Every church has a unique story of how God birthed and blessed them over the years. The congregation I lead, Englewood Baptist in Jackson, Tennessee, was the fruit of heartfelt prayer and a compelling vision.
In 1944, a woman named Emma Weaver lost her husband at the tender age of 44, forcing her to move closer to her eldest son in the northern part of our county. As a devout Christian, Mama Weaver (as she was called) quickly noticed that there was no church in the area for her and her three children to attend. She began to pray, “Lord, I need a church for my family.”
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Little did she know that at the same time, Dr. R.E. Guy, then pastor of West Jackson Baptist Church, had a vision to plant new works in growing communities around our city. Within a year, he identified 6.5 acres of land for a mission in the same area where Mama Weaver was praying. Soon, a small block chapel on the property became the meeting place for a new congregation. Over the next five years, they met, prayed and worked the area as a mission of their mother church under Dr. Guy’s leadership.
Then, in 1950, Englewood incorporated as an autonomous congregation with 50 charter members. That first year, the new church constructed their second auditorium and began a trajectory of growth that has continued for 75 years now.
As we celebrate this remarkable milestone, the words of the psalmist resonate deep in my heart, “The Lord has done great things for us; we are glad (Ps. 126:3).” You simply cannot explain the story of our congregation apart from the power and blessing of God.
Observing this church anniversary has reminded me again of the importance of the local church.
The Greek word ekklesia adorns the New Testament to describe the gathering of God’s people, or what we call the church. In the Septuagint (the earliest Greek translation of the Old Testament), the same word describes the assembly of the nation Israel. Clearly, the emphasis is on the people who met together, not the building that housed them. In fact, there is no evidence of a church building before the 2nd century.
I am not suggesting that brick and mortar are unimportant. In many ways, the place where God’s people gather offers the first impression to the community about who they are. Yet, location and facilities alone do not make a church. Theologically, the church is the assembly of the Christ’s bride for the sole purpose of worshipping the Lord.
Church at Corinth
When describing the church at Corinth, for example, the Apostle Paul refers to them as “those who have been sanctified in Christ Jesus” before identifying the people there as “saints” (1 Cor. 1:2). The idea is that a church is set apart for the Lord, in order to think, believe, and live differently than the world around them. Saints are those who are holy, both positionally because of the work of Christ on the cross and practically because of the continued work of sanctification by the Holy Spirit.
Also of interest is the fact that these descriptions apply to the body of Corinth as a whole, not to individuals.
In other words, they were set apart, together.
They were the holy ones of God, together. In addition, the overwhelming Scriptural references to the church refer to single, local congregations rather than the universal church (all believers in all places). The implication is that the local church functions as a means to mature and grow our faith in ways that would otherwise be impossible.
New Testament admonitions
One only needs to consider the abundance of New Testament admonitions which regulate our behavior toward one another in the body of Christ in order to appreciate the transformative impact of a local church. We are told to . . .
- Be devoted to one another (Rom. 12:10).
- Be of the same mind toward one another (Rom. 12:16).
- Build up on another (Rom. 14:19).
- Accept one another (Rom. 15:7).
- Admonish one another (Rom. 15:14).
- Care for one another (1 Cor. 12:25).
- Greet one another (1 Cor. 16:20).
- Serve one another (Gal. 5:13).
- Bear one another’s burdens (Gal. 6:2).
- Be kind to one another (Eph. 4:32).
- Forgive one another (Eph. 4:32).
- Encourage one another (1 Thess. 5:11).
- Pray for one another (James 5:16).
- Fellowship with one another (1 John 1:7).
I could keep going, but you see the point. Living out our faith fully is impossible apart from the local church. No wonder the writer of Hebrews instructs us not to forsake our assembly together with other believers (Heb. 10:25).
Reminders like these are essential in our highly individualistic age. If I may state it bluntly, we have lost our sense of congregational identity in American Christianity where some Christians change churches as much as they change their wardrobe and others opt out of church participation altogether. Some circles even boast, “I love Jesus, but I hate the church!”
Congregational process
The root of misguided practices and assertions like these is the notion of walking with God alone. How can I grow? How can God bless me? What do I need? What is God doing in my life? Though questions like these are not unimportant, they are but a fraction of the sanctification that we need.
Spiritual growth is without question an individual reality, but it is also congregational process. We simply cannot become the Christians God desires us to be apart from the life He wants us to live within a local assembly of believers.
EDITOR’S NOTE — This opinion piece was written by Adam B. Dooley, pastor of Englewood Baptist Church in Jackson, Tennessee.
