what are the advantages of church planting movements over against ...

St Francis Magazine Vol 6, No 6 | December 2010
church is not an insubstantial sociological construct, 103 but the body
and fullness of Christ. 104 Within it God’s saints persevere unto final
salvation, 105 and against it even the gates of hell cannot stand. 106 No
sheep which comes to the Good Shepherd and joins his flock needs
ever fear the ravaging wolves outside. 107
4.6 What does the Bible teach about “extraction”?
Sadly, for many MBBs, associating with local Christians imperils
relationships with their former community. As reflected by their distinctive
use of “insider/outsider” categories, IMs prioritise sociological
categories, and avoid “aggregate churches” and the “extraction”
which they may entail.
The New Testament, however, teaches that one’s primary identity
is located, not sociologically, 108 but spiritually: the true “insider” is
the one united to Christ and his people, 109 whereas “outsider” is a
term reserved for unbelievers. 110 Indeed, Jesus is emphatic that loyalty
to him must take priority over sociological continuity. When
demanding public allegiance from his followers, 111 Jesus foresaw that
this new commitment would provoke opposition from family members.
112 Nevertheless, he insisted that one’s public spiritual identity
must always take priority: to compromise here imperils salvation. 113
103 Nikides, ‘A Response to Kevin Higgins’, pp. 94, 97.
104 Ephesians 1:22-23.
105 Hebrews 10:25.
106 Matthew 16:18.
107 John 10:11-18.
108 Galatians 3:28
109 Note the regularly employed ἐν Χριστῷ (in Christ) formula, which appears nearly
100 times in the New Testament, and the portrayal of the Christian community as a
family, e.g. Galatians 6:10; 1 Peter 2:17; Hebrews 13:1.
110 E.g. Colossians 4:5; 1 Thessalonians 4:12; 1 Timothy 3:7.
111 Matthew 10:32-33.
112 Matthew 10:34-36.
113 Matthew 10:37-39.
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