Reconstructing the Church

Reducing the church to an institution — defined only by preaching, sacraments, and discipline — strips it of the power that made early Christianity an empire within the Roman Empire. Calvin practiced a faith that governed every sphere of life, creating schools, hospitals, and refuges, yet his heirs shrank his legacy to five doctrinal points and handed all authority to pastors and elders. The early Christians, a persecuted handful without church buildings, provided welfare, ransomed captives, and saved abandoned children because they served a present King, not a future one. Reconstructing the church means recovering its identity as Christ's embassy with extraterritorial rights — His army to bring every area of life and thought into captivity to the King of kings.