How God’s Attributes Shape Man’s View of Ecclesiology
The Church, above all else, should mirror the character and attributes of God. Sadly many churches do not. Instead of appealing to God, they focus on that which the target group desires. What is the newest and trendiest thing the church down the road is doing? What is the largest church in your movement practicing? What’s new in television ministries? In sum, pastors, teachers, laymen, students, and Christians in general are subjected to countless approaches to ‘practicing church’. However, the question remains, which approach is the biblical approach? This is the topic I wish to explore in this essay.
Within the church there are varying models, methods, and paradigms of ministry. Of these paradigms two are in strict contrast, namely, the “Seeker Sensitive” model and the “Ultra-Conservative Fundamentalist” model. These have continually held opposing views on evangelism, discipleship, worship, and other ecclesial practices.
There has always been heated debate over the chief attribute of God, whether it is His love or His holiness. When one accentuates the “love” of God as His chief attribute, there is a tendency to be more inclined to assimilate your church into the “Seeker Sensitive” movement. On the other hand, when one emphasizes the “holiness” of God as His chief attribute there is a propensity to fall under a category of strict “Fundamentalism” where no one deserves God (or even the local ultra-conservative church for that matter). There is a middle ground on these issues where many churches, ministers, and even Christians would lie. (There are even branches from these two attributes, which warrant discussion.)
The question remains whether or not the correct attribute of God has been emphasized and if so, how to interact with this attribute being demonstrated in our lives and in our ecclesial practices. God’s holiness is not rigid or cumbersome, nor is God’s love painful or exclusive. Yet the way we view these attributes shapes us as individuals, what our churches become, and how we pass our faith on. If we as Christians are to reflect God’s image, then our churches should reflect His attributes as seen in His Word.
I believe in the absolute holiness of God being His chief attribute. However, if one sees God in a pattern of righteousness and purity but fails to see His hatred of sin, we neglect to comprehend the biblical view of His holiness. If we view God’s love as over exemplified and fail to stand against sin, corruption, and immoral behaviors, we have diminished one attribute for the over emphasis of another. In evaluating our own ministries and personal lives, what we believe (or don’t believe) about God’s holiness and love will drive how we live and how we lead others.
One’s view of God’s attributes are closely related to many facets concerning the local church—for example, the way one’s focus is placed upon ecclesiology (study of the church), their practice of worship and ministry, and Christianity in general. The local church consists of believers who are set apart to embody distinct beliefs ascertained in God’s Word by discovering the fundamentals of God through edifying the saints while evangelizing the lost. Without a proper view of God one will falter in their faith and ultimately their Christian maturity.
Consider church discipline. It is a biblical practice that must be guided by a proper understanding of God’s holiness and love. As a pastor and shepherd, I will be held accountable for the flock entrusted to me (Heb.13:17). Therefore I must faithfully guide my church to practice discipline with a view of God’s holiness in mind. There is a loving way to practice church discipline since love is part of what compels discipline. However, it is because of God’s holiness and the church’s reflection of it that one must lovingly practice discipline.
On the other hand, when one accentuates God’s love over His holiness, the church may become nothing more than a place where love is demonstrated while holiness, and the dangers of sin and worldliness, are forgotten. Churches fail to adhere to Scripture when the aim of the church is to make individuals feel good about themselves. When an individual is self absorbed on the experiential nature of church instead of being shown their own sinfulness in light of God’s holiness, or how to reflect God by being more like Him and following after Him, their worldview is distorted and misguided.
When churches preach, teach, and model a “love-only” approach to God and Christianity, His righteousness, justice, and even His holiness are replaced by a message able to tickle the ears, but diminishes God. F. Leroy Forlines says in The Quest for Truth, “When Love is made the basic attribute of God, it leads to the idea of universal salvation – an idea that finds no support whatever in scripture. It also leads to compromise in moral issues because love that is not subject to holiness is too ready to modify and compromise” [1].
If a church does not emphasize the Gospel because of God’s holiness and then only through his love, to repent and place their belief fully and completely in Christ alone, then the message is futile. Universal salvation may not be said, but it is implied. The church must allow individuals to place their faith in Christ and Him alone. That is when churches model God’s attributes, by reflecting His glory through extending His holiness and love to sinners and saints alike.
David F. Wells states in The Courage to be Protestant:
Churches that want to influence their culture are often tempted to think that to be effective they must hide their otherworldliness and become this-worldly. They think they must identify with their culture as if they knew nothing but that culture. They imagine their chief tool, if not their only tool, of influence is friendship and love with their world.
Churches that actually do influence the culture – here is the paradox – distance themselves from it in their internal life. They do not offer what can already be had on secular terms in the culture. They are an alternative to it. They stand over against it in their preoccupations, because their preoccupations are with the God of their salvation who in his holiness and grace is completely unlike anything we find in life. In life we find preoccupations that are thoroughly this-worldly. The preoccupations in the church arise from the knowledge of God in Christians and from his written Word. Because of this they are necessarily “otherworldly” [2].
May we reflect the character of God in the church and in our lives by distinguishing ourselves from the culture around us, imitating the one who has saved and redeemed us (Titus 2:11-14). When God’s holiness is proclaimed and exemplified, along with the need to love our neighbor we see a beautiful depiction of what God intended: the universal church, the local church, and the individual Christian glorifying God and being empowered by Him for ministry.
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[1] F. Leroy Forlines, The Quest for Truth (Nashville: Randall House, 2001), 73.
[2] David F. Wells, The Courage to be Protestant (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2008), 224.
Also consulted: Millard Erickson, Christian Theology (Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 1998).
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