Surrounded by a roomful of eager young disciples, I had just finished “waving the flag” for the idea of meeting according to the Church pattern as laid out for us in the New Testament. It was not only a good theological idea, I told them passionately; it was a good practical idea as well. The Church, as the Lord designed it, was persecution-proof; ideal for the rapid deployment of the gospel; structured to minimize the glory of man and maximize the glory of Christ. It would work among tribal peoples, in prison camps, and among the disenfranchised poor in inner cities. It was simple, functional, and beautiful. It even seems to be designed so a bad assembly could be a good school, teaching me grace, patience, longsuffering, love—in short, Christlikeness—just what I need.
An older Christian nearby (whom I suspect was unhappy with my zeal for what he considered to be an unacceptable status quo) asked pointedly: “Do you think [John Nelson] Darby had it all right?”
Well, no. We are thankful for his helpful translations, his tireless gospel work, his voluminous commentaries and his lofty hymns. But I don’t believe Darby had it entirely right, especially regarding the concepts of the church in ruins, corporate defilement ad infinitum, and exclusive reception policies.
“Oh, but you have it all right?” he returned, his voice with, I thought, a scalpeled edge to it.
My response at that time: “Well, brother, if there are areas of concern, tell us, and we’ll compare them with Scripture to see what the truth really is.”
End of conversation.
But it was not the end of my thinking on the matter. Was it possible that the things we had seen were true—beautiful, lofty, gripping truths like the priesthood of all believers and the practical headship of Christ—but that the weakness in much assembly life at present had to do with what we were not seeing?
Careful observers of the New Testament writings concerning the early Church will notice three distinct tiers of information, although there is some blending between the various levels. I would like to suggest for your prayerful consideration that many who think of themselves as New Testament assemblies have a good grasp of two out of those three tiers. But the middle tier seems to be neglected in our thinking these days.
THE BASIC TIER 1 TRUTHS
At the most basic level, there is historical and cultural data. All believers notice these facts. We see the way in which the early believers spoke, the territory they covered, and the modes of travel they used. We notice the current issues they faced—such as not eating food offered to idols, their painful disengagement from Jewish national life, and their clashes with the pagan philosophies and lifestyles.
This information is not trivia. We should be inspired by the prodigious work done by a handful of believers with limited resources against massive opposition. And we may learn much from it. Some cultures around the world still struggle with the problem of food offered to idols. The arguments used against Jewish legalism and Greek philosophy are useful for similar antagonists to the gospel today.
But hopefully most of us understand that the Lord is not subtly telling us by including this tier to use only parchments, wear cloaks and sandals, speak koiné Greek, or travel by sailing ships, because the apostles did these things. Yet there are principles which we may apply today.
THOSE BLESSED TIER 3 TRUTHS
It has generally been agreed that certain New Testament truths were almost completely lost to the Church at large for hundreds of years. Miller’s Church History and Broadbent’s Pilgrim Church unearth marginal groups, persecuted and despised by both civil authorities and state churches, who had varying degrees of light on some of these truths. But it was not until the early 1800s that the wraps came off these family treasures, long covered with the dust of years and stored away, neglected and forgotten.
It is not this issue’s intention to focus on these breathtaking truths; they are (or should be) well known to Uplook readers. They include: the aforementioned practical headship of Christ and the priesthood of all believers; the presidency of the Holy Spirit; the final authority of Scripture in all matters of faith and practice; the centrality of the weekly remembrance of the Lord; the plurality of spiritual elders; the organic unity and giftedness of each member of the one Body; the blessed hope of soon being with and like Christ; and the autonomy of each local assembly. We might also add the crucial distinction between Israel, the Kingdom and the Church, however many dispensations one might recognize.
Along with these we should keep in mind those general doctrines not specifically related to Church life but recognized as orthodox truth by every true believer. For example, the trinity and unity of the Godhead; the full deity and perfect humanity of Christ; salvation by faith alone in the finished work of Christ; the everlasting blessedness of the believing and the everlasting woe of the unrepentant, etc.
These magnificent revelations from the heart of God can never be taught too often nor held too dear. We are not calling for a minimizing of these blessed truths in any way. Shout them from the housetops. Weave them into your thanksgiving. Teach them to your children. Believe them with all your heart. But in embracing these blessings, are we missing other vital parts to God’s present program for the Church?
THE MISSING MIDDLE TIER
It would be, I think, a valuable exercise for the Lord’s people who are serious about New Testament living to open to the book of Acts with this prayer on their lips: “Lord, show us every detail in this book. Keep us from assuming that we know it all. Teach us what we’re missing and then give us the courage and wisdom to live out all the counsel of God.”
On the following pages I want to suggest fifteen truths well nigh lost from much assembly life in North America. These are principles and practices which we need to see and seek to practice; some may have seen some of these, although most would acknowledge there is still room for improvement. (If you are doing some of these, please don’t be satisfied until you’re doing them all!) May the Lord Jesus grant us much grace to happily embrace whatever truth the Spirit may reveal to us from the Word—just as the early believers did (Acts 2:41).
THE NEED OF THE HOUR
Go, stand and speak…ALL the words of this life. Acts 5:20
The risen Lord, who commissioned [the apostles], lives still. His objectives are the same, His vigor undiminished. The Holy Spirit who led the apostles in their definition of the essentials of the Christian gospel in the apostolic age, still expects from all followers of the living Lord the same loyalty to those essentials. Time has not worn down the words of this imperishable Life, nor dimmed the hope they proclaim, nor reduced their relevance to our modern world, which in spite of its sophistications comes more and more in outlook and behavior to resemble the first-century world in which Christianity was born. Under the ever-increasing flood of modern scientific and technological discoveries, people’s capacity to retain a knowledge of the past grows understandably less and less. Their outlook is thus in danger of becoming historically parochial, and their grasp of historical, essential Christianity so insecure that they could, all unwittingly, come to regard as the Christian gospel forms of Christianity from which the very heart has been cut out.
—from the Author’s Preface of David Gooding’s outstanding commentary on Acts, True to the Faith