Why the Church Should Be Regarded as Important

In his latest book, The Church, Mark Dever writes:

“The church should be regarded as important to Christians because of its importance to Christ. Christ founded the church (Matt 16:18), purchased it with his blood (Acts 20:28), and intimately identifies himself with it (Acts 9:4). The church is the body of Christ (1 Cor 12:12, 27; Eph 1:22-23; 4:12; 5:20-30; Col 1:18, 24; 3:15), the dwelling place of the Spirit (1 Cor 3:16-17; Eph 2:18, 22; 4:4), and the chief instrument for glorifying God in the world (Ezek 36:22-38; Eph 3:10). Finally, the church is God’s instrument for bringing both the gospel to the nations and a great host of redeemed humanity to himself (Luke 24:46-48; Rev 5:9). (x-xi)

 As our featured resource for the month, we’ll be posting several other quotes and citations from this book in the next few weeks. Here’s one more quote from the introduction:

Today many local churches are adrift in the shifting currents of pragmatism. They assume that the immediate response of non-Christians is the key indicator of success. At the same time, Christianity is being rapidly disowned in the culture at large. Evangelism is characterized as intolerant, and portions of biblical doctrine are classified as hate speech. In such antagonistic times the felt needs of non-Christians can hardly be considered reliable gauges, and conforming to the culture will mean a loss of the gospel itself. As long as quick numerical grown remains the primary indicator of church health, the truth will be compromised. Instead, churches must once again begin measuring success not in terms of numbers but in terms of fidelity to the Scriptures. William Carey served faithfully in India, and Adoniram Judson persevered in Burma not because they met immediate success or advertised themselves as “relevant.” (xii)