If it looks like a duck and walks like a duck and quacks like a duck then it’s a…yep, a duck. Surely, you’ve heard that saying before, one typically used, I believe, to make an accusation stick. However, it goes beyond just that one use. On the surface, something that has all the qualities of a duck must be a duck, whether you’re trying to get an accusation to stick or just trying to figure out what something is.
What if you changed the word “duck” to “church”? How would you recognize what a church is? Or, to ask it another way, what makes a church a church? Is it the name on the sign out front? Is it a certain status with the IRS? What are the indicators that an organization is actually a true church and not simply a club?
Well, think about it this way. If the church is the body of Christ on earth, then how will the church be the body of Christ? What would it look like for Christ to be faithfully and accurately represented by the church? If we ask it that way, then we’re left with the three offices of Christ – prophet, priest, and king.
Just as Christ is our Prophet, so to the church, the local expression of the body of Christ, should be marked by faithful commitment to the preached Word of God (Acts 2:42). Just as Christ is our priest, then the local church, in order to be a church, must be committed to a proper administration of the sacraments (Matthew 28:18-20; 1 Corinthians 11:23 32). And, just as Christ is our king, so too the local church should be marked by the practice of church discipline (Matthew 18:15-20; Hebrews 13:17).
Preaching and sacraments we understand, more or less. However, lest you get the wrong impression, discipline isn’t merely punitive, but instructive also. Sure, church discipline can involve the elders having conversations with a church member about unbiblical views or practices, but technically anytime the edicts of the king are handed out, we are exercising discipline. In that sense, then, discipline takes place in Sunday school and worship and Bible study. When the King speaks, his subjects are being trained for obedience, which is positive and preemptive discipline.
So, if it preaches like a church and biblically observes the sacraments like a church and disciplines like a church, then it’s a church.
If ever you’re looking for a church, make sure you’re looking for a church.