Francis Schaeffer has an extremely high view of the church and great expectations as any Christian should. He details some solemn responsibilities that the church of Jesus Christ must consider.
We Must Adhere to the New Testament Boundaries for the Local Church
Schaeffer’s primary assertion is that Scripture mandates eight specific norms for the New Testament church (The Church At The End Of The Twentieth Century, 51-60). The first norm: Local congregations are to exist and should be made up of Christians. Schaeffer would have clearly opposed the so-called seeker sensitive movement that is so prevalent in the church today. While he believed that the church ought to evangelize the lost, he would have had real problems with the present day fascination of catering to the non-believer.
Second, Dr. Schaeffer believed these congregations ought to meet in a special way on the first day of the week. He clearly has Sunday as the specific meeting day in mind, although I am inclined to think that Schaeffer would be comfortable with the new trend toward Saturday evening services and the like. The critical issue for him was that the church met regularly each week.
Third, the church should have elders who have a responsibility to shepherd the flock of God.
Fourth, there should also be deacons responsible for the community of the church in the area of material things.
Fifth, Schaeffer strongly believed that these elders and deacons should be qualified in accordance with the Pauline standards set forth in 1 Timothy 3:1-13 and Titus 1:5-9.
The sixth norm is that the church must engage in church discipline. Schaeffer goes to great lengths to show the necessity and benefits of church discipline in accordance with the principle set forth by Jesus in Mathew 18. Schaeffer explains, “The New Testament stresses such purity, for the church is not to be like an ameba so that no one can tell the difference between the church and the world. There is to be a sharp edge. There is to be a distinction between one side and the other – between the world and the church, and between those who are in the church and those who are not” (The Church At The End Of The Twentieth Century, 57). He writes in no uncertain terms: “For a church not to have discipline in life and doctrine means that it is not a New Testament church on the basis of the New Testament norms” (The Church At The End Of The Twentieth Century, 57).
Finally, Schaeffer declares that a vital mark of the church is the administration of two ordinances: baptism and the Lord’s Supper.
These seven norms are non-negotiable principles in the thinking and ecclesiology of Francis Schaeffer. These norms are commanded by God. Any church that fails to engage in even one of these crucial norms forfeits the right to be called a true church. However, Dr. Schaeffer believes there are many areas in which the church is left free. There is a form and there is also a freedom. “It is my thesis that as we cannot bind men morally except where the Scripture clearly commands (beyond that we can only give advice), similarly anything the New Testament does not command concerning church form is a freedom to be exercised under the leadership of the Holy Spirit for that particular time and place” (The Church At The End of The Twentieth Century, 59-60).
In many ways, Francis Schaeffer may be considered very conservative in his approach to “doing church.” But in other ways, he is a bit of a radical. His views on form and freedom leave room for creativity, spontaneity and a wide variety of ministry options.
Veritas et Lux 