God, and thus lead a Christian life.

The Covenant's principle in this matter we may say is very narrow and at the same time very broad. It is so narrow that there is room only for believers in Jesus Christ, and so broad that there is room for all such believers and that they on that ground are entitled to membership and all the privileges of the Christian Church. The Covenant Church stands for and is anxious to practice what the New Testament teaches in reference to the Christian Church.

E. G. Hjerpe (1853-1931), “The History and Principles of Our Denomination”
From Covenant Roots: Sources and Affirmations Glenn P. Anderson, ed.(1980), p. 109.


Concerning church order, the Mission Friends have a principle which is still more unique and takes a very prominent place in their program. Namely this: they held that the local church shall consist of only believing members but at the same time to have room for all true believers no matter what their viewpoints are on controversial doctrines. It is this principle which really distinguishes Mission Friends from other Christian denominations, and which justifies their existence as a particular church.

In the context of accepting this New Testament and ideal church principle, there naturally followed the surrender of any established confessions (creeds) as conditions for membership in the churches. The Bible became the only in fallible rule for the faith and life of a people and consequently the only necessary confession of faith. All human decisions about how the Bible should be interpreted were abandoned as being not only untrustworthy but also superfluous. Beyond this a greater interest in the spiritual life was evidenced than for dogmas. For that matter one felt safe from deviating heresies in doctrine in the Lord's promise of the Comforter who would lead to the whole truth. Therefore, a limited and wholesome freedom concerning the presentation of doctrine became another distinguishing mark of the Mission Friends.

C. V. Bowman (1868-1937), “About the Principles of the Mission Friends”
From Glenn P. Anderson, Covenant Roots: Sources and Affirmations (1980), pp. 85,86,87.

The believer’s church is not simply a human institution or organization but a people whom God has called. Emphasis does not fall on buildings or hierarchical structures, but upon a grace-filled fellowship and active participation, through the Holy Spirit, in the life and mission of Christ.

Membership in the Evangelical Covenant Church is by confession of personal faith in Jesus Christ. It is open to all believers. Considerations of class or race, education or pedigree, wealth or prestige do not enter. Uniformity in creedal details is not expected. What is required is that one be “born anew to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead” (1 Peter 1:3). But if membershiis open to all believers it is also open only to believers. “The doors of the church are wide enough to admit all who believe and narrow enough to exclude those who do not,” said our forebears. We affirm no less today.

Covenant Doctrine Committee, Covenant Affirmations (Booklet, 1976), pp. 16,17.

Christ's Church is the association of all who believe in Christ, both universally and in particular places. It is made up of those who, through faith in Christ, have been recreated to be new people.
The Church's founder and Lord is Christ who acquired her for himself with his own blood, cleansed her by the washing with water and sanctifies her by the Word. The calling of the Church is to visibly grow upon the earth and above all to be perfected for her final goal, which is God's Kingdom. Her task relative to the world is, so far as possible, to make all people into disciples of Jesus and receive them into her fellowship. This occurs through the proclamation of the Gospel and the administration of the means of grace. In relationship to the state the Church shall be autonomous and independent in administering her own affairs, but in other matters she shall subject herself to the human order so long as it is not in conflict with God's Word.

Local congregations represent God's universal Church in their specific localities and ought therefore faithfully to reflect the same. They should receive all who are known as true Christians, but no one else. Local congregations ought to stand in a relationshito each other of Christian harmony and cooperation for the common goal of the conversion of the world and the upbuilding of the congregations.

Axel Mellander (1860-1922), “What We Believe and Teach”
From Covenant Roots: Sources and Affirmations Glenn P. Anderson, ed. (1980), pp. 142,143.


There can be no question about the fact that [the Mission Friends] believed that only believing Christians should belong to their societies, later called churches. This, they felt, was clearly taught in the Word of God. This did not mean, of course, that the unconverted did not attend their public services. They did–and in much larger numbers than today. Nor did it mean that there was no room for human weakness in the congregation. Their confessions of weakness are abundant. It meant simply an evident devotion to the Word and to Jesus Christ as well as devotion to the work of the congregation.

At a meeting of the central board of the Mission Synod in December, 1878, this question was asked: “When persons are found in the congregation who neither, by Christian experience or life, contribute to the inward or outward edification of the congregation but only criticize, blame, and cause disorder–can such, with reason, consider themselves members of the congregation?” Answer: “In such persons, where no sense of spiritual understanding is found, one cannot expect that they shall judge themselves or anything within the kingdom of Christ as they ought. Therefore such persons must be informed by the Christians that in their condition they are not members of the congregation of Christ. Such people find their condition and actions recorded in the Holy Scriptures in several places, among these Romans 16: 17,18: “I appeal to you, brethren, to take note of those who create dissensions and difficulties, in opposition to the doctrine which you have been taught; avoid them. For such persons do not serve our Lord Christ, but their own appetites, and by fair and flattering words they deceive the hearts of the simple-minded.” Also Jude 1:16: “These are grumblers, malcontents, following their own passions, loud-mouthed boasters, flattering people to gain advantage.

Eric G. Hawkinson (1896-1984), Images in Covenant Beginnings (1968), pp. 82,83.

It is essential to differentiate the believer’s church from sectarian Protestantism. The early Covenanters were challenged not only by the Augustana Lutherans and the anti-union Free Mission Friends; they were challenged by those who felt that a believers’ church should insist on believers’ baptism, as opposed to infant baptism. In short, they felt that a believers’ church had to be baptistic. Others believed it was necessary to believe in sanctification as a second work of grace. As the years past, others insisted that a belief in the baptism of the Holy Spirit was required for full obedience to the Gospel. Others felt that certain views regarding the second coming were required. To be sure, many Covenanters have shared some of these particular beliefs. What the founders realized, however, was that to insist on any of these doctrinal distinctions was, in fact, to move beyond the believers’ church to sectarian Protestantism. They felt and Covenanters everywhere to this day believe that while church is for believers only, it is for all believers.

...The Covenant has attempted to take a middle course between “churchly” inclusivism and “sectarian” exclusivism. It is on this precarious tightrope that the Covenant over the years has sought to stand. And on this stand it need make no apology to those churches who feel the Covenant’s insistence on conversion is too narrow and romantic. Nor does the Covenant need to be apologetic about receiving anyone into fellowship solely on the basis of simple trust in Jesus Christ.

Paul E. Larsen (1933- ), The Mission of a Covenant (1985), pp. 12,13.

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Nearly seventeen years into retirement, I am enjoying the opportunity to share thoughts and life experiences on a regular basis. This blog is part of a larger personal website at www.rootedwings.com. Your comments, thoughts, and life experience responses are not only invited but welcome!