The Watchman Speaks

004 What is Church?

January 23, 2023 Lonnie Richardson Season 1 Episode 4
The Watchman Speaks
004 What is Church?
Show Notes Transcript

In this episode of The Watchman Speaks, Lonnie discusses what the church is and what the church is not. In doing so, he speaks in general terms as to what the modern western church is doing right and addresses issues that the western church could improve on. The intent is not to condemn but point out, instruct, and provide a foundation on which the church can grow stronger. Be blessed!

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Welcome back to The Watchman Speaks! I’m your host, Lonnie Richardson. What shall we discuss today? I know. Let’s discuss the church. What church is and what church is not. What church was intended to be and what church was not intended to be. Now mind you that I’m going to convey somethings that I’ve seen. I may be talking about your church, or my church, or our churches. However, I do not offer this discussion to condemn or knock any church. I’m just going to talk about observations and what the Bible says.

 

What is the church? Well, it certainly is not a building. A building is just a building. Jesus is, one day, going to return and claim His bride, the church. He will not be coming back to claim a building. I don’t expect that He is going to be overly impressed with architecture, lighting, sound systems, big screens, gymnasiums, or comfortable amenities. Just to be clear, Jesus loves the people, not the building. The church in America seems to place a high priority on the building. People, of all denominations, seem to want that nice building above all else. I guess it’s a status symbol thing. However, in the Bible, the finest cities with the greatest walls and the greatest gates fell to ruin. So it was at Jericho. So it was with The TEMPLE and Jerusalem, TWICE!

 

No, the church is not a building. The church is the people. WE are the church! A building is merely where people of like mind and spirit meet every so often to offer praise, worship, and thanksgiving to an ever present, all knowing, all powerful God. That would be God the Father, The Son, the Holy Spirit.  He is the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. The church doesn’t have to meet in a big fancy building either. Home churches are making a resurgence. 

The church is not a place it is people. However, it is not a social club either. That, meaning, it is not a place to gather and see who shows up, or not. It is not a place to show up to see how well dressed or how poorly one is dressed. It is not a place to count tattoos or measure the length of someone’s hair. It is not a place to advance one’s own agenda or to seek a high standing within the church. If God has called you to an office or position He will establish you in that office or position without you having to do anything to attain it. 

Remember, David, a shepherd boy, was anointed to be King for several years before he became King. By the way, David became King without having to lift one finger to obtain the throne for himself. It should also be noted that David went through great trials for an extended length of time before he was made King as Saul, in his jealousy, tried to hunt David down and kill him. I can say that leadership within the church is imparted to those who follow a similar path to David, or perhaps it should be. 

In China and other areas of the world that are not tolerant to Christian beliefs, the pastors, the elders and deacons are often times considered by the length of prison time that they have served for being Christian. Let that sink in for a moment.

You want to be a Deacon or an Elder? Be the best servant to the church that you can be. Not because you want to be a Deacon or an Elder. Be the best servant you can be to the church because you love the people. Motive of the heart has a lot to do with it. Seeking such an office to feel important, or to obtain power and authority is bad juju. Don’t do that. 

Let’s look at what the early church was doing when it began:

Acts 2:42–47 (NASB95) 

  42      They were continually devoting themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. 

  43      Everyone kept feeling a sense of awe; and many wonders and signs were taking place through the apostles. 

  44      And all those who had believed were together and had all things in common; 

  45      and they began selling their property and possessions and were sharing them with all, as anyone might have need. 

  46      Day by day continuing with one mind in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they were taking their meals together with gladness and sincerity of heart, 

  47      praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord was adding to their number day by day those who were being saved. 

Now first, where are the apostles in the church? There are some who say the Apostles and Prophets are a by gone thing. They no longer exist. I don’t buy into that. Why do I not buy into that? Let’s turn to the Scriptures.

Ephesians 4:10-12

10.  He who descended is Himself also He who ascended far above all things.

11.  And He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers,

12.  For the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ. 

It is obvious that Paul is speaking of Jesus Christ as Jesus descended and then ascended above all things. HE, Jesus, gave the apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers. For what reason? For the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to build the body of Christ.

That’s what the church is. The body of Christ.

The word “Apostle means “one sent by God” or “one sent with authority”.  Where are the signs and wonders taking place through the apostles? Where is the fellowship and breaking of bread?

Where is the sense of awe? Today, it seems like the church, for the most part, is chasing signs and wonders. That’s not how it should be. Those who are outside the church should be chasing the signs and wonders that manifest within the church. Where is THAT church?

Not long ago a group of young people who I am familiar with were sent to a youth conference by the leadership of the church. You may not be impressed. There are youth conferences held all over America. But I’ve never seen a group so energized or excited as this group was when they returned. There were marvelous, miraculous changes observed in their attitudes and their behavior. You may say, “Well that’s nothing new. That will die down in a week or so.” And you would be correct because that is the norm currently. However, I’m here to report that these youngsters haven’t slowed down or even thought about checking up! In these days, that’s signs and wonders! They have visions and prophecy confirmed through others that they don’t even know, and their prayer lives are ramped up! 

In the Book of Acts 2:17 Luke references the Book of Joel 2:28. 

“In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people; your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams.” 

Therein, you have signs and wonders. Not necessarily by the apostles of this time, but by the pouring out of Holy Spirit. However, they were sent to the conference under the leadership of the church.

Where is the fellowship and breaking of bread? It’s true enough that many churches gather together to break bread and have a meal together. There’s nothing wrong with that. When I was a Baptist, we specialized in that. But where is the breaking of bread with gladness in the home? It has been a rarity when members will gather in the home and share a meal in awe of God’s provision. Now, I understand that there are small groups popping up around the country where members share a meal. That’s a good thing. We’re getting close, but not yet as a whole. 

Where is the prayer in the home? Or, better yet, go into any church service and check the time in prayer. Very seldom will prayer take up more than seven minutes. Now, there are churches that offer times of prayer from one to two hours on a daily basis. Some even offer more. And, that’s a good thing. We’re getting closer, but not yet. The western church has not, as yet, caught onto the concept of biblical prayer watches. I’ll have to cover that in another episode in weeks to come. But by and large, prayer is deficient in the Western Church. 

 Where is the church who shares their wealth with those in the church who are in need? It says that day by day they were continuing with one mind in the TEMPLE (that’s the church building by the way, the building that God destroyed) and taking meals together house to house with gladness and sincerity of heart. They were praising God and having favor with all the people. More importantly, the Lord was adding, day by day, those who were being saved. Where is THAT church?

A word here about the apostles. Today a man steps forth and claims to be fivefold gifted in that he is an apostle, a prophet, a pastor, an evangelist, and a teacher and “Plants” a church. With a lot of hard work the “church” grows in number. Now, I don’t have any problem with that as long as the man is truly fivefold gifted and there are some who are so gifted, but those men are exceedingly rare. Why do I say that? Because I’ve seen MANY men make the claims. However, seeing the fruit of all five of those gifts manifested in one man has been an exceedingly rare happenstance. It so happens that most, and notice that I said most, not ALL, men who make the fivefold claim, live well above the status of most of their flock. It would seem that the “Pastor, apostle, prophet, evangelist, teacher” is fleecing the flock rather than feeding the flock, developing the giftings within the church, or helping provide for those with genuine needs within the church. 

On the other hand, is the pastor who genuinely loves the flock and nurtures the flock, but the flock doesn’t love the pastor and provides minimally if at all for him and his family. He genuinely struggles to get by day to day. 

But let’s get back to what The Book of Acts says. The signs and wonders should not be appearing in the treasury of the church or the “Pastor’s” bank account alone. Where is the love for one another? Where is the sharing and caring for those within the church who are in need? Oh, your church has a humanitarian ministry to feed the hungry? That’s great! Are those people coming to the church? Or, are they showing up for free groceries every week or two. Now don’t get me wrong. Feeding the poor and showing the community the love of Christ is a good thing. But if the church is doing so as a humanitarian ministry under the umbrella of the church and is not attending the needs of those in the church who have genuine need, then the humanitarian ministry is merely for show. It sounds good when you talk about it and it looks good on paper. But the Book of Acts states that the church was sharing with “anyone who might have need” in the church. I’m just pointing that out. I’m not downplaying food ministries at all. God bless every one of them! But if the ministry is funded, partially or totally, by the church and the church is not looking after their own, that is truly sad. Additionally, if the church is merely handing out food and not providing prayer with discipleship, they are failing.

Now, where are the signs and wonders through the apostles? Where is the fellowship, the breaking of bread, prayer and fellowship? Where is the sharing with those in need? More importantly, where is the church in which God is adding to, day by day the number of those being saved? Here’s what I see. As I’ve mentioned, I see the church chasing after signs and wonders. That is out of order. The world outside the church should be chasing the signs and wonders that are coming out of the church. Therein, you can initiate discipleship. Remember in the second episode of The Watchman Speaks when I said that preachers are screaming, “Come to the house of the Lord!”? Remember? Jesus said, “GO and make disciples.” Where is that happening? If it’s happening in your church, drop me a line and let me know. I commend you and your church. I’ll give a shout of praise to God and implore you to keep up the good work!

I know that there are prayer rooms popping up all over America, indeed the world. But here is what I see. I see a lot of programming going on instead of allowing Holy Spirit to direct things.

“We’re going to pray about this for this length of time and we’re going to talk about this for this length of time.” I’ve even seen meetings take place before hand to schedule and discuss how things were going to transpire! Give me a break! If it has already been dictated how things are going to progress, then what need have you for Holy Spirit?

I was asked to share at one of these prayer meetings about the trumpet of God and was restricted to three to five minutes. I was also asked to present what I would share with the leader of the prayer meeting beforehand. What I was met with was, “Lonnie, this is too much! It’s too long! You’re going to get me fired!”

For what? Sharing what was in God’s Holy Word? For thinking that maybe, just maybe, Holy Spirit would move among those present by what God had to say? I complied with the demands, but I never returned. I’m not interested in a program to meet man’s schedule. Holy Spirit is not directed by man, but the man is, or should be, directed by Holy Spirit. When a person fears a man and losing their job more than they reverence the Word of God or the Holy Spirit of a Living God, there’s nothing that I am going to say that will help them. 

Another thing that I’d like to point out is this. Where is the church that is breaking bread with gladness and sincerity at heart, having favor with ALL people? Where is that church? Where is the church that has favor with ALL people? Well, ALL people are not looking for the signs or wonders. Not ALL people are interested in breaking bread or experiencing awe. Not ALL people care if the church exists or not. It is the state of our society.

Now, I’d like to address the Pastors, Deacons and Elders. I believe that I can speak in this issue. I’ve been a Deacon and I’ve been an Elder in churches. I resigned both of those offices because the Deacon’s board and Eldership in those churches were a farce, a façade. There was no biblical meaning according to the Bible for the offices of Deacon or Elder in either of those churches. The offices of Deacon and Elder in those churches are to show governmental agencies that the church has a hierarchy of authority and governance. I’ll go further and say that there is no biblical meaning of pastor and accountability in those churches. I’m not saying that’s the way it is in EVERY church, but I’ve been around long enough to know that, for the most part, it’s the same in many churches. I’m not downing any church in particular I’m just stating an observation of fact.

I see men, and women, seeking the office or positions not because they are a true servant to the church but because they seek a position or office of importance or authority. Not a wise motive. The prophet Ezekiel speaks of this in Ezekiel 34. Let’s have a look and see what God had to say through ol’ Zeke.

Ezekiel 34:17-22

17. “As for you, My flock,” thus says the Lord God, “Behold I will judge between one sheep and another, between the rams and the male goats.

18. Is it too slight a thing for you should feed in the good pasture, that you must tread down with your feet the rest of your pastures? Or that you should drink of the clear waters, that you must foul the rest with your feet?

19. As for My flock, they must eat what you tread down with your feet and drink what you foul with your feet!”

20. Therefore, thus says the Lord God to them, “Behold, I, even I, will judge between the fat sheep and the lean sheep.

21. “Because you push with side and with shoulder, and thrust at all the weak with your horns until you have scattered them abroad,

22. therefore, I will deliver My flock, and they will no longer be prey; and I will judge between one sheep and another.

Here is the issue at hand. One reads or studies the Bible, reading and study being two separate things, and acquire a little knowledge. Knowledge, in itself, can cause a man, or woman, to become “puffed up” or proud. They then present this knowledge and gain favor, attaining an office or position within the church only to laud their knowledge and the authority of their office or position over the rest of the congregation. Don’t do it!

Knowledge is acquired to gain understanding and understanding leads into wisdom. Wisdom is the right use of knowledge in a biblical context. Regardless, the aforementioned offices and positions exist for the benefit of the church, not for the benefit of the individual. LOOK FOR THE FRUIT! Those in positions of leadership should exhibit the peaceful fruit of righteousness as well as ALL the fruits of the Spirit. Do they exhibit these fruits? Are the fruits rancid and sour? Let it be known, I’ll say it again, these offices exist to serve the church. The church does not exist to serve those in the offices and positions!

And, let me say this. Those offices and positions are appointed by God or they should be. Far too often they are appointed by a man to people who will say “yes” to or agree with everything that he says. Let’s be clear, no man is infallible no matter how many “giftings” he supposedly has.

Let’s go back to Ezekiel 34. “I will judge between one sheep and another, between the rams and male goats.” What does that mean? It means that there are those who are serving the church and those who are serving self. Verse 20. “I, even I, will judge between the fat sheep and the lean sheep.” This may indicate that some sheep are growing fat at the expense of the lean sheep. I’ll let that lay where it falls for the time being. Verse 21. “Because you push with side and with shoulder, and thrust at all the weak with your horns until you have scattered them abroad,” This applies to the exertion and misuse of authority. Is there an authority with these offices and positions? Absolutely! But with these offices and positions comes responsibility and accountability. A day of reckoning will come. I’ve seen it. Elders, Deacons, Pastors flexing their muscles without explanation until the flock wanders away. The church splits or is scattered. Sometimes it is justified and sometimes it is not. Today, it’s called church hurt. Usually, it is a failure on the part of both parties.

What is church hurt? Should I have to explain? It is where the flock becomes upset with the Pastor, an Elder, or Deacon and instead of going to that person and explaining their views in a loving manner, they simply leave. However, I have seen it where the lay person did go to the leadership and leadership shut them down cold. I’ve even heard it said, “This may not be the right church for you.” Why would someone say that? Why would any church not be the right church? Why should any church not be the right church? Do we worship a different God? Do we have a different Lord and Savior? Is the Spirit of God a different Spirit for different churches? It would appear so. I’ve even heard a pastor say, “I don’t have time to babysit a church member!”

Why not? Is not the undershepherd put into place to nuture the sheep, the lambs! I’ll have to address that in another episode as well.

For over sixty years I have attended several churches of varying denominations. They all had weeds. You can’t pull out the tares for destroying the wheat. What is one to do? Should we continue hopping from one church to another or one denomination to another? No, that is not the answer. There is no PERFECT CHURCH. This is evidenced by the seven letters to the seven churches in the Book of Revelation. The question for the church is this, “Which of those seven churches is your church?”

It's something to think about. More so than that, it’s something to pray about. 

So, if you want to be a leader, learn to be a good follower of Jesus and a good servant to the church. The greater your servitude, the greater is your leadership. One pastor conveyed to me once that, when he was first saved, “I wondered if the church would allow me to collect and take out the trash?” They did allow him to take out the trash. Guess what? Now that he’s a pastor, he still collects and takes out the trash! Do you not lead others by your thoughts, words, and actions? By serving the church do you not exhibit the qualities that the church needs to serve and disciple communities?

Nowhere in the Bible does it say that the church exists for the benefit of the one above all the others. Nowhere in the Bible does it say that one gifting or calling is above another. There is order to the giftings and callings. But none are more important than any of the rest. The gifts for the edification and nurturing of the church. It takes all the giftings and all the callings of each member to make the whole. I exist, as a Watchman, for the benefit of others. I do not elevate my gifts, my calling, or my trumpet. My gifts, my calling, and my trumpet exist to elevate God the Father, the Son Jesus Christ, and Holy Spirit. Anything other than that is pride. And, by the way, if your gifts and/or calling only function within the four walls of the church building where you congregate, I suggest that you re-evaluate your motives. The gifts are for the church. The calling is for the lost and those who need to be discipled. 

Another thing, your gifting and calling should lead you to a place where you are uncomfortable. If you reside in comfort continually, how can you grow in faith? Do you think for a moment that Peter, John, or Paul were comfortable in what they did? Do you think that the prophets of old were comfortable delivering God’s warnings knowing that they were subject to execution? 

I’m going to conclude with Acts 1:8, and I want you to really think and pray about this.

ACTS 1:8 “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you and you shall be my witness in Samaria, Judea, Jerusalem and to the ends of the earth.”

Notice the words “will receive” and “shall be” in that verse. Those are definitive articles. Those are absolute in their meaning. You “WILL RECEIVE”, and you “SHALL BE”.

What will you receive? You will receive power. What kind of power? In the Greek the word is “dunamis”. It is where we get our word dynamite from. It is a power not of your own but a supernatural power. When will you receive this power? When Holy Spirit comes upon you. For what reason do we receive this power? So that “you shall be” His witness. What witness? In Greek the word witness is “Martys” which is where we get our word “martyr” from. We will receive power from Holy Spirit when Holy Spirit comes upon us to be a witness for Christ even unto death. What is that witness? It is in our words and in our actions.

Now, I ask you. Does that sound like you or I exist for our own self-benefit? I ask that you would think and pray about that.

Join me next week for a discussion about pastors, or undershepherds, specifically. I am the Old Watchman, Ezekiel. You have been warned!


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