Marks of The Church

Like a day trader watches the markets, or a political junkie watching C-SPAN, I observe the church. It’s fascinating. It’s theology in action. Another term you might hear regarding the church is ecclesiology. Fancy word. Comes from the greek word ekklesia, which simply means assembly. Ecclesiology is the study of the church, an assembly of believers, and its various functions (worship, ordinances, teaching, etc). In other words, theology in action. So when Scot McKnight blogged about the marks of a church, I thought I’d chime in.

Scot provides eight marks via Mark Driscoll. As Scot notes on his blog, and I will echo, I’m not interested in Driscoll or his theology at this point, just the list of marks associated with the church. The marks are:

1. The church is made up of regenerated believers in Jesus
2. The church is organized under qualified leadership
3. The church gathers to hear preaching and to respond in worship
4. The church rigfhtly administers the sacraments
5. The church is spiritually unified
6. The church is holy
7. The church is devoted to fellowship
8. The church is committed to Jesus’ mission

Scot asks what we would strike out or add. I’ll take these one by one. The first mark is a good foundational place to begin. I understand these are brief statements with a lot to unpack behind them. I would add something to make clear the church is also a safe place to ask questions for the believer and unbeliever alike.

The second mark is fairly straight forward, except in many cases it is interpreted either too loosely or not at all. What constitutes “qualified” leadership? The Bible is quite clear on the subject, see 1 Timothy 3.

To number three I would add teaching. However, the language of this mark is interesting. Is worship a response to preaching? Can worship exist independent of preaching or teaching? Another note I would add is that preaching or teaching itself can be a worshipful act. I would simply say the church gathers to worship, whatever that looks like in the moment.

The fourth mark is another one of those statements with a lot of theological unpacking behind it. A sacrament is simply a ceremony or rite ordained by Jesus. The word sacrament comes from a Latin word sacramentum, which is something set apart as sacred or holy. To the early church, proclamation of the Gospel and teaching were also regarded as sacramentum. This means marks three and four are closely related.

Mark five refers to the church’s spiritual unification. This is obviously important locally and universally. Nothing to add or strike here.

Mark six is holiness. The church as the bride of Christ is called to be holy. I would add something referring to how holiness is attained. I would make reference to the church being a place of discipleship, and as a result of discipleship the church continually becoming more Christlike through sanctification.

Number seven, committed to fellowship, I’m all for.

Finally, number eight, committed to Jesus’ mission, I wholeheartedly agree with.

In summary, I wonder how helpful lists like this are. Certainly for church leaders it is vital. But when I read mark six, the church is holy, I immediately think sanctification and discipleship would be better emphasized. Why not simply say one of the marks of the church is it disciples believers and encourages sanctification? Our holiness, after all, is found in Christ, and only in Christ. In the end, it’s all about Jesus, not lists. We can create and critique lists all day long, but do we love God and love our fellow man? If we do, I don’t think a list could contain all the marks of a Holy Spirit empowered church operating in the love of Jesus.