The Simplicity Of The Divine Economy No. 4
We always have occasion to look out for something new and wrong, when language is used in reference to anything not found in Scripture. We have long essays, and essays by the series, and sermons, too, on "church organization." Whence this language? "Church organization!" Indeed! What does that mean? We have no use for the phrase at all, unless we use it now, to show that it means something outside of the divine arrangement; something that does not belong to the New Institution. We can describe anything in the kingdom of God without it; anything that the apostles said or did. If a brother visits a new place, preaches the gospel, turns sinners to the Lord, and builds them together on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ the chief corner, and reports what he has done, in nine cases out of ten he has it that he has "organized a church." Instead of saying, There is no church in a given place, or no congregation, the reporter says, "There is no organization," or "no organism." What does it all mean?
The churches, legitimately, have two things to do: 1. To attend to their own internal affairs; to look after their members; to see that they walk orderly; that they keep themselves pure, and walk circumspectly before the world. The meaning of overseer is one who has the oversight, or sees over; and the overseer in the church of God is one who sees over the church; takes care of it; watches as those who shall give account. He is no clergyman, or august dignitary, but a good man, apt to teach, of good report, etc. As a congregation, they are commanded to keep themselves in the love of God, to edify one another, and to build each other up in the faith. They are never taught to look abroad for someone to teach them, to break the loaf to them, to settle their troubles, etc. When members in the Corinthian Church went to law with each other before the infidels, Paul inquired: "Have ye not a wise man among you?" They had their supernatural gifts or the Spirit, and were boasting of them, and yet had not a wise man among them to settle the smallest matters! They resorted to the civil courts! Some of our wise men would have us provide an ecclesiastical court to which we can appeal when the court the Lord has provided, the congregation of the Lord, with its overseers and deacons, shall fail. The court the Lord has provided, in their arrangement, is the lower court, and the one they propose is the higher court—the court of appeals. Its decisions are final; its excommunication will be "the greater excommunication."
2. The other part of the work, for which the church is responsible, is "holding forth the word of life." This work was done anciently by congregations and individuals. They needed no special license to do this. They were all free alike, as congregations and as individuals, to "hold forth the word of life. The love of Christ was in them, and the love that burned in their hearts toward man impelled them on in this work, and it was in their hearts and lives to spread the gospel; to turn the world to the Lord to the extent of their ability. This was true of all who had obtained the heavenly gift, and is true of all the same class today. This work is not a concentrated work, to be done in one place; nor to be done by conventions, conferences, synods, assemblies, or councils. It is done, and has been done in all ages, by the congregations of the Lord, scattered throughout the world, and the individual members, wherever they mingled with their fellow-creatures.
The enemy does not aggregate his forces, nor mass his armies, but scatters them throughout the world, and stations one here, and another there. We cannot aggregate our forces, mass our armies, and move on the enemy in a body, and disband his armies, scatter his hosts, and capture them. Instead of this, when our King made the first grand move on the enemy, the Lord's army was "all scattered abroad." The wisdom of this world would have thought that a very unwise move—the first thing to scatter all the soldiers abroad. But this was necessary, for the work to be done was "all scattered abroad." The Lord's hosts, when all scattered abroad, "went everywhere preaching the word." That was Cooperation in missionary work; "associated effort" in the work of the Lord; that was the Lord's way of doing the work. Where were their presidents, vice-presidents, secretaries, treasurers, conventions, great speeches, missionary agents, and "Plans" for raising money? The Lord invented a plan, or a way, to do the work, and such a one as the wisdom of man never would have thought of. Among all thee missionary movements schemed by men, who ever heard of one that started off by scattering the operators all abroad? There was no concentration, aggregation, or confederation of the soldiers; no massing of the armies; no great officers, with fine salaries, at the head of the army, deciding who should go into it, and who not; what their pay should be, or fingering the money. They were all, except the apostles, scattered abroad, and went everywhere preaching the word.
This was a Jerusalem model, under the eyes of the apostles, and guided by the wisdom of God! This was not a failure—it spread the gospel. Though this was the greatest missionary movement of which we have any account, our great missionary men, who never do any missionary work, but are always talking about missionary work, make no reference to it. They see no missionary work about it, though the disciples were all missionaries! When looking for "plans", they never go to this movement for a plan. There was not "organization" enough in this for them. There was too much work in it; and work for all, and no fine offices! Our great men see no example in all this; no model; no wisdom for them. The idea of "all scattering abroad"—going "everywhere and preaching the word", had no charms for them: Their idea is to send somebody.
The idea of modern great men is to get rid of the Jerusalem Church, as a model, and get Spurgeon or Beecher in view; mass the Lord's people, build a great temple, imitating Paganism more than Christianity, the kingdoms of this world more than "a kingdom not of this world;" getting a great salary, and once in three months, make a pitiful contribution for a missionary cause, with the idea of sending some man to the heathen! This way never did and never will do the work. It is nothing but a very poor apology for not doing the work at all!