The Local Church Today and Tomorrow: A Back to the Future Handbook on New Testament Principles

By Allan R. Lee ThM

This handbook is designed to help the co-builders of the local church to build as close to the Architects desired end as possible, to assure that the local manifestation of the church is as identical to the universal as possible, and to encourage co- builders to follow the builders guide as provided by the Architect.

The author of this handbook obviously has great concern for the local church and the biblical leadership standard for same. The reader may be amazed with the amount of scriptural data presented and challenged to new and or renewed convictions for their church. The high calling for Godly leadership is humbly outlined for personal consideration. Reading with much prayer is recommended. May you be blessed and benefit as this reader/student has benefited having served under the authors leadership. A brother in Christ.

Vern Ladd

[former Chairman Board of Elders, Racine Bible Church, Racine, WI]

• Language: English
• Publisher: WestBow Press
• Release date: Mar 19, 2018
• ISBN: 9781973616153

Allan R. Lee ThM

Allan was born in Nassau, Bahamas, where he attended Western Junior and Western Senior Schools Nassau, Bahamas (Leaving Certificate, 1950), before leaving for the USA, where he attended Moody Bible Institute, Chicago, IL. (Diploma: Bible/Missions, 1959); Trinity College, Deerfield, IL. (Bachelor of Arts: Bible and Psychology 1972); Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, Deerfield, IL. [Dallas Theological Seminary, Dallas, Tx. [1972-79: Th.M and doctoral studies in Bible Exposition], The University of Dallas 1978-79, doctoral studies Patristics & Philosophy.] Sr. Pastor-teacher, Racine Bible Church, Racine, Il. 1979-86 and at Calvary Bible Church, Nassau, Bahamas, 1992-2012; Founder, President Teleios Theological Training Inst. 1986-

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Copyright © 2018 Allan R. Lee, ThM.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

Scripture taken from the King James Version of the Bible.

Scripture quotations are from the New American Standard Bible® (NASB), Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. www.Lockman.org

Scripture quotations marked (NIV) are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com The NIV and New International Version are trademarks registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Biblica, Inc.™

Scripture taken from Young’s Literal Translation of the Bible.

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Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

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ISBN: 978-1-9736-1614-6 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-9736-1615-3 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2018901873

WestBow Press rev. date: 02/20/2018

Contents

Foreword

Preface

Acknowledgments

Introduction

Part One

Foundational Principles

1. The Nature of the Local Church

2. The Necessity for the Local Church

3. The Purpose of the Local Church

4. The Spiritual Resources of the Local Church

Part Two

Functioning Principles

5. The Membership of the Local Church

6. The Organization and Administration of the Local Church

7. Discipline in the Local Church

8. The Meetings of the Local Church

9. The Ordinances of the Local Church

10. The Position and Ministry of Women in the Local Church

Appendices

1 What You Always Wanted to Know about Head Covering but Were Afraid to Ask—Part 1

2 What You Always Wanted to Know about Head Covering but Were Afraid to Ask—Part 2

3 What You Always Wanted to Know about Head Covering but Were Afraid to Ask—Part 3

Bibliography

End Notes

Dedication

This publication is lovingly and passionately dedicated to the One to whom I have dedicated myself for the past sixty-three years: my glorious Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Words fail to describe my gratitude for His unmatched grace toward me. What more can I say than has already been said: Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift! (2 Cor. 9:15). His grace has certainly much more abounded (Rom. 5:20 KJV) in my life. For that, I humbly bow in worship before Him in spirit and in truth (John 4:23–24). Selah!

It is also dedicated with much gratitude and uncompromised love to the wife of my youth, Nancy Idella Lee, without whom, humanly speaking, I would not have been able to accomplish anything worthwhile in this life. God truly provided the helpmate I desperately needed. Her godliness is unparalleled and her prayer life unexcelled. She is a woman in whom there is no guile. She quietly, reverently, and lovingly cared for our children and gave me freedom to pursue the ministry to which God had called me, making it—in a true manifestation of wifely submission—hers as well. I join with my four wonderful children, Cindy, Sandy, Timothy, and Allan Jr., and call her blessed.

Foreword

Allan Lee is a man of principle and passion. The principles speak for themselves in this book. His passion, well, that’s another story. We struck up a friendship during the first week of summer school classes in May 1973. It turned out that Al was going to need some help in Greek and I was going to need some help in preaching.

Over the course of the next four years, we became close friends, working together in a small Baptist church. Allan did the Sunday morning preaching, and I taught a Wednesday evening Bible study. This work turned out to be a pastoral internship for me. Like many rookie preachers, I wanted to know how I was doing. I’ve never forgotten Al’s words. He said, Steve, I know that you know this truth. I just don’t think you believe it. He wanted to see some fire in your bones. That was life-changing for me. Al had the fire in his bones. I needed to hear that and apply it. Thus began my internship. What a friend! I love him!

I believe this book will put some fire in your bones. Find some friends like Al and encourage one another in the Lord. I taught the material to our first group of elders who were in training to start a new church. Thirty-eight years later, I’m still at the same church, and we have started two other churches. I still have that passion. Thanks, Al!

For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God, you may receive what was promised. (Heb. 10:36)

Steve Corbett

Senior Pastor, Grace Bible Church

Portage, Wisconsin

Preface

Will the Real Church Please Stand Up!

Jesus said, I will build My church; and the gates of Hades will not overpower it (Matt. 16:18)¹. This is a divinely stated decree. Its end result cannot be denied or frustrated. However, it would appear that the process certainly can be. After more than two thousand years, it is still extremely difficult to see this desired church in a tangible way that meets the specifications given by the Master Builder in His builder’s manual—the Bible.

One major reason for this, of course, is that many of the coworkers Jesus has enlisted to assist Him in the project do not seem to know how to read the specifications in the same way. In fact, some even deny that there are specifications, and that the end result of the project depends upon how these coworkers think it should look during the process of the building. To these people, it appears that the Architect’s rendering is one thing, while the structure in progress is another.

This handbook is designed to help the co-builders to build as close to the Architect’s desired end as possible, to be sure that the local manifestation of the church is as identical to the universal as possible, and to encourage co-builders to follow the Builder’s guide, as provided by the Architect.

However, it must be emphasized that this handbook arose to meet specific needs of the time for the author as a Bible teacher. In part, it was written to fulfill required work as a Master of Theology student at the Dallas Theological Seminary, Dallas, Texas. It was therefore designed as a simple, practical resource for Christian workers in the field, not a theological treatise on the church. Here’s how the purpose for the handbook was stated at that time (1977):

This project was undertaken to formulate a Handbook of New Testament Principles which are basic to the establishment and overall functioning of the local church in the 20th century. The emphasis is on the application of principle, rather than on the imitation of practice, as it is the writer’s conviction that much of the confusion which exists in the practical operation of the local church today is due to the failure of Christian leaders to recognize the essential difference between these two concepts and to remain true to the Owner’s Manual.

The Need for the Handbook

The compilation of this handbook was motivated by the specific needs of the area in which I was and am primarily concerned with regard to my Christian ministry, the Commonwealth of the Bahamas. The needs are three in number, as I originally stated:

1. The need for a basic text on the subject of the local church to be used by a Bible College of which the writer was designated to assume the position of Principal upon his graduation from the Dallas Theological Seminary. The Bible College has as one of its major objectives the training of nationals for leadership positions in the local churches in the Bahamas. (Ed.: Although this original position was not realized, due to the eventual closing of the college, I founded a similar ministry with similar objectives: the Teleios Theological Training Institute. The handbook has since been used within the institute as a textbook.)

2. The need for a basic practical educational tool in the area of church organization for a proposed Theological Extension ministry in the Islands of the Bahamas, geared especially for both present and prospective elders, pastors and other church leaders.

3. The need for a practical, biblically based work on the functioning of the New Testament local church, which would serve as a ready reference tool for those Bahamian Christian leaders who are already in the ministry, but who did not have the benefit of formal theological training, and who, due to various mitigating circumstances, are unable to receive such training either now or in the future.

The motivation for the publication of this edition of the handbook, with some revisions, is my strong conviction that a simple, practical work is still needed. Such a work should reflect the basic principles of the overall teaching of the New Testament regarding how and why a local church is to function to reflect the essence of what the church actually is, as envisioned by the Master Designer and Builder, Jesus Christ. In light of the recent prominence of the emerging church and the megachurch phenomenon, one would even dare to say that such a work is urgently needed.

This wider publication is undertaken with the prayer that it would truly be a chart for younger co-builders to make this to become a realty in the twenty-first century and beyond. Hence the subtitle, A back to the future handbook. This is simply to say that we must get back to the Book or stick to the basics when it comes to doing church today.

Thus, this handbook is not intended for scholars or professional theologians. It is intended to be a practical handbook, assisting current and prospective leaders of local churches to lead in such a way that their churches reflect the intent of the Architect and Master Builder. We must go back to the original to obtain the divine specifications for the church of today and of the future.

Acknowledgments

Thanks and heartfelt gratitude to Dr. Stephen Corbett, senior pastor of the Grace Bible Church in Portage, Wisconsin, for agreeing to write the foreword. Dr. Corbett is a longtime friend, and in fact was my classmate at Dallas Theological Seminary. He nursed me through baby Greek, the passing of which was necessary to enter the Bible Exposition major I was pursuing. He and his wife, Rita, have remained good friends with Nancy and I through all these years, even though, unfortunately, we rarely see each other. He has actually used this handbook to train and equip his leadership team for ministry! Thank you, Steve and Rita—love you!

Special thanks also go out to my dear brother in the Lord, Pastor Elvin Taylor. He asked me to mentor him, but God had it so planned that he would mentor me instead. He taught me, by way of example, what it means to be a man of integrity, honor, and commitment to godliness in our walk and relationship to Christ, His church, and His people. He also taught me how to walk circumspectly before the unsaved. His generosity is expressed with joy and without fanfare. He dedicated himself to getting this forty-year-old, typewritten thesis manuscript transcribed into an editable Word document, making it possible for me to edit, revise, and otherwise complete this project, with the invaluable assistance of his secretary. Thank you, my brother; you’re a good man!

Much thanks also to two special young men for their collaboration in designing the cover for the Handbook: Michelo Lully and Brian Lee. Both are gifted graphic artists in their own right. Michelo served with me as Youth Pastor where I served as Sr. Pastor and Brian is my grandson, who has produced a significant Documentary very early in his career and is now working with the most distinguished Documentarian in the USA. Both of these fine young me do me proud!

Finally, heartfelt thanks also to Alan Symonette and Mrs. Cathy Albury, much esteemed and beloved coworkers with me at Calvary Bible Church, for scanning the original typewritten manuscripts, and Ms. Shamia Pintard, Pastor Taylor’s secretary, for her professionally meticulous typing of the scanned manuscript and for helping to prepare it as an editable Word document. She is a true example of the body at work. Selah!

Introduction

The Format of the Handbook

The handbook was originally designed to facilitate its practicality as a study guide for use in a mission field and classroom setting, from a high school to a college level. That objective remains the same. The text is presented primarily in outline form and is divided into two major parts. Part One is titled Foundational Principles and deals with the nature, importance, purpose and spiritual resources of the local church. Due to the basic nature of the material, this first section is written in normal thesis form.

Part Two, titled Functioning Principles, deals with six areas that are vital to the practical functioning of the local church: membership, organization and administration, discipline, meetings, and ordinances. Each of these chapters is presented in an extended outline form to facilitate practical use as a syllabus in a classroom setting.

Concise delineations of basic principles relative to the functioning of the local church are followed by their complete substantiation from Scripture in each chapter. Suggestions for the application of certain principles are given when necessary. On the whole, however, the position assumed by the handbook is that any method of application which adequately fulfills the objective of any given principle is biblical—that is, legitimate—if it does not violate any direct command of Scripture or is not contrary to the essential nature of the local church as the visible expression of the universal body of Christ.

Endnotes and a formal bibliography appear at the end of the handbook. The bibliography includes both the works cited in the text and other sources I consulted which do not appear in the text, but which I feel contribute to a fuller understanding of the subject matter.

Basic Assumptions and Rationale

The handbook is based upon three controlling assumptions. The first is that Scripture is both authoritative and sufficient as the source and standard for the establishment of determinative principles relative to the proper functioning of the local church in modern times. It was so in the first century and will remain so until the Lord Jesus Christ returns to remove His church from the world.

This position does not eliminate the value of studying the history of the church, nor the value of observing the impact of culture upon its functioning. However, this position does insist that history and culture must be subject to the Word of God for the final determination of what is to be or not to be a part of the functioning of a local church. It reflects the overall philosophy or theology of what is commonly referred to as a New Testament local church, meaning a local church that reflects the overall tenor of Scripture relative the nature and actions of the church Jesus Christ is building.

It is the position of the handbook that a New Testament local church is one that bases the reason for its existence and the manner of its operation upon principles that are either specifically stated in or inductively derived from the New Testament. The Word of God is and must ever be the final authority on all matters pertaining to the establishment and functioning of a local church if that church is to be true to its Head, the Lord Jesus Christ, and so be a true New Testament local church.

It is understood, of course, that the degree of adherence to New Testament principles may vary from local church to local church. A church that adheres least to these principles but is, nonetheless, made up of genuine believers in the Lord Jesus Christ. who actively hold to and proclaim the fundamentals of the Christian faith, is in essence also a New Testament local church. This allows for the essential but minimum requirement of what constitutes a true New Testament local church.

However, this handbook is concerned primarily with the presentation of those principles that are given by the Holy Spirit in the New Testament to produce a spiritually mature local church. This is a goal that all Christian local churches should diligently and persistently seek to attain, and which, to be clear, is not totally represented in any historic local church recorded in scripture. Jesus is still in the process of building His church. He is not finished with us yet!

It is sometimes maintained that the New Testament does not present a final or authoritative standard for the functioning of a local church because the church was still in its developing stages when the canon of scripture was closed. This concept advocates a progressive development of the doctrine of the church (ecclesiology) after divine revelation through scripture had ceased.

But surely this is inconsistent with the usually assumed and accepted doctrine by Evangelicals of the faith which was once for all handed down to the saints (Jude 3). If it is true—and I believe that it is—that the revelation concerning the doctrines upon which Christianity is based ceased with the closing of the canon of Holy Scripture, then it is only reasonable to assume that divine revelation concerning the doctrine of the church also ceased with the closing of the canon.

I believe that Alfred Kuen is therefore correct when he states that the idea that the church should evolve over the course of centuries, under the leading of the Holy Spirit, was unknown to the apostles.² H. Strong is also in agreement with this position: A proper theory of development does not exclude the idea of a church organization already complete in all essential particulars before the close of the inspired canon, so that the record of it may constitute a providential example of binding authority upon all subsequent ages.³

My own sentiment concerning those who maintain little or no concern for a truly biblical foundation is well expressed by William J. McRae:

I am often appalled by Christians who are meticulous about their Christology (the doctrine of Christ), and very careful about their pneumatology (the doctrine of the Holy Spirit), and are able to cross their ‘ts’ and dot their ‘is’ in their eschatology (the doctrine of future things); but when it comes to ecclesiology (the doctrine of the church), they are very careless. This, to me, is an amazing inconsistency. Perhaps it indicates the value or lack of value we place upon the church.⁴

It is assumed in this handbook that the doctrine of the church is as clear and complete as are all of the above-mentioned foundational doctrines of Christianity, as well as of those which are not mentioned (e.g., the doctrine of the Trinity). The New Testament provides abundant evidence that the church of Jesus Christ has a place of unique importance in the purpose of God for this present age (Eph. 2:11–3:11; Rom. 11:25–36, 11:25–27; Col. 1:24–27). It is logically inconsistent to maintain that He would not provide complete divine revelation as to its proper manifestation in the world. The concept of a completed canon, coupled with the vital importance of the church in God’s program for this age, serves as the basis for my assumption that New Testament Scripture is the final and authoritative source for all matters pertaining to the establishment and proper functioning of a New Testament local church today.

The second assumption upon which the handbook is based is that the New Testament delineates certain principles or norms for the functioning of the local church. These principles are permanent in nature, and therefore cannot in any way be altered or disregarded by the church in any age. They are derived from apostolic precepts and practices, and are stated in the New Testament, inductively derived from certain basic biblical concepts (e.g., the nature of the church), and/or modeled by the apostles themselves or by the local churches of the New Testament era.⁵

These basic principles are called biblical norms by Francis Schaeffer ⁶ and biblical functions by Gene Getz.⁷ Both terms convey the concept of biblical absolutes. The absolutes provide the framework within which the local church must function if it is to be a true New Testament local church. After listing what he considers to be eight basic biblical norms of New Testament church polity, Schaeffer states, These are the New Testament forms commanded by God. These norms are not arbitrary—they are God’s form for the institutionally organized church and they are to be present in the 20th century as well as any century.⁸

Alexander Hay recognizes the completed and binding nature of New Testament principles relative to the ongoing functioning of the local church: The fact is that the Apostles, fulfilling the ministry which God gave them, laid a complete and perfect foundation for the Church, both as regards structure and doctrine. A careful and unbiased study of the New Testament will make it abundantly clear that a full and detailed revelation is given regarding the structure of the Church and that all the congregations planted in Apostolic times were organized in accordance with that pattern.⁹

It is assumed in this handbook that these absolutes upon which the New Testament local churches were founded and structured in the first century are also the principles upon which the local churches in the twenty-first century and beyond are to be founded and structured. Hence my description of this work as being back to the future.

The third and final assumption is that the New Testament allows a great deal of freedom for Spirit-directed application of biblical absolutes relative to the functioning of a New Testament local church today, even as it did in the first century. The concept I advocate is that principles are binding, but the methods of applying these principles are not. Using the terminology of Gene Getz, the principles are locked in to the function of New Testament local churches, but not to their form.¹⁰ This allows for adaptations and innovations in the methodology of a local church to effectively meet the needs of its members as well as to effectively communicate the unchanging gospel to a constantly changing world. Schaffer states the principle very concisely when he says, Anything the New Testament does not command in regard to church form is a freedom to be exercised under the leadership of the Holy Spirit for that particular time and place.¹¹

It is my considered opinion that it is in this very area of the application of New Testament church principles that so many evangelical churches have become bogged down. As a result, they have also become stagnant in spiritual growth and have no lasting, outward, evangelistic impact upon a lost world. They have become locked in to outmoded and ineffective traditional methods of doing church. Many are attempting to implant the first-century church into the twenty-first century without any modification of practice whatsoever. The result is culture shock for the twenty-first-century local church, from which there is rarely a satisfactory recovery.

Again, Gene Getz speaks well to this point: If certain forms and structures are no longer or even halfway achieving New Testament purposes because they are no longer functional, they must be changed. If they are not, we are failing to be New Testament. We have allowed ourselves to become chained to non-absolutes. We are resisting the Holy Spirit. We are in bondage to ourselves. We are carnal.¹²

Schaeffer, too, emphasizes the need of present-day Christians to differentiate between the dynamic application of permanent biblical principles and the mechanical imitation of historical and culturally oriented methods and practices by which the purpose behind the principles was realized by the New Testament churches:

There is a place for the church until Jesus comes. But there must be the balance of form and freedom in regard to the polity and the practicing community within that church. And there must be a freedom under the leadership of the Holy Spirit to change what needs to be changed, to meet the changing situation in the place and in the moment of that situation. Otherwise, I do not believe there is a place for the church as a living church. We will be ossified and we will shut Christ out of the church. His Lordship and the leadership of the Holy Spirit will become only words.¹³

The local church is not only—or even primarily—an organization or an institution. It is a spiritual organism vitalized by the indwelling Holy Spirit of its members. Such a living entity cannot be locked in to forms or patterns that become fossilized with time or the changing of cultures. It must forever be free to penetrate a spiritually dead world with its own life-principle, which pulsates with the love and personality of God. Its outward growth, energized by its upward intimacy with the triune God, is the automatic result of this divinely dynamic interaction.

This handbook assumes that the New Testament does in fact allow such freedom and dynamic for the effective functioning of the local church in the twenty-first century and beyond.

Part One

Foundational Principles

Chapter 1

The Nature of the Local Church

The biblical functioning of the local church cannot be properly determined apart from proper understanding of its relationship to the universal church, the body of Christ. Perhaps the chief reason for the profusion of diverse local church policies and constitutions is the lack of understanding of—or appreciation for—the true nature of the local church, thus leaving the basis for its functioning open to the ideological and philosophical concepts of people rather than derived totally from the Word of God. It was surprising to me to