New Testament Concepts of the Christian Ekklesia – Should They Still Apply Today? The Question of the Local Church

In my hometown of Memphis, Tennessee, there are over 2,000 churches. None of these churches is governed by one local Christian governing body, none of them submit themselves to the others in doctrine and practice. Whereas Paul could speak of the church of Corinth or Rome or Jerusalem being one church, it seems difficult to consider the over 2,000 churches of Memphis, TN as one church. But should it be?

For example, should an individual under church discipline in one congregation be recognized as under discipline in every congregation in the city? You can imagine that there would be congregations that disagree with the reason for an individual to be under discipline in another congregation and receive that individual into their congregations. Whether we should consider ourselves as one local church, we cannot. We have wildly diverse concepts of orthodoxy (right belief) and orthopraxy (right practice).

We might should be united as one local church, but it seems we have gone too long as sectarian entities to be able to submit to such governmental unity. We could, however, acknowledge the one true church of Memphis, TN by affirming the true Christian churches of our community and their members and uniting at times for outreach. And this I have seen done. For example, Bellevue Baptist Church has sponsored Jesus Loves Memphis, a city-wide outreach of service comprised of many Memphis churches for many years now. It is a truly ecumenical outreach. Many other examples could be given. This does not match the Biblical ideal of one local church, but approximates it.