There’s a conversation happening in church leadership circles that should concern us all. Pastors, theologians, and ministry leaders are debating what they call “minimum ecclesiology”—essentially asking, “What’s the bare minimum we have to do to be a church?”
You know what they’re saying? “Well, I think we only have to get together with two or three people to be a church. I think you don’t really have to take communion and you don’t really have to baptize and you don’t really have to have elders in a church.”
There’s a whole lot of “I think-ism” going on.
But Jesus actually shows us what a church looks like. The disciples who went out and preached the gospel were doing what Jesus told them to do. They believed that what they were doing was exactly what Jesus was telling them to do.
And we should trust them more than we trust ourselves. Why? Because they were actually there.
The Foundation That Cannot Move
The first church devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching. This wasn’t one option among many—it was the foundation for everything else that followed. Notice carefully: everything they did after that statement was based on what they were taught.
Their commitment to Scripture informed their fellowship, their breaking of bread, their prayer, their generosity, their unity. Everything flowed from the apostles’ teaching.
As church leaders, we must hold to this conviction: all Scripture is God-breathed. The men who wrote the books of our Bible were inspired by the Holy Spirit in a unique way.
Some people say, “Well, I’m inspired to write this song.” That’s fine—God can inspire people in various ways. But the plenary verbal inspiration of Scripture—every word inspired—is unique. You don’t go beyond it. You don’t take anything out of it. You hold to it.
Scripture is inerrant and infallible. It is our source for doctrine, life, and righteousness. It tells us spiritual truth and physical truth.
For two thousand years, the church has believed this. Over time, people changed it, came up with different things. But what we should care about is what the disciples in the first church believed and taught.
Who Gets the Final Word?
Here’s the critical question every church leader must answer: Whose interpretation do you trust most?
The Catholic church came up with certain teachings. John Calvin contributed his perspectives. Martin Luther had his insights. There have been many great men who did the best they could.
But here’s what really matters: What did the disciples in the first church believe and teach?
As long as later theologians agree with the apostles, we’re on the same page. When they move away from that foundation, we don’t follow them. We stay with the apostolic pattern.
The disciples were devoted to the apostles’ teaching. A lot of people read the Scriptures, but they don’t ask the critical question: What did the disciples think they meant?
Instead, they ask, “What did John Calvin think they meant?” But Calvin lived 1,500-1,600 years after Jesus, after the apostles.
If you have to choose between somebody who lived 1,500 years after an event and somebody who lived at the event—as a historian—you go with the one who was there at the event.
Either Ignorant or Rebellious
When people try to do a “me and Jesus” thing and use a Bible verse out of context to prove it, they’re not being obedient to the Lord Jesus. They’re either ignorant or rebellious.
Now, ignorant doesn’t mean stupid. It means you don’t know the truth. God’s Word is very clear about these things.
But once you know what Scripture actually teaches—once you see the pattern Jesus established through His apostles—continuing to minimize or ignore it becomes something else entirely.
The Pattern Jesus Established
Jesus told His disciples He would build His church. The church is God’s idea, not ours. And what makes a church a good church is whether God is there.
Can you have a personal relationship with Jesus? Absolutely. But if you try to make that a substitute for being part of the church, you’re missing what Jesus established.
Look at what the first church actually did. They devoted themselves to:
- The apostles’ teaching – Scripture as their foundation
- Fellowship – Deep relationship with other believers
- Breaking of bread – The Lord’s Supper that Jesus instituted
- Prayer – Constant communication with God
They met together constantly. How often? The text says “every day” they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts.
All the believers were together and had everything in common. They valued each other more than they did their stuff.
This is what a church looks like according to those who were there with Jesus.
The Question That Matters
Here’s what church leaders need to ask—not just of their congregations, but of themselves:
If these components are missing, are you really part of a church? Are you really leading a church?
Going to a building once a month or twice a month or even once a weekend doesn’t mean you’re part of a church. If you’re not praising God with other believers, if you’re not in fellowship relationship with them, if you’re not doing the Lord’s service, if you’re not praising God, if you’re not meeting needs and doing things with others, if you’re not serving God and the kingdom—then you’re just going to church. You’re not really part of the church.
The same applies to leadership. If you’re leading something that doesn’t look like what Jesus established, what are you actually leading?
Why This Matters for Leaders
We have a sinful nature that always leads to our decline. We have a strategic adversary who is always trying to get us distracted. He wants us to take our eyes off of what God would have us build and put it on our own preferences.
And as soon as we take our eyes off the mission, he’s tearing down the very basis of our safety, protection, and salvation—all of it. Because we’re over there building some preference wall while missing out on the eternal things.
We must stay in alignment, in unity, and focused.
To do that, we have to recognize the problem. We can use the same words and mean completely different things. Almost every biblical term can be defined differently in other churches.
If we’re not running by the same playbook, if we’re not working off the same language, how can we possibly win?
Remember the Tower of Babel? God looked down and said they could do anything because they were unified. So He confused their language. One thing—change the language—and the work completely stopped.
Holding to What Was Delivered
The early church believed the Scriptures were inerrant and infallible. This belief has been around for 2,000 years. When we don’t care what the disciples believed and taught—when we prioritize later theological developments over the apostolic foundation—we’ve already drifted.
Church leader, you have a choice: Will you hold to the pattern Jesus established through His apostles, or will you adjust it to fit contemporary thinking, cultural preferences, or theological trends?
The disciples were ordinary men, but they were with Jesus. They were filled with the Holy Spirit. They were given the keys to the kingdom. For 2,000 years, we’ve believed that these men who wrote the Scriptures were inspired by the Holy Spirit in a unique way.
They are your source. Not tradition. Not later theological systems. Not what feels comfortable or culturally acceptable.
The Wall Must Be Built Right
Throughout Scripture, God’s people have a pattern: they forget, they drift, they rebuild walls only to abandon them. When Nehemiah came back just twelve years after the covenant was signed, they’d quit doing everything they promised. The very enemy who tried to stop them from rebuilding the wall was living in the temple.
How does that happen? It happens when leaders stop being devoted to what was originally taught. It happens when each generation decides they can improve on what Jesus established. It happens when “I think” replaces “Thus says the Lord.”
Church leader, your job isn’t to reinvent the church. It isn’t to find the minimum you can get away with. It isn’t to make it comfortable or culturally acceptable or aligned with the latest ministry trends.
Your job is to be devoted to the apostles’ teaching and to lead God’s people to do the same.
Everything else flows from that foundation. Move from that, and you’re building on sand.
Stand firm on Scripture. Hold to the apostolic pattern. Trust the eyewitnesses more than you trust yourself.
The mission depends on it.
To watch Jim’s full sermon on this topic click below:
