The church is also described as the flock of God John f; Acts ; 1 Pet. Our Lord Jesus Christ is the Shepherd of the flock. Here we are reminded of His loving and tender care for His church, in feeding, leading , and protecting it from harm. We are likewise reminded of our dependency upon Him, and our helplessness apart from His care.
The last analogy which we will consider in this message is that of the Vine and the branches John f. Here our Lord Jesus is described as the source of life and power and fruit for the Christian. The Christian must abide in Christ as the Vine for fruitfulness. All of these images or analogies indicate the most intimate relationship between our Lord Jesus Christ and His body, the church. Not only are we instructed by these analogies of our absolute need of Him, but of His great interest and concern and care for us.
In short, the church is vitally important to us because it is of vital importance to God. Technically it would be more accurate to say purposes, for these are several as we shall see. The former work which Luke refers to is the gospel of Luke. In it are described some of the things which Jesus did and taught. But here, in his introduction to the book of Acts, Luke says that Jesus began to do and to teach. If He began something, then it must not be finished.
Who is going to finish what our Lord began? Is this not an amazing thing? What our Lord started to do and teach in His physical body, He now continues in His spiritual body, the church. What a task we have! How essential it is for us to attend to His instructions as to how His body, the church, is to function. The mental picture which Paul seems to draw for us in this passage is that of a beautiful Greek structure.
It rests upon solid pillars which themselves are firmly grounded and linked to a solid foundation. The picture suggests to us that it is upon this structure that the truth of God is lain, there to be held in open view to all who pass by.
How sad it is when the beauty of the truth of God is marred by a cracked foundation and shaky pillars. This is what the world seems to think of the church. When the church fails to be what she is called to be, the message of the gospel is to that extent disgraced. Also there is the great cosmic purpose of demonstration. The church is to glorify God. We can only do this as we practice the principles of the New Testament church.
Surely all of this should suffice to indicate that what we are studying is of vital importance to us because it is a matter of the intimate concern of God.
The assumption of the New Testament is that the local church is a replica or a miniature of the universal church. What the church universal is to be and to do, so also is the local church. Do you see how important this area of truth is?
May God enable us to understand and to practice the principles of the New Testament church. I asked if you were a member of the church of our Lord Jesus Christ.
You cannot join His church by signing a card, even a pledge card, or by coming to the front to join a local church. May you do that this very hour. Ephesians And He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers, 12 for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ;.
Sometimes misunderstandings are amusing. Among other things this boy said that the reason why the players wore shoulder pads was to make them appear tougher than they really were so that the other players would be afraid to beat them up on the field. Someone told me one time about the son of a prominent Christian leader who was in his Sunday School class.
The young lad was asked what it meant to be a Christian, and the young lad said it meant to have Jesus in your heart. When the boy went on to assure his teacher that he had Jesus in his heart the teacher asked him how Jesus got there.
Although some misconceptions can be comic, others may be deeply tragic. Such is the case with the understanding of the subject of ministry in the church.
It has caused many pastors to throw up their hands in frustration and leave ministry altogether. In the light of such great confusion in this matter of the Christian and his relationship to the ministry, I want to focus your attention on this matter from the pages of the New Testament. Finally, we will make some very practical suggestions as to the application of this teaching. But if this is the thinking of modern Christianity, it is not the teaching of the New Testament, for Paul has written:.
In terms of biblical teaching, every Christian is in the ministry. There is no separate class of those who minister while the others stand by and observe. Some may devote more time to the ministry than others; some may even be paid for their ministry; but all Christians are in the ministry.
Who, for example, is more involved in the playing of football, Tom Landry or Roger Staubach? Tom Landry is the coach of the Dallas Cowboys, but have you ever seen him throw a touchdown pass, or tuck the ball under his arm and sprint for a first down? It is the players who are most directly involved in the game of football.
So, too, it is in the ministry of the church. Do you see how far we have strayed from the Scriptures? The world divides Christians into separate classes: clergy and laymen. The Scriptures teach no such distinction. Every Christian, then, is in the ministry. If you are a Christian, you are in the ministry. What is the ministry? What is it that God holds you responsible to do? First of all, the idea of ministry is perhaps best defined in terms of service.
A second word leitourgos , in its New Testament usage, has a far more religious connotation. It was also used of the ministry of the Macedonian and Achaian Christians who gave to the poor in Jerusalem Rom. Paul again used this word in Philippians for the ministry of the Philippian saints to him through Epaphroditus.
It is applied to apostleship Acts , 25 , to the ministry of the Word Acts , as well as to the serving of tables Acts I want to underscore this concept of service, for it surely is not a part of the spirit of the age. A second general characteristic of the ministry in the New Testament is that it is profitable service. It is service or ministry which has many different facets and manifestations but there is one common element in all of its diversity, and that is that it is service or ministry which is spiritually profitable to the individual and which therefore builds up the body of Christ as it strengthens and builds up individual members of the body.
Spiritual ministry, ministry which is truly Christian, is profitable ministry. It builds up individual Christians and therefore builds up the body of Christ. The sad thing is that many Christians think the only kind of ministry which is profitable is the kind done by the professional. They feel that if their form of ministry is not preaching or teaching or counseling that it has little or no value.
How unfortunate, how unbiblical this thinking is. Meeting the physical needs of the poor is defined in Scripture as a ministry e. The sick do not need a sermon so much as they need comfort, encouragement and prayer.
All too often people evaluate the value of their ministry by the kind of ministry rather than in terms of its overall result. Let me summarize what I have said to this point. What I have said to this point is not just an option, it is an imperative. The necessity of a diversified and universal ministry is dictated by biblical principles. The two fundamental principles which underlie the concept of ministry in the New Testament are 1 the doctrine of spiritual gifts, and 2 the doctrine of the priesthood of every believer.
And there are varieties of ministries, and the same Lord. And there are varieties of effects, but the same God who works all things in all persons. In this twelfth chapter of 1 Corinthians Paul describes the church as a body.
Each Christian is a member of the body v. In the body there is both unity and diversity. No one member of the body can view himself as either superior to the body, for he is dependent upon it for his life, nor inferior and unnecessary to the body, for he has his own unique contribution to the function of the body. While upon the earth our Lord manifested Himself through His physical body, but now He has chosen to continue what He began to do and to teach through His spiritual body, the church Acts ff.
Though all are to give to the support of the financial needs of the body cf. All are commanded to be witnesses Acts ; Col. All of this indicates to us that the work of the ministry includes all of the functions encompassed by the totality of spiritual gifts given to the body. The work of the ministry is the work of sustaining and building up the body Eph.
Spiritual gifts are given, then, to enable Christians to carry out the work of the ministry, which is the building up of the body of Christ. The work of the ministry is dependent upon the exercise of every spiritual gift that is permanent gifts.
In verse 4 Paul states that there are diversities of gifts. This we should know well. All have the gift of teaching, but God has given each a sphere of ministry which is necessary and important. One may have the gift of evangelism and win five to Christ in a year, while another may win 50, One may teach a class of four, and another a class of 4, That is because God has sovereignly determined that there will be differences of effectiveness.
That is why the work of the ministry is the work of service performed by all believers for the benefit, ultimately, of all believers.
The work of the ministry, the work of building up the body will not be complete without your ministry through the exercise of your spiritual gift. Since no one has all the gifts, since everyone has a gift designed for a specific use, all Christians must do the work of the ministry.
Although this doctrine is taught elsewhere cf. You also, as living stones, are being built up as a spiritual house for a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. It is because of His high priesthood that we are all constituted priests of God, with priestly ministries:.
Hebrews Since therefore, brethren, we have confidence to enter the holy place by the blood of Jesus, 20 by a new and living way which He inaugurated for us through the veil, that is, His flesh, 21 and since we have a great priest over the house of God, 22 let us draw near with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.
The high priesthood of our Lord Jesus Christ does two things: it motivates us to draw near to Him with full confidence, and it prompts us to minister to others.
What priestly exercises constitute a part of our ministry to others? These spiritual sacrifices are enumerated in the New Testament:. The sacrifice of self is a living sacrifice. How can one be a living sacrifice? In the context of Romans chapter 12 it is noteworthy that the very first subject Paul mentions after his exhortation to give ourselves as a living sacrifice is that of spiritual gifts vss.
My understanding is that we are living sacrifices to God as we give ourselves to ministry to others through our spiritual gifts. One of the offerings in the Old Testament was the thank offering. So also, there is a thank and praise offering in the New Testament. As we publicly and privately give thanks and praise to God we are exercising our priesthood. Now here indeed is an amazing priestly activity. We offer up to God the sacrifice of service as we do acts of kindness, as we perform acts of charity, as we do good, and as we minister in financial ways.
This is a priestly function. We should proclaim the gospel of God. Think of that, the salvation of souls by the proclamation of the gospel is viewed as a sacrifice offered to God as an act of our priesthood. Do you see the application of the priesthood of every believer to this matter of ministry?
Those areas of priestly service which we have studied exactly overlap the functions which are encompassed by the spiritual gifts, as well as the work of the ministry as described in the New Testament. The work of the ministry is the work of every kind of service necessary to the maintenance of the body and its upbuilding. The ability to perform these functions is provided for the Christian by means of spiritual gifts.
The responsibility for every Christian to be active in the ministry is taught by the doctrine of the priesthood of every believer. If you are a Christian, you have at least one spiritual gift, and this gift enables you to carry out a particular function in a particular sphere that no one else should do. First, the Scriptures call for me to withdraw from extensive activity in those areas of ministry which are not in accord with my spiritual gift.
This is important for two reasons. In the first place I would be spending too much time trying to do something I will never do well. I am speaking of spending a great deal of time and energy in areas that God has gifted others to handle better than myself.
In practice this means that some of the things which Christians normally expect ministers to do, I will not be doing to their satisfaction. Second, the Scriptures indicate that my concept of ministry should be that of ministering through people, far more than just ministering to people. As we have seen in Ephesians chapter 4, my work is to equip people for ministry. My responsibility, as I understand it from the Word of God, is to spend the greater portion of my time helping those who desire to do the work of the ministry.
The emphasis of my ministry, therefore, will be to encourage and help equip teachers, counselors, and leaders. It is my desire to see godly women equipped to minister to other women. Perhaps even more significantly I am committed to work with fathers who are appointed as the spiritual leaders of the home.
We are intending to prepare each week a family study guide, which will help the fathers or heads of families to study the text for the following Sunday, to discuss this text with his wife and children.
We are committed to give every available kind of help and encouragement to those who wish to be leaders in their homes and in the church.
It should be very clear that the work of the ministry is the work of serving. It is my fear that many come to hear the ministry of the Word only to be ministered to, rather than to minister. They greatly value the teaching they have received but greatly want to share what they have received with others. That is the kind of people we want to see, many who want to be servants, rather than to be served.
In the days to come we hope you will find our new church is functioning smoothly, but there will be a number of adjustments that will have to be made. Everything will not go off without a hitch. It will not be as easy to sit back and hope not to be noticed.
It is only those with the heart of a servant who will survive the initial weeks, but the work of service is the work of every saint. My friend, in terms of the Word of God you are in the ministry. May God make your ministry ever so clear, and may you find the joy of serving Him as a priest of God, by His power and grace.
Acts And on the first day of the week, when we were gathered together to break bread, Paul began talking to them, intending to depart the next day, and he prolonged his message until midnight. When you assemble, each one has a psalm, has a teaching, has a revelation, has a tongue, has an interpretation.
Let all things be done for edification. Or has it come to you only? We might represent this fact by this illustration:. This is ground already covered, but it is worthy of repeated emphasis, for the church today is considered irrelevant and impotent by far too many Christians. Let me represent it graphically in this way:.
Now we know that in those initial days of the church, these things were done daily Acts , but we also realize that this was not practical for them to continue, any more than we are able to do so today. Consequently, the settled and permanent practice of the church was to meet on the first day of the week to continue in these functions of teaching, fellowship, breaking of bread and prayer.
I have said generally that the meeting of the church was for the purposes of teaching, fellowship, breaking of bread, and prayer. When we look at the various passages which describe the meeting of the church in greater detail cf. We know that there was singing Eph. Acts , 45; 1 Cor. In the early days of the church there was also the exercise of the sign gifts of tongues, interpretation, and prophecy 1 Cor.
For example, in Acts , 12ff. These and many other meetings were no doubt held by the church, but these varied with time, place and circumstances, and were not regularly, consistently or uniformly carried out by all the churches.
Special prayer meetings, home Bible studies, missionary conferences, and special meetings are completely within biblical principles. These meetings can meet with regularity and not violate biblical principle.
Now I am certain that I have already raised a question in your mind. Why must all these things be done at the same meeting? When the elements of the church meeting are divided into various meetings, there is almost always no opportunity for every man to participate. If he is not, then where can he address the whole body for their profit?
Now I realize that at the traditional prayer meeting all can pray, but this is almost never the case with sharing a song, a favorite portion of Scripture, or a personal word of testimony. Every man should be free at some time, and I would assert one time, to exercise his priesthood and his spiritual gifts verbally and publicly.
Division of these functions almost always promotes imbalance. If the elements of the church meeting are divided among several meetings, does this mean that women cannot ask a question in any of these meetings?
If so, in which meetings can she, and in which can she not? What is the basis for the inconsistency? These questions all arise out of a diversity of meetings in place of one meeting. Besides being biblical, New Testament practice and teaching is practical.
There are a number of very practical reasons for having one meeting of the church. In the case of many churches there are just too many meetings and not enough time. Very often in order to be considered spiritual by those in our church we must give inadequate attention to our families. Our society is far too complex, time demands too great, to have a continual series of meetings each week, every week.
Sundays are no day for rest; they are days of wrestling and rustling the kids to and from church. We take so much time meeting with the saints, we have no time for the lost. Not only is too much time spent in travel, but also too much gasoline—and it should be clear that this resource will someday be depleted. And this is not to mention the energy which is consumed in heating, cooling, and lighting the church building.
Because it is impossible for every family to attend every church meeting of the week, they must choose some and omit others. Even though they know that the meeting they miss is important, whether it be a prayer meeting, a communion service, or a teaching session, they simply cannot attend all. There is something about the combination of elements in the meeting of the church that is missing when each of these elements is isolated to themselves in different meetings. When all of the elements of the church meeting are combined there is a variety, a sense of expectation, a vitality which makes one look forward to coming again.
One writer has put into words what it is that we lack in our multiplicity of meetings, when he says,. The various elements of the meeting of the church are decidedly interrelated and cannot be successfully separated.
Worship does not happen in a vacuum, or upon command. When we teach the Scriptures at one time and worship at another we are performing a kind of abortion on the Word of God in my estimation, for just when we have been elevated and inspired by the teaching of the Word of God, just when we have been reminded of His character, and kindness, and goodness, we are told to stand for the benediction.
This is the time for prayers of praise, for hymns of praise, for partaking gratefully of the elements at communion which symbolize His work on our behalf. You cannot effectively separate these various elements of the church meeting.
Take the principle that every Christian has been given a spiritual gift or gifts for the benefit of the whole body 1 Cor.
The meeting of the church gives an opportunity for men to discover and to develop what might be called the vocal gifts in a way that few other meetings allow.
Surely there are other avenues of discovering and developing spiritual gifts, but the church meeting is a vital one. Indeed, in many churches of the New Testament church, it may have been the only opportunity for public expression, for there were perhaps no other church meetings. How is it practically manifested through the church? What greater and more obvious way than to come together as a church and look to Him to lead men to teach, to exhort, to share a song or a portion of Scripture as they are divinely led.
This does not mean that they have not prepared during the week, but there has been no careful and meticulous coordination of the variety of participations in the meeting.
Because there is no one visible leader who is directing every detail of the meeting, it becomes evident that our Lord Himself presides over the meeting through His Spirit. The headship of Jesus Christ over His church is visibly apparent by the fact that the men take the leadership in the meeting of the church 1 Corinthians This is why Paul instructs the men to lead in prayer and in the teaching when the church is gathered for worship, and why the women are to learn quietly 1 Timothy This is also why men serve as elders, and not women.
Now what greater opportunity to demonstrate the priesthood of every believer than in the meeting of the church. Men may exercise their priesthood by verbally praising God and by proclaiming His Word, and by making intercession for men. Here, indeed, is a corporate exercise of the priesthood of every believer. The priesthood of every believer is demonstrated in the passing of the elements during communion, and in the prayer offered for the offering. Since the priesthood of every believer removes the Old Testament distinction between laity and clergy, leading in communion and in the offering is the privilege and responsibility of every man.
At the meeting of the church, the saints gather as the body of Christ. Each member comes in dependence upon the rest of the body. Each member comes to be strengthened and encouraged and edified by the other members of the body.
Each is reminded of the unity of the body when partaking of the one loaf 1 Cor. Each is reminded of their interdependence in the body of Christ when every member contributes in some form of ministry. So you see that the principles of the New Testament church beautifully converge and in one way or another find their culmination in the meeting of the church.
In this weekly meeting of the local church the saints gather corporately for teaching, fellowship, breaking of bread and prayer. To put it in another way, Godward, they meet for worship; inwardly, they meet for edification; outwardly, they gather to proclaim the glory of His grace. What a privilege has been given to us to gather in this way every week. May I once again stress the need for balance in the various elements of the meeting of the church.
That is our desire for our church. Now, having said what I have, and you know there is much more that could have been said here, let me describe briefly what we intend to do in the meeting of our church. First of all, we intend to provide a balance in teaching, fellowship, remembrance of our Lord, and prayer. We consider every one of these items essential. We are going to endeavor to provide a proper balance by having one meeting of the church each Sunday morning from 9 a.
Since systematic teaching is vital to the growth and maturity of the church, the first portion of the meeting will be devoted to teaching. I am going to begin a series on the book of Acts. While I or another brother teach the adults, the children will be studying from the same text in most cases on their own level of interest and ability.
After the teaching session there will be time for questions by the men—1 Cor. We will also have a time devoted to worship and the remembrance of our Lord in communion. Finally we will have a time set apart for prayer and praise. During the meeting, appropriate songs and hymns and choruses will be encouraged. It is our desire that in so conducting the meeting of the church, our Lord may be praised, the saints edified, and the unsaved convicted and converted.
All of us have often heard the story of the preacher who received a call to another church and who was in his study praying about the matter while his wife was upstairs packing. This is just one more reminder of the fact that there is always some final authority, and that often that authority is not the one officially designated as such.
I learned this very early in my employment and have found it to be true at nearly every job I have had since. What is the final and ultimate source of authority for the New Testament church? Many of the cults will say that the Bible is their final authority, but in reality it is some other revelation given to their founder that is final and authoritative.
Usually, the Bible is to be interpreted by means of this other revelation. The Roman Catholic church would agree that the Bible is one of the final authorities, but also we must understand that it is the church which is the final authority, even in the interpretation of the Scriptures.
In the final analysis, the Scriptures fall under the authority of men, rather than men under the authority of the Word of God. We would naturally expect every church which claimed to be New Testament to claim that the New Testament was its final charter, the ultimate authority in matters of faith and practice.
While some churches are totally adverse to change of any kind, others feel guilty if they are not constantly changing and trying new ideas. Every Sunday Christians come to church wondering what kind of novelty they will find this week. This is also the desire of the new work which we are about to begin. A review of our study for last week should quickly explain the need for a final, authoritative guideline for the operation of the church. Acts To put the matter very simply and directly, God has chosen to carry out His program in the world in this age through the church.
He has far too much at stake to leave men to their own wisdom and carnal devices in the matter of the church. God has given to us an authoritative charter for the church, and that charter is the inspired, infallible, and inerrant Word of God, the Bible, and particularly the New Testament.
The first testimony that the New Testament is the charter of the church comes from the lips of our Lord Jesus Christ. The word church occurs only twice in the Gospels, both times in Matthew and By and large, the Lord had not given instructions regarding the church while upon the earth. He spoke about the Millennial Kingdom which He offered and which Israel rejected due to their rejection of Him as its Messiah. Even the last words of our Lord in Acts chapter one are directed more to the kingdom than to the church cf.
Acts , 6. As our Lord Jesus said, there were many things which His disciples needed to know, but they were not yet able to bear them John It was the Apostle Paul who was granted the privilege of making these things known:. For example, Paul wrote in order to give specific instruction to churches. Do you see the point? That is precisely the instruction which we have today.
We have no less help and direction than Timothy, indeed we have more, for we have in our possession the entire New Testament. The primary focus of this passage is directed to Timothy as an individual.
This I understand. In the Scriptures we can find definitive instruction for every essential area of church practice, for example:. Even the silence of the Scriptures is instructive. We not only learn from what the Scriptures tell us, but from what they do not speak to. Not long ago I was asked to speak to a new church which was forming on the outskirts of Dallas.
I had the occasion during this time to speak with a man who had some contact with this group previously and knew that I was teaching on the subject of leadership in the local church. My answer to him was extremely simple.
The silence of the Scriptures on this subject informs me that God has given us freedom in the area of the recognition of elders within the guidelines laid down in the New Testament.
God wants us to use wisdom in this process, knowing that there is no one way which works best in every situation. You see, God deliberately does not tell us how to do everything. Leadership does not have an exclusive role in liturgy and worship. To put the meal into the hands of a few would destroy the community sense that all participate in the sacrifice of Christ" Greg Ogden, The New Reformation [Grand Rapids: Zondervan, ] pp.
Jesus taught that His people were not to give or take upon themselves honorific titles which set them apart from the rest of the Christian brotherhood Matthew ; Mark This being true, why do so many church leaders today give themselves such lofty titles as "Reverend," "Minister," "Bishop," "Pastor," and "Senior Pastor"? Why do they feel it necessary to preface their names with such titles — particularly when the New Testament forbids it?
The early Christians referred to each other by personal names — Timothy, Paul, Titus, etc. Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit. Philip the evangelist. The New Testament teaches that Christians are to practice hospitality towards both fellow believers and outsiders Matthew ; Romans ; 1 Timothy ; Titus , 14; Hebrews ; 1 Peter This being true, why do most of us rarely open our homes to others?
Why do so many Christians ignore the physical needs of one another? Why is hospitality a forgotten virtue in most churches? With such an evident lack of love and concern towards others, is it any wonder why so many of our churches are cold and dying? The early church met almost exclusively in homes as opposed to large, religious edifices Acts ; Romans ; 1 Corinthians ; Colossians ; Philemon 2; 2 John Is this being a good steward of the financial resources which God provides?
Why do so many churches have a larger budget for building projects, staff salaries, and maintenance than for missions, the poor, and people-oriented ministries? What does this reveal about our priorities? The truth is, we have inherited traditions and practices within our churches which simply have no basis in the New Testament. Sadly, most of us have never bothered to question or investigate these traditions. But if we are to see genuine church renewal, we must rethink this whole thing called "church" and seek to conform all that we say and do in light of New Testament patterns and principles.
Are you ready for the challenge and willing to "put everything to the test and hold fast to that which is true" 1 Thessalonians ; cf. Acts ? There is a better way! Very good read. I believe this is what "the church" is to look like again! Jesus is coming back for His Bride who is in love with Him and each other as well as the world. We are to die to self and let Christ live; following His example by praying, listening to Holy Spirit and demonstrating the kingdom to the world.
May we all have crowns to lay at His feet! We have church buildings everywhere … but they are filled with nominal Christians; they and their cultural religion take up a lot of space in the name of Christ. And unfortunately, these are what people-at-large identify as churches and as Christians. On the other extreme, we have many believers who do not belong to any organizational church… and who may or may not meet regularly with other believers… yet who belong to the Church.
This is one sign of a cult, of course… thinking that only their organization or assembly might be the biblical Church — the true and complete Body of Christ.
But I do not believe this is what most people have in view when they claim that they are a New Testament church. There are many more-legitimate local churches that vary in their emphasis of the Old Testament portion of the Scripture. There was no New Testament. Now, I believe the entire Bible to be inspired and inerrant … but I do not believe that 2 Timothy was referencing or prophesying about the New Testament.
What this means is that the embryonic Church had only the Old Testament Scriptures. So, any contemporary church which seeks to model the biblical church had better at least include the Old Testament… but I say they should teach it, too.
This really does grab the model of Acts chapter 2, and we should note also that the apostle Paul taught a lot about spiritual gifts — and he encouraged their use in the Body. For these reasons, I see this is a credible reference to the New Testament church… in spite of the fact that this is not my personal choice in worship or theology. Yet I do not think that this is the primary use of the term either. I am very much for learning everything I can about the Old Testament… but I am very uncomfortable about people using Jewish worship as a liturgical model for the New Testament church.
This type of church might technically be a New Testament church, but they are obviously not going for that identifier. As such, some churches may try to differentiate themselves from these people by advertising their New Testament focus. My final, and I think my strongest idea, is that Christians are projecting an idealized Christian church by use of that phrase.
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