Baptists have strong convictions about ecclesiology. The denomination gets its name from its commitment to baptizing believers only, but this in turn is closely connected with its conviction about the nature of the local church. Believer's baptism is necessarily tied to a believers’ church. In recent decades there has been renewed interest in the historic ecclesiology of Baptist churches, and this renewal is encouraging. The popular notion of “church” has long needed correcting. When most people think about the word “church,” they think about a building. When they think about the life of a church, they think about programs and budgets. When they think about how the church runs, they think about a staff and a collection of committees. However, none of these things belong to the essence of a local church. The ecclesiology of the New Testament is much simpler, but all its elements are necessary, and they are changed or neglected at the peril of the health of the church.
How does Baptist ecclesiology play out on the mission field? Once you realize that things like buildings, programs, and committees are not essential components of a healthy church, the application of Baptist ecclesiology becomes straightforward. The ecclesiology of the New Testament was given in an environment much like the mission field in any era. Most believers were poorly educated and had few resources. In many cases, they were persecuted and needed to meet discreetly. A simple ecclesiology rooted in Scripture is ideal for conditions like these.
What is a biblical local church?[1] First, a church is a group of baptized believers in Jesus. There is no instruction in Scripture as to how many believers are necessary to constitute a true church. Churches are not synagogues, with a minyan of ten men required to make it a legitimate group! Jesus’ statement, that where two or three are gathered in his name he is there among them (Matthew 18:20), was not given to establish a numerical value for church membership, but rather to assure believers of his presence with them in the process of church discipline. The important factor is not the number, but the nature of the members. The New Testament has no category for unregenerate church members, and both the descriptions it gives for the church and the things church members are supposed to do make no sense if applied to unbelievers. Furthermore, baptism is the way believers publicly profess their faith, and it is expected of every believer. A church is a group of baptized believers.
However, it is not a casual or occasional group. It is a committed group. A church is a group of baptized believers in Jesus who are committed to each other to be the body of Christ to one another. The Baptist Faith and Message 2000 expresses this idea with the words, “associated by covenant.”[2] It is true that there are no examples of church covenants in the New Testament. However, the covenantal life of a local church is laid out in the “one another” commands of Scripture. These only make sense in the context of a group of people who know each other and who are committed to each other. Local churches are not casual but committed groups of believers.
A local church assembles regularly. The very meaning of the Greek word for church (ecclesia) is “assembly.” The “one another” commands can only be done by people who are with one another. The same thing is true for all the other functions of a healthy church. Again, no specific number is mandated for how often the church should meet. The church in Jerusalem met daily. The pattern of the early church in general seems to be at least weekly, on the Lord’s Day. They met wherever it was convenient for them to meet. Private houses were the most common location for church meetings in the early days of the church. It really didn’t matter where they met. Location was theologically indifferent. The point was that they met.
The structure of these churches was quite simple. There were three offices: members, pastors/elders/overseers, and deacons. Membership was not a casual thing. Members were the ultimate decision-making group of the church (2 Corinthians 2:6), and members had the responsibility to carry out the “one another” commands and to do the ministry of the church. Pastors, elders, and overseers were three different terms used synonymously in the New Testament for the same type of leader. These men were exemplary disciples who taught, led, and guarded the church. Deacons served the church. The word “deacon” literally means “servant,” and the function of this role was to take care of things that needed doing. That is the entire New Testament structure for a local church. It is elegant in its simplicity, and it is easily reproducible in any setting on the mission field.
Each local church is fully a church on its own. It does not need a denominational body to legitimate it, and it is not under the authority of anyone other than the Triune God through his word. However, healthy churches cooperate with other churches to do things that can be done better together than apart. Historically, those have included missions, theological education, and response to human needs.
Obviously, the church meets to carry out specific, biblically mandated functions. These include evangelism, discipleship, preaching and teaching, worship, the ordinances of baptism and the Lord’s Supper, prayer, fellowship, accountability and discipline, giving, and mission. Each of these functions has biblical warrant, and each is necessary for the life and health of the church. However, it is not enough for a church simply to carry out these activities. A church can have all the right structures, and do all the right functions, and be desperately unhealthy. The church exists to glorify God. Its life should be characterized by all-consuming love for God, by love for one another at the measure of Christ’s love for us, and by love for our neighbors and even our enemies. Apart from this, no attention to polity or practice can produce a healthy church.
This is an incredibly brief description of classical Baptist ecclesiology, but it captures the essence of what churches should be and do. All of it is applicable in every setting, including the edges of lostness on the mission field. Ecclesiology does not change from continent to continent or from setting to setting. Issues of style and appearance may vary from culture to culture. The nature, structures, and functions of a biblical church do not. Churches on the mission field are simply churches, following the same biblical guidelines as churches anywhere else
This material is closely parallel to Foundations (International Mission Board: Richmond), 78–83, 110–113. See these pages for a more detailed description of many of these points.
Baptist Faith and Message 2000, article VI.