The Church   

The first point we must address in answering this question is, in what sense are we referring to the church? Usually a person asking this question is thinking of the church in a denominational sense. If God is pleased with denominationalism, then it doesn't matter which "church" we are a member of. However, the concept that the Lord's church is made up of many churches believing and following a variety of doctrines, is foreign to the scriptures. In fact, Ephesians 4:4-6 tells us that there is one faith, one baptism, and one body (church). In Revelation 2-3 the very fact that Jesus corrected both the practice and doctrinal beliefs of the seven churches of Asia shows that specific beliefs and practices at variance with the scriptures are not tolerated by Christ. He threatened each church who did so with a loss of fellowship.

Secondly, we must show that "churches" (whether used as a denomination or in the local sense), do not go to heaven, individuals do. I cannot find the "right church," hook on board like a passenger on a train, and expect to go to heaven because I have joined the right church. Indeed, the Lord is the Savior of the body (Ephesians 5:23), but that simply means He is going to save those who through faith and obedience to Him have become a part of His called-out group. The Lord doesn't save local churches, He saves people.

Thirdly, there are not "different paths" leading to heaven. Where in the scriptures is such a thing taught? Galatians 1:8 tells us that even if an angel preaches any other gospel than that which the apostles taught, he would be accursed. II John 9-11 teaches that if anyone goes beyond the doctrine of Christ and does not abide in that doctrine, he does not have God. Further, if anyone comes and does not bring this doctrine he was not to be received or even bid God's speed else one would be a partaker of his evil works. This shows that it is important to be careful about the local church we are a member of. If the church is practicing error or teaching doctrines that would lead people to be lost eternally, then we cannot be a part of such a church with participating in their deeds.

This same principle is presented in I Corinthians 10:14-22. We cannot participate with a church or assembly of people in an activity that suggests we condone sin or are not honoring the gospel/doctrine of Christ. We cannot partake of the Lord's table and the table of demons.

This point leads us to the question of when we can no longer have fellowship with a local church? We must caution that we must not severe relations with a church just because individual members differ in how they believe. A local church is a group of Christians who have agreed to work and worship together on the points that God said Christians are to do collectively. With this, there may be a number of individual beliefs upon which members would differ but still be able to work together. Romans 14 and I Corinthians 8 show that members could differ and yet were still expected work together in the same church. However, fellowship with a local church would have to be severed when:

1. The church was practicing or supporting something in violation of the scripture thereby bringing me into support of the sin.
2. The church tolerated a sinful member; refused to discipline this member and thus condoned the sin.
3. The church was teaching doctrines that would cause people to be lost if believed and followed.
   Remember, that in any of these situations a member would not withdraw himself until he had done all that he could to lovingly correct what was wrong.

The word "church" in the New Testament comes from the Greek EKKLESIA, which comes from two words, EK, "out," and KALEO, "to call," thus, "to call out." Therefore, the word refers to a group of people who had been called out of some place or relationship into another one. In the case of the church of Christ, it refers to people who have been called out of the world into Christ by the gospel II Thessalonians 2:13-14). The word is not always used in a religious sense, but at times refers merely to a secular gathering or assembly of people.
The important thing to understand about the word is that it is a collective noun. Examples of collective nouns are: covey; herd; flock; troop; jury; team; crew; family; assembly; school; committee; company; crowd. One herd of cows is many cows. One cow cannot be a herd. So when the Lord spoke of the church He simply spoke of people. The church is not an institution or organization that people join. The church is a group of people. They are organized, but the church is simply people. The Bible speaks of the church in either a universal or local sense. Either way, it is still just people.

In fact, we can not four ways the word church is used in the New Testament to refer to the Lord's people:

1. Matthew 16:18; Ephesians 1:22; Colossians 1:18 refers to the church in a universal sense, that is, all of the saved whether dead or alive. The universal church has no earthly headquarters, earthly organization, or earthly meeting place.
   
2. I Corinthians 1:2; I Thessalonians 1:1; Colossians 4:15 refer to the church in a local sense, that is, a group of the Lord's people who have agreed to work and worship together in a specific location.
   
3. Acts 8:3; 9:31 (ASV, NASB) uses the word church in a distributive sense, that is, "the church throughout all Judea" is neither the universal church nor a single local church, but individual saints distributed throughout a region.
   
4. I Corinthians 11:18; 14:23 refers to the church as saints assembled in one place. A local church already exists before the saints assemble, so here is a way the word is used to specifically mean all the saints of one location when they are in their assembly.

It is important to remember that "church" is a descriptive term for the Lord's people. It describes them as "called out" of the world. "Body of Christ" is descriptive of God's people as members of one another with a head, Christ. "Bride of Christ" is another descriptive term for the Lord's people showing their relationship with Christ as a woman espoused to a husband. "Family" also describes the Lord's people showing our intimate relationship with God as our Father and to one another as brothers and sisters. "Temple" describes God's people as the place where God's presence and blessings are given. "Kingdom" describes the people of God as citizens with God as the monarch who delivers laws to be followed. Each of these terms are simply different ways of describing the people of God. Do not try to turn these descriptions into any more than the people of God.

When teaching an unbeliever, we do not want to get overly complicated in our explanation, but we do want to change the denominational concept that is so prevalent. The Lord's church is simply all of the saved. When you are saved the Lord will make you a part of His church (Acts 2:47). You will then want to join yourself with a local group of people who are serving the Lord, which will make you a part of a local church (Acts 9:26). God expects His people to do certain things as a group: pray (Acts 12:5), sing (Ephesians 5:19), partake of the Supper(Acts 20:7; I Corinthians 11:20), study/teach/preach the word (I Timothy 3:15), and give to provide for needy saints and the spread of the gospel (I Corinthians 16:1-2). Though some of these things can be done individually and therefore apart from a local church, all of these things are to be done collectively with a local church.

To answer this question we must first note that it is possible to be in a saved condition without being a member of any local church. When Philip baptized the eunuch (Acts 8), he was saved but not a member of any local church. When Paul first left Damascus after his conversion and came to Jerusalem he was refused membership at Jerusalem for a short time (Acts 9). Though saved, he was not a member of any local church during that period. Does this mean the Lord doesn't care whether we are a member of a local church or not? No. Everywhere Paul went and taught the gospel a local church was established. When Paul came to an area where a church already existed, he attempted to join with that group. Paul wrote letters to local churches as did Jesus in the book of Revelation. In Revelation 1 Jesus is pictured as standing in the midst of the local churches of Asia and holding their destiny in His hand, as well as threatening to remove their candlestick (remove them as one of His churches) when they would not obey Him.

As mentioned under the previous question, there are certain things we must do collectively. Ephesians 4:11-16; Romans 12:3-9; I Corinthians 12:12-27 are all texts telling us of the importance of our place in a local body of Christians. To not be a part of a local church when possible, is sinning.

Partaking of the Lord's Supper as well as giving are requirements that can only be done on Sunday, but these are not the only requirements of Christians who are a part of a local body. Read carefully Ephesians 4:7-16. Notice all the things that God expects a local church to accomplish:

1. Jesus gave apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers to equip Christians so that they can do the work of ministry and the work of building up the body of Christ.
   
2. This work is to be done till we all come to the unity of the faith and to maturity so that we are no longer children tossed about by every wind of doctrine.
   
3. Instead, each member is to grow to the point of being able to speak the truth in love and grow up in all things like Christ.
   
4. Each member is to be joined and knit together with all the other members.
   
5. The body functions by every member supplying his part and doing his share. All of this put together causes the growth of the body as well as the edifying of the body in love.

Now, can all of this be accomplished by attending a one hour worship period on Sunday? Impossible. God has given the local church a great job to do which cannot be accomplished if individual Christians treat the local church as something they "go to" instead of a functioning unit they are a part of.

Hebrews 10:24-25 does not warn us of neglecting the assembly, but the assembling of the saints. The reason for the warning against such neglect is that we all need to stir up one another to love and good works so that we do not slip away as the Hebrew brethren were. Each member needs to both stimulate others as well as be stimulated himself to stay strong in the Lord. God did not tell us how many times to assemble, but we are to assemble enough to accomplish these goals He gave us. Certainly, an hour a week will not suffice.

The easiest way to answer this question is to examine the practice of the early church. When early churches used their money for benevolence, did they also include needy unbelievers?

First, it is important to clarify the question. There is no doubt that individual Christians, according to their ability, were commanded to do benevolent deeds for unbelievers. In James 1:27, James admonished the brethren to "visit the fatherless and widows in the affliction..." Also, in Galatians 6:10, Paul told the brethren to "do good to all men, especially the household of faith." In context, neither of these passages were commands for church action since all the related commands in the surrounding text can only be fulfilled by individual action.

Now let us consider collective action by a local church. In Acts 2:44-45 and 4:32-35 we note that during a time of great need it was believers who had all things common and were "distributing to each as anyone had need." Could this possibly have included unbelievers? In Acts 3:6, we have a lame man begging alms from Peter and John. Though we know that Peter and John with the other apostles had control of the money that was being collected by the church for those in need (4:35,37), Peter said, "Silver and gold I do not have, but what I have, I give you...rise up and walk." Peter is claiming not to have any personal money that he could offer this unbeliever. What about the collected money of the church? That money was only to be used for the believers. Later, in I Corinthians 16:1-2, when Paul commanded the church in Corinth to take up collections on the first day of the week, he said, "Now concerning the collection for the saints..." Every time a church gave money for the purpose of benevolence in the New Testament, the passage specifies saints. Consider these additional passages: Acts 11:29; Romans 15:25-27; II Corinthians 8:1-4; I Timothy 5:3-16. In this last passage, Paul even warns that a needy believer is not even to be cared for by the church if he has family who can first provide for him.

Such action as is mentioned in this question is usually described as a sponsoring church arrangement. This is where one local church "sponsors" a work bigger than what they are able to handle as a local church. Therefore, they solicit funds from other local churches so that they will be able to do a work that they could not do alone, such as preaching the gospel on television. The bottom line is, there is absolutely no principle in scripture, either by command, example, or necessary inference, that would authorize churches pooling their funds for the purpose of an evangelistic work. When Paul was in need of monetary support while he was at Corinth, churches in Macedonia sent to provide for him (II Corinthians 11:7-9). In Philippians 4:15-16, Paul says that the church at Philippi was the first to send to him to provide for his needs. In each case, money was sent directly from each church to the preacher that was being supported. This money was not sent to Corinth, who in turn provided support for Paul. Nor did the church at Philippi become a sponsoring church collecting funds from other churches for Paul's needs.

We must remember that elders only have oversight of the flock "among them" (I Peter 5:1-2). They have no right to take oversight of the affairs of another church.

Yes. In Acts 11:27-30, the church in Antioch took a special collection for the purpose of sending money for the relief of the brethren in Judea. "This they also did, and sent it to the elders by the hands of Barnabas and Saul." You will note, however, that there was a specific way this money was given. They money was sent to the elders. What elders? Well, there were no elders who were over all the brethren in Judea, but there certainly were local churches in Judea, each having their own elders. Therefore, Paul and Barnabas brought the money to the elders of these local churches who in turn distributed this money in their own local church as each person in that church had need. Again, there was no sponsoring church. Jerusalem did not receive the money and then distribute it to each of the churches. Further, this is the pattern given for benevolence only. We see no such pattern of one church giving to another church for the purpose of evangelism.

Paul followed this same pattern when he encouraged churches to send to Jerusalem for the needy in that church. Each church appointed their own messenger who accompanied Paul to Jerusalem (I Corinthians 16:1-4; Romans 15:26-27; II Corinthians 8:16-24; Acts 20:4-5 [which gives a list of the messengers]).