If you have followed me in the past few weeks, you are probably aware that my time at my church is coming to an end. Last night was my final Wednesday night worship time with my students. I'm eternally grateful for the grace my Sovereign Lord has given me to preach His Word for the past 4 1/2 years at Summit. Last night, I challenged my students and adult leaders to think about the church. Are we Biblical...or (brace yourself, I made up this word) Cliqueical? Do we live by the Biblical model of church...or do we enjoy the selfish pleasures of being in a clique with church as its title? Below, I offer you 10 answers to this question. 5 answers will support the Biblical side (with Scripture), and 5 will support the Cliqueical side (without Scripture). These points were delivered last night to my students in our last time of worship together. Acts 2:42-47 will serve as the main text for these notes.
1. The Church is Devoted to the Word: Biblical. Looking at verse 42, you will see a sweet sentence of joy that the early church shared. Luke writes, "And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers." I love this verse. Following Pentecost, the church was zealous toward the meditation and practical application of God's Word. Looking at this verse with a closer lens, you will notice 2 important words; "devoted" and "teaching." The former word can be translated as, "attending constantly," while the ladder word is translated, "doctrine." So, from these words, we can gather the fact that the church was constantly attending to the study and joy of doctrine. This is a beautiful picture of radical obedience and trust in the sufficiency of God's Word. What if we spent our collective energies on constantly attending to the study of God's truth? How would that change our churches? I believe we would see a shift from man-centered ideas to God-centered practice. It's interesting to me that the entire book of Acts is defined with just that; God-Centered, Spirit equipped practice of the advancement of His church.
2. A Clique wants quick solutions: Cliqueical. Above, we see the Biblical church devote time and efforts in constantly attending to the Word of God. A Clique that masquerades behind the church will strive for easy solutions and quick answers to their needs. From my angle, I see cliques very prevalent in church youth groups. A group of 15-20 church kids that devote all their time together will often want answers to questions that fancy their religious curiosity. For example, "How far is too far?" or "Is it OK for me to do this?" I've heard so many questions over the years from students that seem to like their youth group and have popularity as the goal for their age advancement. Cliques want quick solutions. They want to have comfortable answers in order to feel better about themselves. It's time for us to devote to the doctrines of our faith. Our questions need to be centered on areas such as: Who is God? And what is man? And Why the cross?
3. The Church is connected in fellowship: Biblical. Acts 2:42 offers us the vision of the early church; to live in fellowship. This word often gets diluted into the false assumption of eating or hobby sharing. We can go out to a fast food restaurant after a church service and talk about baseball...but does that define fellowship? Biblical churches look at fellowship at its core; to bind together for the goal of the Gospel and the edification of the redeemed. Sharing both joys and sufferings gives us a picture of the sweet definition of fellowship. Looking to Christ as the greatest prize on this earth naturally draws us to enjoy the presence of those that sing the eternal chorus. When churches fail in true fellowship, cliques run the halls and the mission is blurred. May we bind together in love (Colossians 3:12-14) and enjoy the Savior who is the head of the church (Ephesians 1:22).
4. A Clique has a closed circle of fun: Cliqueical. I remember growing up in a church that had a vibrant youth group. I remember the middle school years of rejection and ridicule (I admit, I was a bit annoying). I remember closed circles around me. I also remember being in closed circles. You see, student ministries can often have a few circles of friends that leave walls for those on the outside to only hear the noise from a distance. I still regret the closed circles I embraced at the cost of others' pain. Cliques are closed circles. It's almost like coming to an intersection with no options for any turn. If our churches are full of closed circles of relationships that seek selfish gratification with excluding the Gospel...then our mission is tainted. May the Spirit lead us out of our comfortable circle of friends and reach those that are outside the camp as Hebrews 13:13-14 beautifully challenges.
5. The Church has a great reputation: Biblical. Acts 2:43-44 simply reads, "And awe came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles. And all who believed were together and had all things in common." This verse jumps off the page at us with the exciting thought that at one time...the church had a great reputation! Looking at verse 43, we can see the response of those outside the camp...they were in AWE! What??!!! Luke is right. The church was living in Biblical soil which gave the sweet fragrance of God's grace to those around. What have we done wrong? From all the programming and useless spending...we have made a system that looks too much at the clique instead of the mission. The Spirit was at work. People responded with awe. Unity was visible. What do we have in common? It's hard to think that the answer to that question could define a clique more than a Biblical church.
6. A Clique gives a bad name: Cliqueical. I remember my days of traveling to churches and serving at various youth retreats. I remember the lasting impression I received from a church while working camp. This church came with obvious divisions. The youth minister's arrogance and attitude revealed some of the source. In just 5 days of camp, if my memory serves me correct, this group had at least 5 conflicts...with only 20 total in the group! Cliques leave bad names. If people walk inside our church doors and see divisions birthed from pride and unrepentant sin...we will give them the memory of a clique. If pastors or other leaders live with pride and unrepentant sin; religious cliques can form. Some cliques will spark disunity with others. Some will try to change things. Some will walk away. What kind of name does your church have in the community?
7. The Church is active in meeting needs: Biblical. Luke writes in Acts 2:45, "And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need." Churches live with the anticipation to meet needs. Our primary need is to reach the lost with the saving Gospel of our Lord. The primary need is defined in love with the physical need of helping others. We should be on the front line with the issues our world is facing today. Children dying from preventable diseases, women abandoned by their abusive husbands, orphans left without hope, elderly forgotten, etc. The early church was known for staying behind during times of great disease in order to assist others. Many died in their efforts of taking care of the sick. They were zealous in the advancement and application of the Gospel. In centuries that have separated us from this verse...what has happened? It seems that mission spending is often put at the bottom priority of the list with the disclaimer of specific restrictions to follow. May we open the doors and show generous Gospel-saturated truth and love to our dying community around us!
8. A Clique wants needs met: Cliqueical. Ok, I said it. Cliques come with a list of needs. We tend to have many high-maintenance folks that attend our churches. As churches exist for meeting needs for the lost...cliques exist for having their needs met. I would argue that having certain needs met in the church is Biblical. Hospital visitations, counseling, intercession ministries, etc. I would argue also that those fall more in line with the Biblical understanding of fellowship. Cliques want their agendas on the table...and applied. They want programming that offers rewards and prizes to satisfy the ego. They want the best any church can offer in order to hide their sin under the umbrella of comfortable acceptance. What has gone wrong? May our only needs me found in the sufficiency of the Savior and His Glorious Gospel!
9. A Clique wants comfortable and ordinary religious routine: Cliqueical. What if we had preaching to start the service with ALL the music to follow? What if we decided to have 1 Sunday in which we didn't gather corporately to worship, but rather focused on mass evangelism? What would happen if we slashed our professional expectation of routine worship and had open time of simple silence? What would happen if we held others accountable for their sins as an act of worship? I can tell you what would happen from the aspect of a clique-run church; rebellion. We tend to like our normal routine of religion. We tend to have uneasy feelings when new changes are brought and people we don't recognize join the church. This has to stop. Cliques like things the way they are...as long as their circle of friends aren't impacted. Churches follow the teachings of Scripture and live with wreck less joy over the glorious unknowns each day brings. Churches read passages like Matthew 6:25-34 and find comfort in the sovereignty of the Lord and not the routine of man's failed leadership.
10. The Church worships and the lost are redeemed: Biblical. Finally, Acts 2:46-47 reveals, "And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts, praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved." The church simply found Jesus to be the most worthy name to proclaim. The church found radical faith in His teachings...and they actually did them. I truly believe the church had worship as her focus; which led to the salvation of many. When the church finds nothing more satisfying than the adoration of praising God; the lost will see genuine joy and obedience is done as a response to love. Romans 5 will be proclaimed in such a way that the Gospel will be relevant...because the Gospel is lived. The Church worships and the lost are redeemed. The Lord accepts our worship and saves the lost. He receives the honor. He receives the praise. He receives the bride as His token.
So, what is your church: Biblical? or... Clique...ical?
Soli Deo Gloria!
Dave
