What or who is the bride of Christ?

Sincerely,
Missed The Wedding

Dear Missed The Wedding,

The church is the bride of Christ.  John the Baptist referred to Jesus as the groom (Jhn 3:29).  Eph 5:23 says that Jesus is like a husband, and the church is like a wife.  In 2 Cor 11:2, Paul says that the christians in Corinth were betrothed to Christ and that it was his job to present them as a pure bride to Jesus, their groom.  All of these verses point to the same teaching – the church is the bride that Jesus purchased through His sacrifice (Acts 20:28).

     What scriptures can we look at to show us that pastors, elders, and bishops have all the same meanings and duties?

Sincerely,
Name Nomenclature

Dear Name Nomenclature,

Pastors, elders, and bishops are all referring to the same job in the church.  We see this by looking at multiple passages that show that these titles are used interchangeably.  Tit 1:5-7 uses the terms ‘elder’ and ‘bishop’ as synonyms.  Acts 20:28 refers to bishops shepherding the local church (the word ‘pastor’ means ‘shepherd’).  1 Pet 5:1-3 also refers to elders as those who pastor/shepherd the church.  When you see that these three terms (pastor, elder, and bishop) are all used interchangeably, it means they are synonyms.

     A brother in Christ is turning forty this coming Sunday.  His wife has planned a surprise party to be held in the church building after evening worship.  She has asked that we should all write a message to be included in an "honoring note" to this brother.  The preacher is collecting these messages of "love, respect, and appreciation" and urging us to respond as soon as possible.  I am having a terribly hard time with this, not because I don't appreciate and love this brother, but because I feel a birthday party in the church building isn't scriptural, and the idea of writing an "honoring note" is giving me a very uncomfortable feeling.  I don't want to offend this brother and his wife, but I am having a huge struggle with this.  I don't know what to do.  Please help!  The honoring messages are due within the next couple of days.

Sincerely,
Birthday Blah

Dear Birthday Blah,

The key to the whole issue is to remember what the work of the church is.  The Bible specifically outlines three things that the church has a responsibility to do: care for needy christians (Acts 4:34), preach to the lost, and teach the saved (Acts 15:35).  Anything that a church does with its financial assets needs to fit into one of those three categories.  A church’s building is part of a church’s finances (the same as your house is part of your finances), and it is important that whatever we use the church’s finances for be authorized by the Bible.  1 Tim 3:15 says that there is a certain way that the church must behave when we work together collectively.  1 Tim 5:16 takes it one step further and says that there are certain financial things the church shouldn’t be burdened with.  Once our money goes into the church collection on Sunday (1 Cor 16:1-2), it becomes the Lord’s money – not ours.  The church can spend its money on the church’s work... and that's it.

Bible classes, worship services, etc. all easily fit into the work of the church… but what about a social gathering?  The problem is that socializing is never shown to be part of the church’s work.  It certainly is important for individual christians to spend time with one another… but that is a command to individuals – not the church.  Individuals have a lot more freedom in what they do than the church does.  Social gatherings in the church’s building simply don’t fit the Bible pattern of the church’s work.  We don't want to condemn the attitude of these folks – we'd like to think their intentions are pure, but zeal isn’t the same as Bible accuracy (Rom 10:2).  We have looked and looked, but we cannot find Bible authority for the church’s building, which is part of the church’s assets, to be used for a purely social gathering.

When the church collectively decides to use the building for a primarily social gathering, there is a problem.  As Paul said, “Don’t you have houses to eat and drink in?” (1 Cor 11:22).  Paul lambasted the church in Corinth for making the church’s work a social event.  There was a time when churches needed to hold potlucks because people traveled such long distances by horseback or foot that it was impossible for people to stay for the full day of worship unless they had a midday meal there… if they went home for a meal, they might as well have stayed home.  This was an appropriate use of potlucks because they were an expediency for worship.  This is the same reason that meals during work parties are no problem – the food is an expediency to make it possible for everyone to take care of the building... no different than if the preacher brings his lunch, so he can eat while working in his office.  However, the argument that the church should have a birthday party after services is no longer about an expediency to help people that traveled two hours by horseback.  A birthday party is purely for the purpose of socializing, not furthering the work of the church.  If the work of the church is to socialize, we also ought to have gymnasiums, playgrounds, movie nights, etc.  Once we begin to do small things that don’t have Bible authority for them, we’ve cracked the door to more and more behavior that goes beyond what God has written (1 Cor 4:6).

As we said, we aren’t trying to condemn the intentions of those who planned the party... we’re sure the folks have good desires, but it sets a dangerous, unbiblical precedent.  Like King Saul sparing the animals to bring them as a sacrifice to God – good intentions, but it got him in trouble because it wasn't what God asked for (1 Sam 15:22).

     What about a woman being ordained as a pastor, bishop, or an apostle?

Sincerely,
What About Women?

Dear What About Women,

Pastors (Eph 4:11) – also known as elders or bishops (Tit 1:5-7) – are always men.  The qualifications for pastors are given in 1 Tim 3:1-7 and Tit 1:5-9.  One of those qualifications is that he must be “a husband of one wife” (1 Tim 3:2, Tit 1:6) – that clearly rules out females from becoming pastors.

As far as being an apostle, all of the apostles have long since died.  An apostle had to be someone who personally saw Christ in the flesh and witnessed His resurrection (Acts 1:21-26).  There were twelve apostles, and they were all men (Matt 10:2-3).

     You guys say you are not "denominational", but isn't church of Christ just the main branch of the "Restoration Movement" which started in the early 1800s in the United States?  From what I understand, the Restoration Movement has since split.  The three main branches are the "church of Christ," the "United Church of Christ," and the Disciples of Christ.

Sincerely,
Just Another Church

Dear Just Another Church,

Historically speaking, the Restoration Movement is a bunch of different churches that adhere to similar doctrines… biblically speaking, the movement to restore New Testament Christianity is a principle, not a denomination.  The Monroe Valley church of Christ isn’t affiliated with any other congregation; we aren’t associated with a grouping of churches or national religious body.  Our congregation is completely independent of all others – our responsibility is to the Lord and none other, just like the first-century churches (Acts 14:23).

In the darkest days of the nation of Israel, a young king named Josiah rose to power.  The nation had reached such a state of wickedness that the temple was near ruins and in complete disrepair.  Josiah made a decision to have the temple repaired (2 Kgs 22:3-5).  In the process of repairing the temple, the workers found a copy of the Bible (2 Kgs 22:8).  The Old Testament Law was brought to Josiah, and he read it for the very first time (2 Kgs 22:10).  Josiah was mortified when he heard the words of the law; never before had he realized how wicked the nation was and how deeply entrenched in sin Israel had become (2 Kgs 22:11-13).  Josiah decided then and there to simply return to doing what the Bible said.  Josiah let the Bible be his guide in restoring the nation of Israel to what God intended it to be (2 Chr 34:30-31).  That is the ideal of the Restoration Movement.  Regardless of what man says, the church in Monroe is not a part of a denomination or some earthly hierarchy.  We appeal to the New Testament as our guide and daily attempt to restore biblical Christianity in our little corner of the world.  If other congregations around the globe take this same attitude, that doesn’t make us a denomination; that makes us brethren all serving the one true head, Jesus Christ (Eph 5:23).