Of course, there is no perfect church.
I noticed the word 'Baptist' wasn't included in the O.P. or any Scriptures for that matter.
But the idea of
"The Perfect Church" is a great one.
What if we were to locate and observe a church that had The New Testament teachings of the churches, Doctrinally, Practically, and Organizationally that in the basic, most foundational sense, had things in ORDER, with no urgent need to add anything new, or take away from it some glaring error? Then, we will have found a church that is 'perfect', by that definition of not necessarily requiring anything added to her that is in a New Testament church, or anything removed from her teachings.
We would have found a church of the Lord Jesus Christ is what we would find.
Have you ever prayed and sought God's Face to know and be led to one to be baptized by the Authority of God, in answer and obedience to His Command?
If we then are so inclined to ask God about it and search His Word, I believe there is only one conclusion to come to regarding "What a Church Is".
Do you know how the Bible defines a church?
Do you know what a church is?
Before one could safely search out a New Testament church of the Lord Jesus Christ, they would need to first determine what God would have them understand a church is, according to what God says and not according to what man might think a church might be.
My brother, Tom Ross, who I've known since the early eighties, asks the question in this short article (with its full length in the 'articles' section below).
“And when they had Preached the Word in Perga, they went down into Attalia: And thence sailed to Antioch, from whence they had been recommended to the Grace of God for the work which they fulfilled. And when they were come, and had GATHERED THE CHURCH TOGETHER (Emphasis mine, TWR), they rehearsed all that God had done with them, and how He had Opened the Door of faith unto the Gentiles. And there they abode long time with the Disciples” (Acts 14:25-28).
"Paul and Barnabas were Gospel preaching missionaries who were called to the work by the Holy Spirit and sent out by the church at Antioch
(Acts 13:1-3). At the end of their first Missionary Journey, we find them returning to the church that had Authorized them to do the work (at Antioch) for the express purpose of rehearsing, or giving a report of the work that they had done.
"I think it is significant to note that they did not sail to a
“universal, invisible church” to deliver their report. Paul and Barnabas
did not summon the elect of all ages to deliver their report.
"Rather, they returned to Antioch and
“GATHERED THE CHURCH TOGETHER” to deliver the report. Biblically speaking a church of the Lord Jesus Christ, made up of baptized believers, must necessarily be a local, visible congregation that can gather together in a definite location.
"Paul and Barnabas were sent out by a real church, and thus they delivered their Missionary report to a real church made up of real baptized Disciples who had gathered for worship.
"There was
nothing universal or invisible about the church at Antioch. Thus, a church in the New Testament is a local and visible congregation (assembly) of baptized believers who have covenanted together under the Headship of Jesus Christ to carry out the Great Commission.
"It should be noted at the outset that the Biblical teaching of what a New Testament church is, is not at all what Catholics or Protestants have taught and believed through the centuries. Those who believe in the scriptural teaching of what a New Testament church is are in a decided minority.
A CHURCH DEFINED BIBLICALLY
"It is important that we get our definition of what a church is from the Scriptures, rather than the opinions of Catholic and Protestant theologians.
"The inspired writers of the New Testament text never once used the word Catholic (katholikos, the Greek word for universal) or invisible in conjunction with the word church (ekklesia in the Greek).
"The Christians of the first century
knew absolutely nothing about a universal or an invisible church.
"I love the quote by the late Elder Davis Huckabee who wrote:
“The Greek words ekklesia (assembly)
and katholikos (general or universal) are mutually exclusive;
"the former, ekklesia (assembly),
is expressive of locality and a restricted assembly,
"while the latter, katholikos (general or universal)
is expressive of universality and all inclusiveness.
"Not only so, but katholikos is not even a New Testament word, nor is it to be found in the Greek Old Testament. It made its appearance sometime after the First Century when it first began to be applied to the so-called general (katholikos) Epistles.
Katholikos (general or universal) was never applied by Inspiration to any churches.”
"The Roman Catholic theologian, Augustine (353-430 A.D.) really set forth and solidified the unscriptural notion of a universal, visible church that consisted of every member of the Catholic church who submitted to the authority of its visible head, the Pope. Augustine’s version of the church was stated in the Fourth Century and was an attempt to define a church as a single, world wide entity that a person had to belong to in order to be saved..."
"Later, after Martin Luther took his decisive stand against some of the errors of Catholicism, Protestants had to come up with a new meaning for the word church in order to justify their split from Rome..."
"Sadly, due to the influence of C.I. Scofield’s study Bible and the advent of Fundamentalism in the early 1900’s many Baptists embraced the heresies of
the universal, invisible church theory. Many Baptists hold to version of the church branch theory and/or the idea of a local body
within a universal body. When they want to appear to be ecumenical and acceptable to Protestants they talk of
the big universal invisible church, but when it comes to the collection of tithes, offerings, and a weekly salary they appeal to the local church. I think a lot of Baptist preachers would be cured of
the universal invisible church theory if they had to depend on the
big, mythical, spooky church for a paycheck!
"For the sake of time and space we will not examine every time the word ekklesia is translated church or assembly in our English Bible (KJV). For a detailed study I would refer the reader to a book I wrote entitled
Teachings on the Local Church where I examine all 114 times the word ekklesia is translated church, churches, or assembly in the New Testament, including the 18 times it is used in a generic, institutional, or abstract sense..."
See 'article' attached, What is a Church by Tom Ross.
His very, very, very well written (an 'easy read'), systematic, and enlightening book,
Teachings on The Local Church is informative about all aspects of what a church is that is like the kind Jesus Built in the New Testament and like all of the other New Testament churches which came from Jesus first church, at Jerusalem and how they operate to do the Work of God, i.e., God's Business.
I think it's really important to be a member of a church (Hebrews 10:25), and I'm sorry to hear that you have had bad experiences. As a Brit, I can't really advise you, but I do suggest that you not be too picky. There is a saying that if you ever find a perfect church, don't join it because if you do it won't be perfect anymore!
