What is church? Maybe I should ask, what do you think of when you hear the word "church"?
Is it this?
With all of this?
Or maybe this?
With all of this?
Maybe you're view of church is somewhere in between the two or maybe it's different all together. Maybe when you think of church, you think of this...
Just check out how the dictionary defines church...
... a building for public Christian worship (source).
Here's one thing that they all have in common, they're all misconceptions of what the church really is according to The Scriptures. That's right. Even the dictionary is not Scripturally accurate.
When you explore The Scriptures with the question, "What is the church?" here is what you'll find...
"But Saul began to destroy the church. Going from house to house, he dragged off men and women and put them in prison." Acts 8:3, NIV (italics added)
"News of this reached the ears of the church at Jerusalem, and they sent Barnabas to Antioch." Acts 11:22, NIV (italics added)
"So Peter was kept in prison, but the church was earnestly praying to God for him." Acts 12:5, NIV (italics added)
Reading these Scriptures make me ask some more questions like the following: In the context of "church", how could Saul be destroying a building when he was going house to house and arresting people? Do buildings have ears? Do buildings pray?
People do all of these things, don't they? So then how could churches be buildings when most of these references have human qualities? Could it be that our American culture has misused the word "church"?
Let's keep going...
"[Jesus] is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy. For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him," Colossians 1:17-19, NIV (italics added)
"Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it. And in the church God has appointed first of all apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then workers of miracles, also those having gifts of healing, those able to help others, those with gifts of administration, and those speaking in different kinds of tongues." 1 Corinthians 12:27-28, NIV (italics added)
"As you come to [Jesus], the living Stone—rejected by men but chosen by God and precious to him— you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ." 1 Peter 2:4-5, NIV (italics added)
Look again at the words The Scriptures are using to define the church- body, living stones, spiritual house. Based on these Scriptures, what is the church?
The church is a living, breathing person or "collective of persons." In other words, every Christ-follower IS the church.
If the building that we go to on Sunday is not the church, how does this impact your life... or does it? Does this change how you view yourself? How would you act differently knowing this? What implications does this have for how you engage your neighbors, co-workers, family, etc?
Knowing all of this, read the following from an email that I received from Kirby Holmes, Group Life pastor at Gateway:
"There's something wrong in America: many people have exchanged Christianity for Church-ianity. Church-ianity thinks the church is an organization of professional pastors who are responsible for feeding and meeting the needs of everyone who shows up for a service once a week.
In Church-ianity, the church is like a supermarket of goods and services. People go to sit, learn and then go to lunch afterwards to grade the service. If they don't like what they hear or aren't getting their needs met then they go to another supermarket down the street.
This view of church comes from our Western, affluent, education-equals-growth, feel-good, me-centered cultural view of life. It is a consumerism mentality. And it is wrong.
If you look at Scriptures you see a different picture of what is means to be the church. In Acts 2 we read what it was like to be in the early church:
'All the believers lived in a wonderful harmony, holding everything in common. They sold whatever they owned and pooled their resources so that each person's need was met. They followed a daily discipline of worship in the Temple followed by meals at home, every meal a celebration, exuberant and joyful, as they praised God. People in general liked what they saw. Every day their number grew.'
The reality is anyone who opens up their life to the forgiveness offered to us through Jesus and lets Him lead their lives is a pastor and priest. In 1 Peter 2 we read that ordinary Christ followers share this identity. It says:
'But you are the ones chosen by God, chosen for the high calling of priestly work, chosen to be a holy people, God's instruments to do his work and speak out for him, to tell others of the night-and-day difference he made for you-from nothing to something, from rejected to accepted.'
John Burke's message during the iSolation series has more to say about every Christ-follower's identity as pastors and priests (check it out HERE)."
Jesus said, "For where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them." Matthew 18:20, NIV
Here's to the church...
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composed by
dave
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