Only four kinds of churches exist.
No Christian wants to be in the bottom left kind of church, the spiritually dead church, devoid of both Scripture and the Spirit. This church reflects our natural condition apart from God’s revelation and grace. It’s actually no church at all. Sadly, some groups that claim to be churches fit in this quadrant. They claim to be Christian while rejecting God’s word, and show no evidence of the Spirit’s activity. Avoid this kind of church.
A second kind of church is characterized by enthusiasm. It emphasizes the Holy Spirit but not Scripture. Consider the charismatic movement at its farthest extreme, in which private revelations and spiritual experiences are valued over the authority of Scripture. Emotion and experience trump revelation. Some churches may even affirm Scripture, but functionally diminish its authority. This kind of church seemingly values the Holy Spirit, but forgets that the Spirit himself inspired and illuminates Scripture. A church that emphasizes the Spirit apart from Scripture can’t provide the revelation and stability that every Christian needs.
Sadly, a third kind of church exists: dead orthodoxy. This quadrant seems more respectable than the hyper-charismatic one, but it’s equally as dangerous. This church upholds correct doctrine. Its preaching is orthodox and its theology sound, but with no transformation and no life.
In 1959, Martyn Lloyd-Jones preached a sermon on this kind of church. He called it the greatest danger confronting evangelical churches and individuals today. It leads to self-satisfaction, smugness, defensiveness, and comfort. When people go to church, they expect nothing and get nothing. It’s as if people make a morning call on the Almighty, but have “no conception that God may suddenly meet with them and that something tremendous may happen.” Every element is programmed and scheduled, but with a rigid adherence that virtually excludes the Spirit. This kind of church often exists as a reaction to the hyper-charismatic church. “In our reaction from the false, we’ve gone to another position which is equally false,” says Lloyd-Jones. As a result, we end up with correct beliefs but no power, vitality, or joy.
Our goal should be to become the fourth kind of church: a church that holds both Spirit and Scripture together. The bottom-left church has lost everything; the top-left church has traded Scripture for experience; the bottom-right church has traded the Spirit for respectability. The top right church upholds Scripture in the power of the Spirit. It’s the kind of ministry described by Paul in 1 Thessalonians 1:5: “Our gospel came to you not only in word, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction.”
As I’ve thought about this grid, I’ve concluded that Lloyd-Jones was right: the bottom-right quadrant is our greatest danger. We’re so concerned with the excesses of the charismatic church that we end up going to the other extreme, quenching the Spirit.
I want to live in the top-right quadrant. Lloyd-Jones suggested that the way to do so is to hold two New Testament commands in tension:
- “All things should be done decently and in order.” (1 Cor. 14:40)
- “Do not quench the Spirit. Do not despise prophecies, but test everything; hold fast what is good.” (1 Thess. 5:19–20)
Following one of these commands at the expense of the other leads us away from the right quadrant. Llyod Jones again:
Dead orthodoxy is our greatest threat. The solution is hold onto orthodoxy while also seeking the divine power that characterized the New Testament church and churches throughout history. Let’s work to be churches that take Scripture seriously and that seek the Spirit’s power for ministry.