The following are suggested steps that the Church should take in going back to be the Church of Christ:

1) The Call of a Leader to Service

Jesus laid the example which the Church ought to follow. We can see this when He chose His Apostles in Luke 6:12–13: “And it came to pass in those days, that he went out into a mountain to pray, and continued all night in prayer to God. 13 And when it was day, he called unto him his disciples: and of them he chose twelve, whom also he named apostles.” It was after a rigorous prayer session that He chose the Apostles. Likewise, in Acts 13:2–3: “As they ministered to the Lord, and fasted, the Holy Ghost said, Separate me Barnabas and Saul for the work whereunto I have called them. And when they had fasted and prayed, and laid their hands on them, they sent them away.” It was after a rigorous prayer session that the Holy Spirit commissioned Barnabas and Saul for the work of ministry.

Any believer that wants to start a Church must have received a call to that effect, and this must be attested to by the Church to which he belongs. Otherwise, such a believer is only being frivolous.

Jesus also gave ministerial gifts to the Church in Ephesians 4:11–14: “And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ: Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ: That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive.” These are people who have been called out to do the work of ministry.

The Holy Spirit has the final decision on whom to choose for Church planting because Jesus, the owner of the Church, had assured the Church that He will not leave them unguided. He promised in John 14:16–17: “And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever; Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you.” And in John 14:26: “But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.” Also, John 16:7–10 says: “Nevertheless I tell you the truth; It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you. And when he is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: Of sin, because they believe not on me; Of righteousness, because I go to my Father, and ye see me no more.”

The owner of the Church knows who He will use. That is the reason why any believer who receives a call from Him must patiently wait on Him for detailed clarification about the call, as to where he should go, when to go, when to start, and how to handle the work. Launching out before maturation time can be risky, because an immature or unripe fruit cannot produce the right flavor. Invariably, life-giving impartation will be absent in such a believer.

This is contrary to what is on the ground today, where believers are called by men of God based on patronage, loyalty, influence, and position in the public domain. This, however, negates the principles of the Lord Jesus and should be stopped outright by those practicing it. Ministers (Pastors) chosen based on arbitrary selection by founders or regional overseers will only be loyal to their human masters and not to the Lord Jesus, who is the owner of the Church. Such Pastors will be hirelings and do the work of God based on human logic and the dictates of their masters, rather than on dependence on the Holy Spirit.

The criteria for establishing a local Church should be based on God’s leading, passion for lost souls, and biblical injunctions; as against other reasons such as: our Church denomination is not yet in a location; a member newly relocated must set up our denomination in the new environment; the quest to have our denomination dotted all over the world; the quest to be known worldwide and become a household name; the quest for riches and wealth; or the quest for positions of authority and self-aggrandizement.

Establishment of a local Church should be based on the Great Commission in Matthew 28:19–20: “Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: 20 Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.” And Mark 16:15 says: “And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.”

The Great Commission is primarily to win souls from the kingdom of Satan to that of God by making all men disciples of Jesus Christ. Anything aside from this is a distraction from the Devil so that the focus of Christians can be shifted from the Great Commission to ephemeral things of the Devil. The goal should remain the same. Attempting to proliferate Church denominations only multiplies errors in the Church geometrically, thereby making the Church abominable before the Lord.

When a Church is established based on the above, the Church will grow rapidly, there will be impartation of the life of Christ into members, the power of God will work at the maximum, and the Church will be a Living Spiritual Church of Christ. But if it is established based on wrong motives, man’s wisdom, and logic, the power of God will not be there to back the so-called leader. This is the reason why most of these leaders look for other means of gathering members. Members in this setting will be carnal Christians. Even though the leader may be sound scripturally and eloquent, members will only have mental knowledge of the Scriptures without the life of Christ. Invariably, they will not be able to affect society positively; rather, they will be worldly and carnal.

In a case where everyone with a spiritual gift is moving out of their local Churches to establish their own Church, there will be no perfecting of the saints, no edification, no preparation of saints for the work of ministry, no building of the Church to spiritual maturity, and the body of Christ will be malnourished, as can be seen today. The power of the Kingdom is hardly being demonstrated by the present Church as a result of this anomaly. The negative effects of this act emanate from impatience, greed, covetousness, the quest for fame, and lack of endurance, which are works of the flesh, i.e. carnality.

In order to forestall all these anomalies, the Church must wake up to build members to spiritual maturity, make them have deep knowledge of God and of Christ the Son of God. The Church must create time for more teachings instead of all the frivolous worldly programs that don’t add value to heavenly things. A mature Christian will be able to handle things himself without being coerced and will be able to discern properly.

Visionary leadership is necessary in the establishment of a local Church. A leader must have the spiritual gift of administration, be a strong prayerist, courageous, and of strong faith. A leader who can make the Church reach out to the world through evangelism and sponsorship of missionaries. “The leadership of each congregation tells much about the congregation,” says an adage. As the leadership is, so will the followers be. To be continued in the subsequent posts…..

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