Is New Testament Church Truth Important?

Unless we're careful about who's in the room at the time, the mere mention of New Testament church truth can spark instant and hostile retaliation. "That's divisive!" "Isn't it arrogant to think that we're right and everyone else is wrong?" "Aren't there more important things to worry about?" In spite of the attitude behind them, those are good questions. Are we divisive? Are we arrogant? Is such truth unimportant? It's our belief that these truths are important for at least the following five reasons.

Less Important Truths are not Unimportant Truths. To begin with, while the plurality of elders and the autonomy of the local church may not be the most important truths in the Bible, does this mean that they are unimportant? The Lord Jesus pronounced woe upon the Pharisees because they were tithing mint, anise and cummin while neglecting the "weightier provisions of the law" ( Mt 23:23). The opponent of church truth pounces upon this verse saying, "See! Those smaller matters were unimportant compared to the larger truths." But when we finish reading the verse the Lord Jesus tells the Pharisees that they ought to have obeyed the weightier matters without leaving the smaller matters undone. Perhaps there are more important truths in the Bible.

But surely this doesn't mean the "less important" truths are frivolous or irrelevant. Surely this doesn't mean we're free to ignore anything we deem "less important"! After all, if we are going to start snipping out what we consider to be the unimportant truths about the church, why stop there? Why not also snip out those teachings about Christ or Israel or the family or morals that so many seem to feel are also unimportant? Eliminating truths about the local church is the thin end of the wedge which, when kicked in all the way, will leave us with no truth at all.

All Scripture is Authoritative A second reason why church truth is important is given in 2 Timothy 3:16: all Scripture is inspired by God. This means that all Scripture comes to us from the mouth of God and is therefore backed up by all of the authority of God. Do we really wish to challenge the authority or importance of any message from God? If God chose to include these truths in His word, who would presume to act as His editor? Instead of second-guessing God's word, ought we not to be able to say with the psalmist, "I esteem right all Your precepts concerning everything" ( Ps 119:128)?

All Scripture is Profitable Thirdly, 2 Timothy 3:16 assures us that all Scripture is profitable for doctrine and for practice. If we neglect portions of the Bible we are doing ourselves a disservice; we are neglecting revelation that God promises is profitable for us. God has graciously revealed to us "everything pertaining to life and godliness" ( 2 Pe 1:3). Why would we ignore any of these things? The Head of the church loved us too much to structure the church arbitrarily. He designed the church with our best interests at heart.

We hurt ourselves when we exchange His plan for one of our own devising. Trading Christ's design for man's schemes is no more profitable for us than it was for Israel to forsake the fountain of living waters in order to hew for themselves broken cisterns ( Jer 2:13). Scripture is Sufficient Fourthly, 2 Timothy 3:17 tells us that the Scripture is sufficient to "thoroughly equip [us] for every good work". The Scriptures aren't vague or incomplete; they provide us with all the instruction we need.

Christendom's many departures from the New Testament pattern for the church are often justified by the claim that "the Bible doesn't really tell us what the church is supposed to be like - it just contains a description of the infant church - the church was meant to grow and develop". How can such a claim be reconciled with God's statement that the Scriptures are complete and sufficient? Did God really leave us without teaching about the church? When He gives us such detailed teaching about every other aspect of His truth, is it wise to believe that He left us in the dark about His beloved Son's bride? The fact is that if we are willing to look for it, we'll discover that the Bible contains quite a lot of teaching about the functioning of the church. In fact, it contains enough to "thoroughly furnish [us] unto all good works". But we have to be willing to look for it.

Christ is the Truth Lastly, but most importantly, church truth is important because it is inseparably linked to the person of Christ. The Lord Jesus is "the truth" ( Jn 14:6). As such, all truth reflects His character. Once this is realised, all thought of "unimportant truth" evaporates. Which aspect of Christ's character would any of us brand as unimportant? As we consider church truth, we see that each aspect of church truth is tied to the person and work of our glorious Lord. When the Bible teaches us about the autonomy of the local church we are pointed to Christ as the One walking amidst the candlesticks. If it speaks of elders, we are pointed to Christ as the Chief Shepherd. If it speaks of headcoverings, we're told of the headship of Christ.

If deacons, we're reminded of the perfect Servant. If the breaking of bread, we're reminded that it is a time to remember Him. If the priesthood of all believers, we're pointed to our great high priest. The church is the body; Christ is the head. The church is the bride; Christ is the bridegroom. The church is a building; Christ is the foundation. The church is a flock; Christ is the Shepherd. On and on the list goes. Whatever the area of church truth it all points to Him. When we forsake a truth about the church we are in reality forsaking a truth about the Lord Jesus; we are forsaking a truth that was given to us to teach us about our Saviour. Why would we want to ignore anything which speaks of the One who loved the church and gave Himself up for her?

Now we would not want to question the motives of any who would seek to deviate from New Testament church truth; no doubt most of them do so out of a desire to serve the Lord better. But if we truly love the Lord we'll serve Him in the way He has requested, not in a way we invent. To obey is still better than sacrifice. New Testament church truth is important. And while it's true that we ought not to teach it or practice it proudly, it is also true that we ought not to be ashamed of a desire to take the word of God seriously. So let's teach and practice New Testament church truth not because it's our way, but because it's His way; not because we wish to be proud, but because we wish to be humble and submit to His word rather than writing it off; not because we desire to hold up ourselves, but because we desire to hold up Christ in order that we might know and please Him better.

Written by James Martin