Faith

Notes on Kevin DeYoung and Ted Kluck’s
Why we Love the Church:
in praise of institutions and organized religion
Chapter 7 : The Theological (The Church of Diminishing Definition)

In Chapter 7, DeYoung responds to two main theological objections to the church. The first, that a Christian need not belong to the visible church; and the second, that “the church” means something entirely different from the religious organizations we know as churches.

I can hardly bear to even comment on the first objection. The idea of a churchless Christianity is a preposterous to me as the idea of a boneless vertebrate. After all, the church is the structure that gives form and functionality to Christ’s body here on earth. Without the church, we are not a body but a blob of cells incapable of being or doing anything.

DeYoung says:

“The church is unique. Though individual believers are indwelt with the Holy Spirit as temples of God, only the church constitutes the body of Christ. One church-leaver argues that may of the premises of institutional Christianity are suspect ‘given this one cold, hard fact: Christ indiscriminately, bully, and equally establishes his presence and life within every believer.’ While it is true that Christ establishes life in every believer, the church alone is ‘the fullness of Him who fills all in all’ (Eph. 1:23). Churchless Christianity makes about as much sense as a Christless church, and has just about as much biblical warrant. John Stott’s assessment of evangelism in the book of Acts is right: The Lord ‘didn’t add them to the church without saving them, and he didn’t save them without adding them to the church. Salvation and church membership went together; they still do.'”
Kevin DeYoung, Why We Love the Church, page 164

I agree.

The second objection DeYoung addresses is the argument that we can have “church” without having structure, regular worship services, and religion. This is the “church” of those who reject organized religion and delight in “Christian spirituality”–making this concept of “church” perfect for today’s postmodern, who likes to sample everything without being constrained by anything.

Yet this is not the picture of the church we see in the New Testament. Instead, we have a church with an authority structure, defined assemblies for public worship that included preaching and sacraments, and had specific religious trappings: a Holy book, rules for proper conduct, definitions of orthodoxy, and religious rituals or ceremonies.

“The church, as the elect people of God, is both organism and organization. The church is a breathing, growing, maturing, living thing. It is also comprised of a certain order (I Cor 14:40), with institutional norms (5:1-13), doctrinal standards (15:1-2), and defined rituals (11:23-26). The two aspects of the church–organism and organization–must not be played off against each other, for both are ‘grounded in the operations of the glorified head of the church through the Holy Spirit.’ Offices and gifts, governance and the people, organization and organism–all these belong together. They are all blessings from the work of Christ.”
Kevin DeYoung, Why We Love the Church, page 170

On Church Structure:

I’ve already discussed tradition and the order of services in depth, so I will focus my attention here on the governmental structures of a church.

The clear pattern of Scripture for church government was that elders (also called bishops or overseers) who met certain qualifications (I Tim 3:1-7, Titus 1:5-9) were appointed over every church (Acts 14:23, Titus 1:5) to shepherd, to teach, to discipline, and to exhort and pray for the body (I Tim 3:5, Titus 1:9, James 5:14, I Pet 5:1-4). Likewise, deacons who met certain qualifications (I Tim 3:8-13) were appointed to minister to the practical needs of the body in order that the elders/apostles might more fully devote themselves to the ministry of the Word (Acts 6:1-4). Paul specifically singles out those elders who minister in the Word and doctrine as worthy of special honor (I Tim 5:17-18). The role of pastor/shepherd is affirmed throughout New Testament writing (Acts 20:28, I Peter 5:1-4).

This local form of church government is the pattern of the early church–and is given as a pattern for churches to follow (unlike the cautionary example of I Cor 14). But this does not mean that local churches had no oversight or association with other churches. We see in Acts 15 that the church gathers together the so-called “Jerusalem council” to resolve a dispute regarding circumcision. The decision of this council was then sent to all the churches of the region, that they might know how to deal with this situation. There is also evidence that the churches associated together to provide for each others’ needs (Acts 11:27-29, I Cor 16:1-4)

Unlike the modern day interpretation of church, the church of Scripture has clear organizational components that allow it to function in accordance with God’s will.

On Assembling for Worship:

Proponents of redefining the church would say that “church” is anytime two or more believers are gathered together. They cite Matthew 18:20 to say that anytime two or three are gathered together in Christ’s name, He is there–and church is being done. There is no need, these would say, for a dedicated “worship service” or “church meeting”.

These will affirm the importance of Hebrews 10:25 “not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another.” They see the value in meeting together for encouragement, for prayer, for worship, perhaps for informal Bible study–but many of these would say that preaching the Word is unnecessary.

This is clearly out of line with Scripture, which affirms the importance of preaching again and again. John the Baptist was a preacher (Matt 3:1, Mark 1:4-7; Luke 3:2-6). Jesus was a preacher (Matt 4:17, 4:23, 9:35, 11:1; Mark 1:14, 1:38-39, 2:2; Luke 4:43-44, 8:1). Jesus commissioned his followers, the 70 and others, to preach (Matt 10:7, 10:27; Mark 6:12, 16:15; Luke 9:6, 9:60). The church of Acts preached the Word (Acts 4:2, 5:42, 8:4-5, 8:25, 8:35, 8:40, 9:20, 11:19, 13:42, 14:7, 14:21, 14:25, 15:35, 16:10, 17:13…). In 2 Timothy 4:2, Paul commands Timothy to “Preach the Word.” Multiple times, the epistles affirm the efficacy of preaching in the Christian life (Rom 10:14-15, I Cor 15:1-2, Col 1:23, Titus 1:3).

Preaching is an integral part of life in the New Testament church.

I remember asking my dad once, why the pastor in my grandparents’ Lutheran church read the Word from the lectern on one side of the sanctuary but preached it from the pulpit at the other side. My dad explained that this was an expression of the value placed on the preaching of the Word–the pastor would mount the much larger pulpit as he proclaimed the Word of God. It is not by accident that the two most prominent pieces of ornamentation in a Lutheran church are the pulpit and the altar. To Lutherans, these designate two of the most essential offices of the church (that is, the formal assembly of believers): to preach the Word and to partake in the Lord’s Supper.

While the symbolism of the pulpit and the altar are not required, the fact remains that these two offices (Preaching and Participating in Communion) are two essential functions unique to the formal assembly of the church for worship.

“The answer to bad preaching (and no doubt that’s what we have in some of our churches) is not no preaching, but better preaching–preaching full of meat and marrow; preaching that manifestly comes out of the Scriptures and leads us back to them week after week; preaching that is unquestionably soaked in godliness and the presence of God; preaching delivered with passion and humility as from a dying man to dying men. When pastors preach like this, some will love it and some will not. But no one will have the right to label the sermon ‘a little talk’ or ‘an inspiring oration.'”
Kevin DeYoung, Why We Love the Church, page 176

On Religion:

The rallying cry of proponents of the “new church” is that it’s relationship, not religion.

This is true….and false.

The essence of Christianity–and of church life–is relationship with God and through that, relationship with other believers. But that is not to say that Christianity is not a religion.

According to my American Heritage College Dictionary, religion is defined as “a set of beliefs, values, and practices based on the teachings of a spiritual leader.” In this sense, Christianity is indeed a religion, with its own set of beliefs, values, and practices.

Proponents of the “anti-religion” church equate religion with legalism–dead works that accomplish nothing. And truly, religion (beliefs, values, and practices) without relationship with Christ and other Christians is dead works that accomplish nothing. Religion divorced from relationship is meaningless.

But what the “anti-religion” crowd fails to take into account is that relationship without religion is not relationship. It is impossible to be in relationship with Christ and with His body without adhering to the set of beliefs, values, and practices Christ set up for His disciples.

Hebrews 11:6 says that no one can come to God unless they believe that “He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.” We cannot be in relationship with God unless we have certain beliefs about (and belief IN) God.

Matthew 16:24-26 states that if anyone is to come after Christ, he must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow. This radical restructuring of values–and taking up the values of Christ–is required if anyone is to walk in relationship with Christ.

I John 2:3-6 states that we know that we love God because we obey His commandments and walk as He walked. Unless we adhere to certain practices in obedience to Christ, we aren’t in relationship with Christ.

Religion without relationship is meaningless–but it is impossible to have relationship without religion.

The error that anti-religionists make is that they equate the religion that proceeds out of relationship with Christ with the meaningless tradition of relationship-less religion. But the two couldn’t be more different. In every other religion, adherents cling to beliefs, values, and practices from the teachings of a dead man. In Christianity, our religion (our beliefs, values, and practices) proceed from relationship with a living God. The Christian religion is not one of dead works–it is one of works brought forth from relationship with a living God.

It is good for us to take a critical look at what we are doing as the church, to assess it in light of the Word of God, to seek to be effective in our culture. But in our attempts at relevance, we should not forsake these three essential components of the church: structure, preaching of the Word, and religion (adherence to specific beliefs, values, and practices).

More notes on Why We Love the Church by Kevin DeYoung and Ted Kluck:

• Review of Book
• Your Kingdom Come (Notes on Chapter 1)
• Self-Aware Revolutionaries or God-Aware Conventionalists? (Notes on Chapter 2)
• The Church in the Popularity Polls
• Traditional or Restorationist? (Notes on Chapter 5)
• How church oughta be (Notes on Chapter 5)
• New Testament Traditions (Notes on Chapter 5)
• Dogmatic or Emergent? (Notes on Chapter 6)
• Redefining Church (Notes on Chapter 7)

Notes on Kevin DeYoung and Ted Kluck’s
Why we Love the Church:
in praise of institutions and organized religion
Chapter 6 : Brief Interviews (Snapshots of Churched People)

“Sadly, there seems to be a ‘you’re either young, Reformed, and dogmatic or you’re emergent’ dichotomy forming, and it’s troubling.”
-Ted Kluck, Why We Love the Church, page 144

Young?	Yes
Reformed?	Leaning that way
Dogmatic?	You tell me.

The question is, do I gravitate towards this “side” of the dichotomy because I’ve thought it out and concluded that this side has it right–or am I simply reacting to what I see as the anti-intellectualism and political liberalism of the emergent side?

O, that I would base my opinions and actions on Christ and what He has said rather than on belonging to a certain “camp” of beliefs.

More notes on Why We Love the Church by Kevin DeYoung and Ted Kluck:

• Review of Book
• Your Kingdom Come (Notes on Chapter 1)
• Self-Aware Revolutionaries or God-Aware Conventionalists? (Notes on Chapter 2)
• The Church in the Popularity Polls
• Traditional or Restorationist? (Notes on Chapter 5)
• How church oughta be (Notes on Chapter 5)
• New Testament Traditions (Notes on Chapter 5)
• Dogmatic or Emergent? (Notes on Chapter 6)
• Redefining Church (Notes on Chapter 7)

Notes on Kevin DeYoung and Ted Kluck’s
Why we Love the Church:
in praise of institutions and organized religion
Chapter 5 : The Historical (One Holy Catholic Church)

For the first two parts of my notes on Chapter 5, check out Traditional or Restorationist? and How Church Oughta Be

Question 3: What is the role of tradition in the church?

I hail from a contemporary congregation in which tradition is viewed with deep suspicion. No word is perceived as more dangerous than “ritual” or “routine”. Far from doing things “the way we’ve always done them”, we like to do things differently–all the time. The only thing constant is change, right?

**Please recognize that the attitude does not always equal reality. We have plenty of unwitting routines and rituals–the progression of a typical worship service, the way the elders greet the congregation or give announcements, the warning not to take communion as “routine”. But these routines are the result of habit rather than willful decision to adopt or retain a certain action or order as beneficial.**

If asked to defend this wariness towards tradition, a few congregants might be able to produce a few New Testament proof texts: Colossians 1:8 “Beware lest anyone cheat you…according to the tradition of men…”, I Peter 1:18 “knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things, like silver or gold, from your aimless conduct received by tradition from your fathers”, or Matthew 15:1-9 and Mark 7:1-13 in which Jesus sharply rebukes the Pharisees and scribes for “making the Word of God to no effect through your tradition which you have handed down.” (Mark 7:13)

Some might take from these passages that tradition has no place in the New Testament church–that we have been saved from tradition and that tradition is necessarily in opposition to the Word of God.

Scripture, I believe, says otherwise.

In I Corinthians 11:2, Paul praises the brethren that they “keep the traditions just as I delivered them to you”, implying that tradition was important, even in the earliest New Testament churches. Likewise, in 2 Thessalonians 2:15, the brethren are exhorted to “hold the traditions which you were taught, whether by word or our epistle.” On multiple occasions, Paul encourages the church to follow his pattern, or to be a pattern to others (Phil 3:17, I Tim 4:12, II Tim 1:13, Tit 2:7). Clearly, tradition is not seen as unequivocally negative.

What, then, is the proper role of tradition in the New Testament church? How is one to determine whether tradition is appropriate or inappropriate? I believe Scripture gives us some guidelines for understanding the proper role of tradition in the church of God.

Tradition is not commandment

Quoting Isaiah 29:13, Jesus says in Matthew 15:9 of the Pharisee’s and scribes’ traditions: “And in vain they worship Me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.” Tradition is not the commandment of God. This should be made perfectly clear. Nowhere are we commanded in Scripture to follow a certain liturgy or church calendar. Nowhere are we commanded to worship in a specific location or using certain words. To place these traditions on the same level as the Word of God is foolish and unBiblical.

God’s commandment is given precedent over tradition

In Matthew 15:1-9 and Mark 7:1-13, Jesus rebukes the scribes and Pharisees, not for keeping traditions but for “transgress[ing] the commandment of God because of [their] tradition.” They were attempting to nullify the commands of God regarding honoring parents by religiously stating that people could give the money that would have supported their parents in their old age to the temple instead. “Sorry, Mom and Dad, I already gave it to the temple–you wouldn’t be so selfish as to take from the temple?” Jesus makes clear that God’s commandment is given precedent over tradition–and that any tradition that would nullify God’s word is to be discarded.

Tradition is not gospel

Paul speaks to this in Colossians 2, where he warns the Colossians against those who would forget Christ and cling instead to the commandments of men: circumcision, food, festivals, and angel worship. Paul says that these things have the appearance of wisdom—but that they are of no value against the indulgence of the flesh (Col 2:23). All that is necessary for salvation is complete in Christ. “For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily; and you are complete in Him, who is the head of all principality and power.” (Col 2:9-10) Tradition is neither necessary nor efficacious for salvation.

We were saved from aimless tradition.

I Peter 1:18-19 states that “you were not redeemed with corruptible things, like silver or gold, from your aimless conduct received by tradition from your fathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot.” Before we believed, all our conduct was aimless, attempting to achieve salvation through our own works, whether by tradition or otherwise. We have been saved, redeemed by the blood of Christ, from the aimless groping for salvation passed down to us by man’s traditions.

Traditions are good.

Recognizing that tradition is not commandment, tradition cannot be used to nullify commandment, tradition is not gospel, and that we have been saved from aimless tradition, Scripture affirms that tradition is nevertheless good. I Corinthians 11:2, in which the Corinthians are praised for keeping the traditions as Paul delivered them, is preceded by the words: “Imitate me, just as I also imitate Christ.” Paul places himself as an example, setting up a tradition, if you will, of imitation. The Colossians 2 passage, which warns against empty tradition that seeks salvation through works, is preceded by exhortation to follow a better tradition “As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, rooted and built up in Him and established in the faith, as you have been taught, abounding in it with thanksgiving.” (Col 2:6-7)

In 2 Thessalonians, the believers are actually urged to withdraw from any brother who does not follow a specific tradition passed down from Paul: “But we command you, brethren…that you withdraw from every brother who walks disorderly and not according to the tradition which he received from us.” (II Thes 3:6) This tradition Paul speaks of is that of tireless good works, quietness, and self-sufficiency (that is, not mooching off of the believers, but working for their own bread).

I love the way DeYoung speaks of tradition:

“Although there’s much talk these days about our lack of Christian community and the need we have to do our exegesis in the community of faith, the one community we seldom look to for wisdom is the community of the dead.”

The traditions of the church are neither gospel nor command, but they are an opportunity by which modern (or post-modern) believers may follow the example of and learn from the generations of Christians who have gone on before us, and they are an opportunity to join in worship with believers throughout the ages, all proclaiming the great works of God in salvation.

More notes on Why We Love the Church by Kevin DeYoung and Ted Kluck:

• Review of Book
• Your Kingdom Come (Notes on Chapter 1)
• Self-Aware Revolutionaries or God-Aware Conventionalists? (Notes on Chapter 2)
• The Church in the Popularity Polls
• Traditional or Restorationist? (Notes on Chapter 5)
• How church oughta be (Notes on Chapter 5)
• New Testament Traditions (Notes on Chapter 5)
• Dogmatic or Emergent? (Notes on Chapter 6)
• Redefining Church (Notes on Chapter 7)

Notes on Kevin DeYoung and Ted Kluck’s
Why we Love the Church:
in praise of institutions and organized religion
Chapter 5 : The Historical (One Holy Catholic Church)

For the first half of my notes on Chapter 5, check out Traditional or Restorationist?

Question 2: How should church services be conducted?

DeYoung criticizes Viola (author of Pagan Christianity) sharply for what he sees as Viola’s absolute rejection of the traditional order of worship. According to DeYoung, Viola claims that the order of service is unscriptural and pagan, and that it “strangles the headship of Jesus Christ.” Instead, Viola encourages a return to the “glorious, free-flowing, open-participatory, every-member-functioning church meetings that we see in I Corinthians 14:26 and Hebrews 10:24-25.” (Having not read Pagan Christianity, I base my understanding of Viola’s position on what I have read in Why we love the church, which may or may not be a correct representation of Viola’s position. Caveat emptor.)

What Viola, apparently, argues for is a restoration of a 1 Corinthians 14 “order of worship” in which “whenever you come together, each of you has a psalm, has a teaching, has a tongue, has a revelation, has an interpretation” (I Cor 14:26). Each person shares their part and, as Viola mentions, there is a “glorious, free-flowing, open-participatory, every-member-functioning church meeting.”

But does I Corinthians 14 really describe this free-form manner of conducting church meetings as being ideal? Certainly, I Corinthians 14:26 makes clear that this is how church meetings in Corinth were being conducted. But Paul’s commentary on this form of worship indicates that “free-form” was not at all the ideal.

The context of I Corinthians 14, far from encouraging a “free-flowing, open-participatory, every-member-functioning church meeting”, instead encourages order and silence in church meetings. Paul lays out standards for how many people are to speak (two or at most three), for how they are to speak (in turn, with interpretation for tongues), and for who is not to speak (women). Rather than encouraging the Corinthian’s free-flowing style, Paul places limits on their meetings and insists on decency and order in their services.

Is this to say that a free-flowing, participatory service is Scripturally inappropriate? By no means. As long as the prescriptions of I Corinthians 14 for decency and order are carried out, this appears to be an appropriate form for a worship service to take–although logistically, this form is generally confined to a smaller body of believers. I understand that this is how the Plymouth Brethren conduct their breaking of bread services and my mom has told me that my uncle and his wife belonged to a fellowship (part of the Charismatic restorationist movement of the 70s) that conducted its services in this way. These services can be beautiful–but they also require great discipline and obedience on the part of the church body in order to ensure that all things are indeed done decently and in order.

So this open-participation form of worship appears to be Biblically permissible, when conducted according to Paul’s standards in I Corinthians–but is this open-participation form of worship ideal or required? Does Scripture say anything about what specific form church gatherings are to take?

The New Testament has little to say on this topic. Acts 2:42 indicates certain important components of church life: doctrine, fellowship, breaking of bread, and prayers. I Corinthians 11 indicates the importance of communion in early church life–and the necessity that it be taken in an appropriate way. But as far as an order of service? I see none.

However, the Old Testament is filled with liturgy. After delivering the people of Israel from Egypt, God set up a specific calendar for worship and celebrations. He prescribed a certain way in which worship in the tabernacle was to take place. In Numbers 6:22-27, God gives the priests a specific benediction by which they are to bless the people of Israel. We see examples of liturgical-type worship taking place in heaven such as when the living creatures give glory to God and then the twenty-four elders bow down and worship in chorus in Revelation 4. Historical documents from the early church (AD 95-200) include orders of worship and liturgy.

So, while the New Testament does not prescribe a specific order of worship, I see no evidence to suggest that liturgy or set orders of worship are opposed to Scripture or to the example of the early church. I see no evidence to suggest that liturgy is a Pagan component that has been mixed into Christian worship. Rather, I see liturgy as a continuation of the liturgical tradition of Judaism and of the early church. Scripture does not insist upon liturgy for a New Testament church–but neither does it forbid it.

What Scripture does say clearly about the order of service is that there BE order in the service.

Scripture gives great latitude with how church meetings are supposed to be carried out: where meetings occur and what order the service takes. But Scripture is clear in the need for order in the meeting of the church–an element I fear is neglected in this newest form of Restorationism.

More notes on Why We Love the Church by Kevin DeYoung and Ted Kluck:

• Review of Book
• Your Kingdom Come (Notes on Chapter 1)
• Self-Aware Revolutionaries or God-Aware Conventionalists? (Notes on Chapter 2)
• The Church in the Popularity Polls
• Traditional or Restorationist? (Notes on Chapter 5)
• How church oughta be (Notes on Chapter 5)
• New Testament Traditions (Notes on Chapter 5)
• Dogmatic or Emergent? (Notes on Chapter 6)
• Redefining Church (Notes on Chapter 7)

Notes on Kevin DeYoung and Ted Kluck’s
Why we Love the Church:
in praise of institutions and organized religion
Chapter 5 : The Historical (One Holy Catholic Church)

Chapter 5 primarily focuses on responding to claims made in the book Pagan Christianity, about how the church is or is not to be run.

DeYoung sees two large themes in Pagan Christianity that he wants to respond to. The first theme is the idea that the church is not a building so the church should not have a building. The second theme DeYoung addresses is the idea that the form or order of service in the Christian church is inconsistent with New Testament Christianity and must therefore be discarded.

Because of my early years’ obsession with how the church is REALLY supposed to work, I found this chapter fascinating. I spent a lot of time in my teenage years trying to tease out from Scripture what the New Testament church really looked like. I didn’t come to many firm conclusions, though, because–well, the Bible doesn’t really make a big deal out of where the church met or what order of service they followed.

So I enjoyed hearing DeYoung’s thoughts on the matter. And I enjoyed thinking through this topic again–with a few years more experience and Scriptural study under my belt.

Basically, this chapter is a response to a Restorationist view of the church. Restorationism seeks to return the church to its early New Testament roots, with a worship style that closely mimics that of New Testament believers.

I find myself in an odd state in relation to Restorationist ideology, because I am a traditionalist at the core–but I still fancy myself revolutionary (who doesn’t, right?) I like the idea of modeling a church after the Acts church–the church which saw the explosive growth of Christianity to all of the known world within a generation (Zowie–who can’t long for that?). But I also see great value in the traditions handed down in the 1700 years since Constantine. I love the traditions I know and see–the liturgy, the church calendar, the creeds. I don’t want to scrap these in order to return to the “original”. I want more than just a Restorationist church–I want a church that embraces Christian tradition throughout the ages.

But what if the authors of Pagan Christianity are right, and what I see as Christian tradition is really pagan tradition and not Christianity at all? What if the buildings and liturgy and music I know and love is really a perversion of what God intended the church to be? That seems to be what these authors claim.

So I must ask myself: what specifically does God have to say about how church is to be done, and is church tradition in opposition to God’s intent for the church?

Question 1: Should churches meet in dedicated buildings or in private homes?

According to this newest wave of Restorationism (as opposed to the 19th century Stone-Campbell Restoration Movement), meetings of the church were never intended to be conducted in church buildings. Instead, believers met in each others’ homes.

In light of this, various Restorationist groups have taken different paths. Some, such as the Plymouth Brethren, have official meeting places, but they have chosen not to call those meeting places “churches” lest anyone should think that the building rather than the people are the church. Others, like those in today’s house church movement, have eschewed formal meeting places altogether, choosing instead to meet in individual homes.

But what does Scripture have to say about where the church is to meet?

My reading of the New Testament gives no indication that there is a specific place where the church is to meet. Assemblies in the book of Acts met both in individual homes and in public places. Acts 2:46 says that the church continued “daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house…” We see that the church assembled in a public place of worship as well as in individual homes. In Acts 5:12, the church meets in Solomon’s porch (a colonnade on the East side of the temple, according to Zondervan’s Pictorial Bible Dictionary). In Acts 5:42, the apostles teach and preach in the temple and in houses. Paul preaches frequently in synagogues during his missionary journeys (Acts 9:20, 13:5, 13:15, 14:1, 17:1-4, 17:11, 17:17.) When dissension arises in the synagogue at Corinth, Paul withdraws with the rest of the church to the School of Tyrannus, presumably a semi-public lecture hall (Acts 19:8-10).

At least in the book of Acts, we see the church meeting both in homes and in public places, sometimes in public places specifically set apart for worship and sometimes in public places that also (presumably) had secular use.

Home church proponents might point to the mention of “the church that is in your/his/her house” in the epistles. But again, the exact meaning of these references is not always clear. First, the church in one person’s house may be simply referring to the believing family or household of that individual. It is not inconceivable that some of the people who were mentioned had large households, composed of extended family as well as servants and even slaves. So the reference “the church that is in your house” may not in fact be referring to a meeting of the church at all.

But let’s say, for the sake of argument, that when Paul refers to “the church that is in [Priscilla and Aquilla’s] house” in I Corinthians 16:19, he is referring to a group of believers who regularly congregate at Priscilla and Aquilla’s house. This is quite possible. But does it necessarily follow that since the church met in Priscilla and Aquilla’s house, all churches should meet in individual’s homes?

I don’t believe so. Perhaps the church met in homes, but I see no evidence in Scripture that the church MUST meet in homes. In fact, based on the record of Acts, it seems that the earliest church met BOTH in public places of worship and in private homes.

So I see no support for a nostalgic return to “house churchism” or for a derisive dismissal of church buildings. The New Testament makes no firm statement as to where the church is to congregate, and gives examples of both informal and formal, public and private meeting places. I would not dare to create dogma where God Himself has remained so silent.

(to be continued: discussing the “order of service” and church government)

More notes on Why We Love the Church by Kevin DeYoung and Ted Kluck:

• Review of Book
• Your Kingdom Come (Notes on Chapter 1)
• Self-Aware Revolutionaries or God-Aware Conventionalists? (Notes on Chapter 2)
• The Church in the Popularity Polls
• Traditional or Restorationist? (Notes on Chapter 5)
• How church oughta be (Notes on Chapter 5)
• New Testament Traditions (Notes on Chapter 5)
• Dogmatic or Emergent? (Notes on Chapter 6)
• Redefining Church (Notes on Chapter 7)

Notes on Kevin DeYoung and Ted Kluck’s
Why we Love the Church:
in praise of institutions and organized religion
Chapter 4 : Appetite for Deconstruction (Why Church is boring, Christians are __…)

“The pastors’ conference was an eye-opening experience for me, a non-pastor. I got to spend a week having really interesting conversations with a whole bunch of mostly hardworking, earnest, kind pastors who are really concerned about shepherding their flocks and reaching them with the gospel.

…I had settled into a sort of de facto, either/or dynamic in which pastors are either wanna-be revolutionary types, or mostly boring but get-the-gospel-right young Reformed types. What I see here, at the conference, is a ‘both’ sitation. These guys, for the most part, are real and passionate about worship, about getting the gospel right, and about reach the lost. They sincerely care about reaching postmoderns, and not just because their future (read: members) depends on it. Most of them have been to seminary, and while seminary, as all of the ‘left the church and found God’ books will tell you, isn’t in any way a fast track to superspirituality, the majority of these men have spent more time studying the Scriptures and classic Christian texts than I have. I appreciate them for this.”

Ted Kluck, Why We Love the Church

What is it like to be a pastor in this day and age, when the trend among professing Christians is to be anti-church? I don’t know, but I can’t imagine it’s easy.

I can see this de facto either/or that Kluck refers to–either a pastor is hip and relevant or he is boring but Biblical. Either he’s chasing numbers and revolutionary ideas, or he’s stuck in the mud with yesterday’s doctrine. That’s the perception at any rate, the opinion you could easily get from reading the “get away from church” lit.

And then there’s the seminary thing–the books that say that seminary doesn’t do anything for pastors but turn them into dusty fuddy-duds. Seminaries are a thing of the past, today’s prognosticators declare. Call a seminarian and you’re fast-tracking your church for the grave.

That’s prevailing opinion–or at least that’s how prevailing opinion appears.

I’m heartened to hear of Kluck’s experience at this pastors’ conference. I’m heartened to hear of pastors who are passionate for postmoderns and passionate for sound doctrine. I’m heartened to hear that the seminaries aren’t dead–that young men still hunger after the Word of the Lord–and are willing to devote years of their lives to learning it.

It gives me hope for the church.

Kluck has a last coment about pastors in this segment of his chapter (yes, this is mostly footnote material): “They’ve also committed their lives to an enterprise (church) which can largely feel like a losing, uphill battle, and the Bible tells us will be out of place and largely reviled in culture. A lot of them feel discouraged and look tired.”

I can only imagine the burden these faithful men bear–the struggle to be faithful to the Word and relevant to this culture, the discouragement that comes with criticism from within and without.

Thank you, thank you, pastors–for bearing the burden, for devoting yourselves to the Word, for laying down your life for your people. Thank you, faithful shepherds, for taking hold of the call of God, for labouring for the safety and sanctification of the Lord’s flock.

I am encouraged by your service–and I pray that God would encourage your hearts in the good work to which He has called you. I pray, trusting that my God will supply all your needs, according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus (Phil 4:19). It is a high call, a hard call, to pastor the church of God–but thank you for pressing on, despite all odds, towards the upward call of God in Christ Jesus (Phil 3:14).

More notes on Why We Love the Church by Kevin DeYoung and Ted Kluck:

• Review of Book
• Your Kingdom Come (Notes on Chapter 1)
• Self-Aware Revolutionaries or God-Aware Conventionalists? (Notes on Chapter 2)
• The Church in the Popularity Polls
• Traditional or Restorationist? (Notes on Chapter 5)
• How church oughta be (Notes on Chapter 5)
• New Testament Traditions (Notes on Chapter 5)
• Dogmatic or Emergent? (Notes on Chapter 6)
• Redefining Church (Notes on Chapter 7)