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Often I’m asked what I think is the most controversial subject in the Independent Baptist Movement. Without hesitation I always say “The Local Church”. That is usually followed by a very puzzled look. One of the first articles I ever wrote in the Baptist Trumpet was an article about the authority of the local church. In that article I addressed para-church ministries and I stated that I believe every ministry should be a local church ministry. Clearly the Lord said upon this Rock He would build His church and the gates of hell would not prevail against His church. He called the church the pillar and ground of the Truth. Paul answered to his church at Antioch, (Acts 14:27), as did Peter the church in Jerusalem, (Acts 11:4). When the Lord explained to his disciples how a brother in sin was to be handled the final recourse was to tell it to the church. As the NT closed out, God wrote to seven specific churches in Asia Minor, not two camps, a mission board, three bible colleges, and an evangelist. Friend, when I entered the ministry my home church convened an ordination counsel and when that counsel was satisfied that I was straight on my doctrine, the local church assembled and ordained me to the Gospel ministry. Should I become an heretic or immoral that local church has the right to pull my ordination. Again, it is quite clear where God vested authority and accountability, the local church. I don’t think it is ironic that we call this the “Church Age”.

Let me say I will be the first to admit I have never once heard any person in our circles say they were against the local church, most are quite vocal in their stated belief and support of the local church. Yet from where I sit, their actions say quite the opposite. Here is a suggestion: Before you support a missionary, use an evangelist, allow someone to teach in your Bible college or hire a staff member, find out about his relationship to his local church. Call his pastor. Ask if he faithfully attends the services. Find out if he tithes regularly. Does he attend visitation when he is town? Does he report to his church about where he is when he is missing services? See what you turn up. Unfortunately I’ve found out the hard way why some of these “full-time” Christian servants don’t list their church or their pastor on their prayer cards or stationery. They don’t want you to know. They are charlatans. They are gospel bums. They bounce around from church to church and are about as faithful as a tom cat. Their pastor will tell you if you ask, but most never ask and these fakes know it.

Over the years a number of missionaries, evangelists, and full-time Christian workers have been members of the churches in which I have pastored and worked. In most cases these people were faithful and accountable to their local church, but some were not. Some did not tithe. Some never came to visitation when they were in town. I have often wondered how they could preach on missions and never do any missions work through their own local church. One missionary actually had his child in a little league on the nights his local church had mid-week services, while the church thought he was out doing missions work. May I say to the church who hires a pastor, or to a pulpit committee who takes on a missionary without calling that person’s church, you deserve whatever problems arise that a simple phone call would have prevented. When you bypass God’s ordained institution of accountability, you will probably pay for it.

Never forget: God designed the local church to be a number of things. One of those things is a place of accountability. Unfortunately, there are many in the ministry that are spiritual shack-ups and only belong to a church on paper. They should be exposed, and would be if we got back to a proper understanding of the place of the local church. I remember several years ago, I asked five well known evangelists to write on the unscriptural practice of separating ministries from the local church. The response I got blew me away. Two refused to write me back, and one said he didn’t believe in being under a single local church because he had a problem answering to a single pastor. Yet I had heard all of these men say publicly that they were strong local church men. Let’s honor the local church. Let’s honor the place and authority that God has vested in it. If we desire our people to honor the local church, we had better not honor those who don’t.

Pastor Steven E. Mays – Faith Baptist Church, Laurens, SC.
BroMays@FaithBaptistTrumpet.org