Ecclesiology

“It was Augustine who described the church as ‘a hospital for sinners.’ He said it would be very strange if people were to criticize hospitals because the patients were sick.” - Colin Smith

“The church as a gas station—where you fill up your spiritual gas tank when you’re running low… The church as a movie theater—a place that offers entertainment… The church as a drug store—where you can fill the prescription that will deal with your pain… The church as a big box retailer—the place that offers the best products in a clean and safe environment for you and your family” - Colin Smith

“We live in a highly individualistic culture. Of all the cultures that have ever existed in the history of the world, this is the most individualistic. Our natural pragmatism asks, ‘What’s the most efficient way to get things done?’ and the local church doesn’t look the most likely vehicle for changing the world.” - Colin Smith

“Are parents authorized by Jesus Christ to baptize their children at home? Can a Bible study privately partake of the Lord’s Supper? From our special online event Made in the Image of God, Burk Parsons and Stephen Nichols consider who may legitimately administer the sacraments.” - Ligonier

“Communes are just people who happen to live near one another, but a family is a web of organic relationships that develop within defined commitments and roles. If you want the church to be a family, commit to formal church membership.” - 9 Marks

“Like millennia of Christians before them, CHBC believes (as do I) that something that never assembles, such as separate services or sites, is not actually a church.” - Jonathan Leeman

“A strict definition clarifies what’s necessary. This helps in at least two obvious ways: it ensures that you’re actually aiming at planting churches; and it keeps you from assuming a church needs certain things that it absolutely doesn’t need.” - 9 Marks

Thom Rainer: What makes a good leader in the post-pandemic era?

“[R]arely, if ever, do those who also identify as conservative evangelicals and who are the targets of online mobs over their desire to pursue justice say that feeding the poor is the gospel.” - John Ellis