What do Baptists Believe about the church?

OK, this is a really long one, but there's a lot of crucial stuff in here. AND I'm more mentally sane since the last post. (I already hear some of you, "Keyword: more.") SO...hopefully this will all make sense.

NOW...
We've all been taught that the church isn't a building, but the people who gather there. The thing is: is that all a church is?

When five new believers begin to have Bible study and worship together, does that make them a church since they are gathering together to praise the Lord? What is the difference between the two?

From the Baptist Faith and Message:

A New Testament church of the Lord Jesus Christ is an autonomous local congregation of baptized believers, associated by covenant in the faith and fellowship of the gospel; observing the two ordinances of Christ, governed by His laws, exercising the gifts, rights, and privileges invested in them by His Word, and seeking to extend the gospel to the ends of the earth. Each congregation operates under the Lordship of Christ through democratic processes. In such a congregation each member is responsible and accountable to Christ as Lord. Its scriptural officers are pastors and deacons. While both men and women are gifted for service in the church, the office of pastor is limited to men as qualified by Scripture.

A church is an autonomous local congregation of baptized believers.
A church is made up of people who live near one another, who have been baptized upon repentance and faith in Jesus. This means that people who are not baptized are not considered a church, because baptism is always linked with salvation in the New Testament. Does this mean that people who are not baptized are not saved? No, but it does mean that baptism is one of the first outward signs of confessing Christ as Lord and dying to the old nature. In a sense, it is the first way of telling others about your faith in Christ--your first witness. We need baptism in order to identify ourselves totally with Christ's death and resurrection!

Autonomous means "having the right or power of self-government." This means that when believers gather, they are not ordered around by somebody five hours away in another church, but they have the right to make their own rules (what we call bylaws), etc.

A church is associated by covenant in the faith and fellowship of the gospel.
The baptized believers who come together to make a church have total faith in the gospel, and fellowship with one another according to what Christ has done on the cross. When they come together, they proclaim the gospel to one another because they are thankful for what Christ has done for them.

A church observes the two ordinances of Christ.
By "ordinance" we mean "a prescribed usage." The two ordinances churches should observe together are baptism and the Lord's supper. In baptism, we identify with Christ's death and resurrection. In the Lord's supper, we remember and proclaim Christ's death as we anticipate his coming again. As a church, there is no biblical mandate for other things the church should do together, although some will say that foot washing is an ordinance.

A church is governed by His laws, exercising the gifts, rights, and privileges invested in them by His Word.
A church seeks to follow Christ, and is the Body of Christ (Eph. 1:22-23 states, "And he put all things under his feet and gave him as head over all things to the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all."). The "Body of Christ" literally means that each person who composes a church is like a member of a physical body: they all need to operate together, and when they do they are like Christ on earth. Each person is different and is gifted differently, so that when the entire church comes together, they are complete, with Christ operating as the head of the body (Col. 1:18 states, "And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent."). For example, let's say someone is sick at church. Member A goes to the hospital and prays with the person. Member B cooks meals for the family. Member C takes care of bills while someone is in the hospital. Member D comes and encourages the person who is ill. Together, they have worked together to be Christ to that person--that ill person needed every one of those members to have Christ minister to them. Thankfully, Christ has given each member of the Body a special gift, also known as a spiritual gift. These are special gifts that God uses in your life to minister to others.

A church seeks to extend the gospel to the ends of the earth.
Churches can do this on several levels, some better than others.

• 1) they can pray for the nations and give to the Lottie Moon and Annie Armstrong offering
• 2) they have been overseas on a missions trip
• 3) they go overseas regularly on missions trips, but not targeted to one specific group
• 4) they pray for a specific people group and seek to minister to that people group

The fourth level is strategic, although all of them show how Baptists participate on at least some level in extending the gospel to the ends of the earth. As a matter of fact, every church gives some money each year to the Cooperative Program, and over 70% of that money goes straight to the IMB and North American Mission Board. Therefore, if our church gives 10% of its tithe to the Cooperative Program (which goes to fund Baptist activities around the country), and that 10% is $1000, then 500 of those dollars will go to the IMB and 200 of those dollars will go to the NAMB.

A church operates under the Lordship of Christ through democratic processes.
According to Southern Baptists, church government is a system where every decision is guided by Christ, but there are issues within the church that are voted on by people in the church. This is what happens at business meetings, etc. In other types of churches, decisions might be made from higher-up bishops or representatives from the church, known as presbyters.

A church's scriptural officers are pastors and deacons.
These are the two types of leadership within a church. The pastor, or elder, serves as a shepherd for the congregation to help grow them into mature Christians (1 Pet. 5:1-5, "So I exhort the elders among you, as a fellow elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, as well a partaker in the glory that is going to be revealed: shepherd the flock of God that is among you, exercising oversight, not under compulsion, but willingly, as God would have you, not for shameful gain, but eagerly; not domineering over those in your charge, but being examples to the flock."). Deacons are servant leaders who take on servant roles in the church. Another scriptural office is that of an elder, which is similar to a pastor. In some churches there are multiple pastors or elders to help shepherd the church. These elders can have equal responsibility or different roles, depending on the decision of the church. For more details read 1 Tim. 3:1-15.

A church has men serve as pastors, not women.
Many in America will think this is a sexist statement, but Scripture states that pastors are to be men. The good thing is that Scripture doesn't just declare that a pastor should be a man, but there are very specific requirements to even be a pastor. So what about churches that have women as pastors, or a woman who has been called to pastor? One must ask himself if a woman would be called by God to do something contrary to the word of God. In some cases, a woman might even be gifted in preaching, but that does not mean she should serve as a pastor. You can read more about this in 2 Tim. 2.

From The Baptist Faith and Message:

The New Testament speaks also of the church as the Body of Christ which includes all of the redeemed of all the ages, believers from every tribe, and tongue, and people, and nation.

All believers around the world from the days of Paul to many years from now, form to make the universal Church. Another analogy we use to talk about the church is to be the Bride of Christ. You can read more of this in Eph. 5:23-32.

THEREFORE...

A church is a group of believers who has local leadership, practices the ordinances provided in Scripture, and recognizes that they are the Body of Christ. They realize that they are responsible for one another, and are members of each other--this means that, in a sense, they are actively involved in each other's lives. Each member is under the authority of his local church, but at the same time it's a good relationship because he chooses the church. This can be five people or two thousand people.