In previous posts on this blog, I have extolled the benefits of a pastor that is educated in the science of Bible study, teaching and communicating. I have also proposed an alternative Christianity where several key mistakes made by the Church are corrected. It is not that I think the history of the Church is all messed up or that organized Christianity as a whole needs thrown out; however, I do believe there are things that could be done differently.

That is what this post (and what I hope will be a long series of posts to follow) is all about. I am going to try and construct a church model that is perfect. Before I begin; however, I must make a few concessions. First, I understand that the perfect church will never exist. Human beings are sinful and flawed. As a result, there is no local church or congregation that is devoid of flaw. While I understand this, I propose that we suspend reality for the time being. This church will exist only in our imaginations so we are free to aim for the sky. Secondly, I cannot pretend to know everything. There will be things that I forget or mistakes that I make as I propose the perfect church so I invite you to join into the discussion. I encourage the readers of this blog to add their two cents and ask their forgiveness if their suggestions are not incorporated in our fantasy church. Remember, our goal is to design this church’s every aspect so there will be plenty of opportunity for your input. Perhaps we should just concede from the beginning that our “perfect” church will not please everyone. Even with these concessions, I think this project could be fun and even productive.

I ask you now to engage your imaginations and enter the doors of the new church in town. Perhaps you were attracted to the name on the sign out front, Jesus Christ’s Church of Imperfect Disciples.

Before we even hire a pastor, I think we should first establish what our church believes corporately. The name of our church makes it obvious that we are believers in Christ. I would propose; however, that just saying we believe in Christ is a little too general. We need something a little more specific. Most church’s have a “Doctrinal Statement” that outlines what they believe in. There are even some denominations that try to include every possible Scriptural and social issue within their Doctrinal Statement. Since Jesus Christ’s Church of Imperfect Disciples is not associated with any denomination we are free to decide for ourselves what beliefs we want to include. I propose that in the perfect church there are some core beliefs that unite us with other Christians as brothers and sisters in Christ. These are the beliefs that make us Christian and without which our salvation is seriously in question. On issues not included within these core beliefs, members of Jesus Christ’s Church of Imperfect Disciples are free to think for themselves.  Remember, this is a rough draft and subject to change after comments:

Jesus Christ’s Church of Imperfect Disciples Core Beliefs

We believe in the Holy Trinity. We believe in one God that exists in three co-eternal and co-equal persons – the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. (2 Corinthians 13:14)

We believe in the Scriptures. We believe the Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments to be the final authority for our faith and life. In their original writings they are infallible, inerrant and God-breathed. (2 Timothy 3:16)

We believe in Christ. We believe that Christ was conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of a virgin without ceasing to be God in order to reveal God and redeem mankind (Luke 1:35). We believe this redemption was achieved through Christ’s death on the cross as a substitution-sacrifice. We believe we are justified by Christ’s literal and physical resurrection from death (1 Peter 2:24). We believe Christ ascended into Heaven and now serves as our Representative, Intercessor, and Advocate (Hebrews 9:24). We believe Christ will come again to serve judgment on the living and the dead (2 Timothy 4:1).

We believe in the Holy Spirit. We believe that the Holy Spirit is as real as Christ. The Spirit convicts the world of sin, judgment, and righteousness. We believe the Holy Spirit baptizes all believer into the body of Christ and seals them until the day of redemption (John 16:8-11, 1 Corinthians 12: 12-14).

We believe in the fall of mankind. While man was created in the image of God, through Adam’s sin the entire race fell. As descendants of Adam we have all inherited a sinful nature and are alienated from God by that sin. Furthermore, it is utterly impossible for us to correct the situation on our own (Genesis 1: 26-27, Romans 5:12).

We believe in Salvation. We believe that salvation a gift given in the grace of God and received in through a personal faith in our Lord Jesus Christ (John 1:12, Ephesians 2:8-10, 1 Peter 1: 18-19).

We believe in the church. We believe in the existence of a global Church that consists of all those who believe in Christ (1 Corinthians 12: 12-14). We also believe that the establishment of local churches is clearly taught by example in the New Testament. Jesus Christ’s Church of Imperfect Disciples is a local church that fits like a puzzle piece into Christ’s global Church. We do not believe that only members of this local church are saved nor do we believe that any one denomination has cornered the market on salvation (1 Corinthians 3:9).

The above is the core doctrinal beliefs that I think should be included in our church. I invite readers to make suggestions for change. If there is anything you feel should be included or if anything I have written needs changed, let me know. After we have settled on the core beliefs of our church we will move on to writing our church’s mission statement.