Do you go to a church?
Where do you go to church? What's
happening at the church this week? Were
you "in church" last week? We've
all heard these odd questions expressed. Odd?
Why are they odd? Because, it illuminates
a dangerous misconception of what the word 'church' actually means.
The preceding questions are always asked in the context of a
'church' being a physical building, which is a very human viewpoint. But, biblically,
a church is a group of Christians who come together to learn, grow, play, serve,
share the Word, and support each other through thick and thin.
Jesus proved that church, His body; can be anywhere,
anytime. In fact, He went out of His way
NOT to use a building to house His ministry. In fact, in Matthew He said He would destroy
the existing stone temple and replace it with Himself (the body of
Christ). He had no home to call His own,
no place to lay His head at night, no temple, no synagogue and no office. That would have been too constraining for His
ministry. His goal was never to coax people to any particular place for
worship, teaching or to just hang out.
Maybe He thought that would be too inhibiting for all involved. Who knows ~ after all, God's ways are not our
ways.
Instead He chose to move around, and meet people where they
lived, ate, worked and played. He built
relationships with them, on their terms, on their turf, in their homes and
along the sandy roadways; which was often enemy territory. Jesus lived and taught in the trenches.
I'm not saying we don't need worship centers. What I am saying is words matter. What we say
and how we say it matters, and in the
long run the words we use influence what we believe. Our culture has been lured
into depersonalizing "the church" and turning it into a building. The result is that people often
abdicate their responsibility for "being the church" and dump it in
the lap of the church building's pastor, staff or upper administrators who embrace having that power and authority. We must
guard against this insidious mindset.
The body of Christ, the church, is called upon to equip its'
members for every good work and then to go out in the world ~ and be the church, not just stay in a
building and do church. The
church is not a place anymore than a flock of birds is a nest. The church is a people, the people of God, Christians who
gather together as the Spirit leads, and where the Spirit leads. The church is
a living, breathing, inspired body of believers, a living organism that comes
together to worship, learn, grow, play, serve and share grace with the world
wherever they are. Anywhere, anytime Christians
come together in His name for any reason... that IS church!
"...
Aquila and Priscilla greet you warmly in the Lord, and so does the church that meets at their house." 1 Corinthians 16:19 (NIV)
