What is our "standard"?
Originally, the word "standard" meant the flag, pennant or other symbol, affixed to the top of a pole, and served as the rallying point for troops in battle. The soldiers in each unit were expected to recognize their own standard, so that they could reorient themselves from time to time in the heat of battle. Supposedly, the standard-bearer was to be the last man to fall. That standard was a symbol of the unit as a whole. It was how they were known; it was their identity.
We as Christians have a standard, but of a different sort. Perhaps who we are is best answered by what we do. What are we doing when we gather at least once each week in one place together? What do we call this gathering of people? Normally we would use the word "church" to describe the congregation (the gathering) for such a purpose as ours. What does that word "church" mean? For now let's forget the nifty denominational phrases, and just use our own words:
That implies so much. Think for a moment -- What does it imply to you? What logically is included in that concept? Would it include the idea that whatever He says, we must agree to it? That's what it means to "confess" anything. It comes from an old Latin word meaning to "stand with" -- do we stand with God on the things His Son has said? If we confess the sin in our lives, we agree with God that it is sin, that it is wrong. If we confess Him as Savior, we agree with Him that He saved us, not we ourselves. If we confess Him as Lord, we agree with His claim to rule all things, including our own hearts. A central part of all we do as a church is to agree with God.
He who is not with Me is against Me, and he who does not gather with Me scatters abroad. Matthew 12:30
We spend a great deal of time and money on printed material, music, videos, etc. in our churches. A big part of their message is to notice what Jesus taught. Every where He went, He either had folks crowd around Him, trying to touch Him, etc., or He was in trouble with someone in power. Why? How would a man get so much attention? Did He do something that was unusual? In other words, the publications were in part an attempt to show what Jesus was trying to do, to change things, to make people different from what they were.
Was there something wrong with the folks in His country, that they needed to be changed? Of course, they were sinners. What does it mean to be a sinner? Review the principle of confession -- agreeing with God. Could it be sin is any failure to agree with God, a failure to see things His way? God says "A" -- anything else you might say (affirm) would, by definition, be "sin." Those who disagree with God are sinners, by definition.
So, "a church" is a bunch of folks agreeing with God as a group. Do we know what God has said? Do we know enough to agree with Him? One of the biggest missions of the church is to make God's Word known, so that folks can know what God has said, and can agree with Him.
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Ed Hurst
02 June 2003, revised 20 October 2003
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