What Makes a Church "Christian?"

Where to turn?

Just about fifty percent of Americans are affiliated with religious congregations. Thirty percent more claim to be religious in some way. That's a total of eighty percent of citizens of the United States who claim to be religious (the last stats I heard put twenty percent of us in the "unaffiliated" category). 

Here in Plainfield, we are slightly more religious than the national average. Based on Will County Data, 54% of us are affiliated with some congregation. Of the devout, about three quarters are Roman Catholic. Evangelicals and Mainline Protestants are tied with thirteen percent, and two percent consider themselves "Other." 

There are ten different flavors (AKA denominations) of Christianity represented here in Plainfield.

So pretend you were new in town. Say you wanted to attend a church--but not just any church. You want to spend your Sunday morning at a congregation who represents "authentic" Christianity. How would you know which one to choose? Are some denominations or congregations more "authentic" than others? And what is the standard for measuring them? 

Although it might seem like it up to this point, this is not going to be a shameless booster post for my congregation (full disclosure: I am a pastor at Grace Pointe Plainfield). But it is an important question: what makes a Christian church?

Where to find the answer:

Over the last twenty centuries, people have answered that question different ways. Most of the disagreements have come concerning traditions which various denominations practice and accept (e.g. such as teaching surrounding the Virgin Mary, or the role of the pastor/priest). Historically, however, the underlying baseline for defining orthodox Christianity has always been the Bible.

Talk to a Mainline Protestant, an Evangelical, a Copt and a Roman Catholic, and they'll all tell you that truth can be found in the Bible (there are exceptions to this, especially in the last hundred and fifty years, in so-called Liberal Protestantism). So it stands to reason that the Bible would be the book to go to, in order to find a basic definition of what it means to be Christian. 

The heart of the Bible's message is found in what is known as the Gospel. Meaning "Good News," the Gospel is the central message of God's plan of salvation for His people. 

What is the Gospel?

The Gospel starts in the first book of the Bible, Genesis. In describing the history of the dawn of humanity--you know the story--Genesis recounts how Adam and Eve, the first people, sinned. They took the advice of a snake (thought to be Satan--a fallen angel and chief enemy of humanity) and disobeyed God. As a result, our first parents were driven out of Paradise. But before they were exiled, the Lord did something amazing.

First, He made a promise. Turning to the snake, the Lord said, "I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel." This was the promise: that a human, male offspring born of a woman would crush the head of the serpent--defeat Satan and destroy his work--but that in the process he himself would be fatally "bitten" by the Devil.

Now look through the story of Ancient Israel, all through the Old Testament of the Bible. It is the story of God making good on this promise--to bring the prophesied Savior into the world. 

If you have been reading this blog--or the Bible--you know what happened when Jesus showed up on the scene. He, the unique Son of God (John 3:16), destroyed the work of Satan by undoing the curse of sin and death for all who trust in Him. 

How did Jesus accomplish this? He was tortured and died on the cross. At that time, the sin of God's people was put on Him. He "became sin" so that all who trust in Him would become the "righteousness of God" (2 Corinthians 5:21). Therefore Satan's work is destroyed in the lives of everyone who trusts in Jesus.

Those who accept this do more than merely believe a set of facts; we are trusting in a Person to save us and submitting to His authority (as Lord). We recognize that we are sinners, fallen short of God's glory (Romans 3:23) and rightfully earning death (Romans 6:23). We believe that Jesus is the promised Savior, and as such He is the rightful Lord, to whom we owe our allegiance. He has bought us with the costly price of His own life--now we owe him everything.

So then, this is the Gospel and the core of the Christian message: "Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost" (1 Timothy 3:15-16).

Let me be really, really clear about this point, and echo what the Apostle Paul is saying in that previous verse: I am a sinner. I am a bad person. I know this from Scripture but also from my own life. I, Joel Settecase, have not in any way earned the favor of a perfectly holy God. And Scripture is clear that neither have you. You and I are both in desperate need of God's forgiveness.

God's grace for believers is a free gift--but it was not cheap. It cost God the death of His Son. That is His grace for his people. There is nothing we can do to accomplish this ourselves or add anything to that. 

Picture a turtle flipped over onto its back. Flail its little legs as it might, there is no way it is going to turn itself back over. That is our condition in sin, apart from God's grace. It is God who "turns us over," makes us right with Himself (the Bible says God "justifies" us) and gives us the ability to live the way we're supposed to live.

What good is a turtle that is flipped onto its back? It can't very well do anything turtle-y like that, now can it? Neither can we live how God created us to live, apart from God turning us to Christ and saving us. And like the turtle, we will die if left in our current state. 

So which church is right? 

With all this being said, I am not going to answer the question for you--at least not specifically. In other words, I am not going to provide a list of all the churches here in Plainfield that "get it." But by now, we have a framework to think through which churches stay true to the Christian--that is, the biblical--message. 

Is the Gospel all there is to it?

Now before you blow up the comment section with objections, let me say that there is much more to Christianity than simply believing the Gospel.

Over the centuries, creeds and catechisms have been written to outline all the beliefs of orthodox, biblical Christianity. Christians love, respect and cherish those texts. In fact I am in the process of catechizing my son using the New City Catechism. True Christianity embraces all that the Bible teaches, not just the teaching on the Gospel.

Then there are the rituals and sacraments, the charity, good works, practices and traditions that express God's truth in physical life. These are important expressions of faith and biblical as well--especially baptism and communion. 

However, none of the creeds and traditions make sense apart from the understanding that God's salvation only comes by His free gift, through faith and the trustworthiness of Jesus Christ.

You can have all the external signs of religion, but without the Gospel it's empty inside. It is a beautiful, ornate mausoleum--beautiful on the outside with rotting death on the inside.

But a congregation that teaches and promotes the Gospel of free grace, purchased for believers at the precious price of the death of the Son of God Himself, is a great place to start. Not all churches agree with this. Sadly, some church leaders minimize the Gospel, or the Bible, or the importance of grace alone through faith alone. In doing so they try to add to God's word and make the message of Christianity something other than the beautiful truth of God's plan to save sinners like us. People like that need to read their Bibles.

*****
Joel Settecase is the Associate Pastor of Youth and Evangelism at Grace Pointe Plainfield, located at 143rd St. & Route 30. This Sunday, we will be having a baptism service. You are invited to join us and watch as believers in Christ make a public declaration of their faith and new life in God. Service starts at 9 AM.