What Is A Church?

Today, in the minds of many people, a church is a physical building.

However, this common worldview is not Biblical.

Romans 16:5
Likewise greet the church that is in their house. Greet my beloved Epaenetus, who is the firstfruits of Achaia to Christ.

Greet the church that is in their house. The church is in the house. We greet people and not a building! The Greek word for church is ekklesia. It means an assembly or called-out ones. A church is not a house or a building, but an assembly of believers. We don't go to church, we are a church! A church is about people, and not about buildings!

A church is a body of believers coming together for fellowship, praise, worship, prayer, communion and exhortation in Christ.

The church can be considered in two ways, as the universal church or as the local church.

The universal church is the body of Christ. It is made up of all believers in Christ from the day of Pentecost until His return, regardless of race, language, nationality or social status.

Acts 2:41-47
41 Then those who gladly received his word were baptized; and that day about three thousand souls were added to them.
42 And they continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers.
43 Then fear came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were done through the apostles.
44 Now all who believed were together, and had all things in common,
45 and sold their possessions and goods, and divided them among all, as anyone had need.
46 So continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they ate their food with gladness and simplicity of heart,
47 praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved.

A local church is a local body of believers gathering in the name of the Lord. Sometimes with just only two or three members.

Matthew 18:20
For where two or three are gathered together in My name, I am there in the midst of them.

A local church of believers is localized or scattered, meeting at a certain home, place, province, village, town, region or city.

Galatians 1:1-2
1 Paul, an apostle (not from men nor through man, but through Jesus Christ and God the Father who raised Him from the dead),
2 and all the brethren who are with me,
To the churches of Galatia:

Acts 8:1
Now Saul was consenting to his death. At that time a great persecution arose against the church which was at Jerusalem; and they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles.

Whether universal or local, the church is the body of Christ with Jesus as the Head. And this is very important for all of us.

Ephesians 1:22-23
22 And He put all things under His feet, and gave Him to be head over all things to the church,
23 which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all.

As Jesus is the Head, the rest are just part of His Body. Every member of the Body of Christ is essential and important.

1 Corinthians 12:20-26
20 But now indeed there are many members, yet one body.
21 And the eye cannot say to the hand, “I have no need of you”; nor again the head to the feet, “I have no need of you.”
22 No, much rather, those members of the body which seem to be weaker are necessary.
23 And those members of the body which we think to be less honorable, on these we bestow greater honor; and our unpresentable parts have greater modesty,
24 but our presentable parts have no need. But God composed the body, having given greater honor to that part which lacks it,
25 that there should be no schism in the body, but that the members should have the same care for one another.
26 And if one member suffers, all the members suffer with it; or if one member is honored, all the members rejoice with it.

However, in some churches today, the head of the church is not Christ but the pastor. Sometimes the name of the pastor is mentioned more often, and exalted higher than the name of the Lord! Sometimes the humanistic teachings of the pastor are deemed to be more useful and relevant than the teachings of the Bible! Sometimes the books written by the pastor are considered to be more significant and essential than the Bible!

Some Christians even have a picture perfect portrait of their favorite pastors, nicely framed and displayed on their walls at home. Unknowingly, they have worshipped a visible human being instead of an invisible God.

Many of these pastors are power-craving leaders. They have a gift of intimidation. Their strategy is increasing their power and influence through fear and favoritism. And the church becomes a world where politics governs, and business transactions take place.

Very often, these toxic church cultures may appear to be strategic, successful, innovative, or even Christian and Biblical. They look attractive to become a part of or an example to follow. But behind the scenes, things get really nasty and ugly. Many of the things done in the name of the Lord are not Christian and not Biblical, contrary to the gospel of Christ.

These pastors lead by manipulating the fears and emotions of their followers. They groom their leaders to do likewise. As such, they only "care" for those under their own power and control.

These pastors have the power to do anything as people invest their trust and hope solely in them, knowingly or unknowingly, intentionally or unintentionally. Seeking the approval of these pastors become a daily and life pursuit as some people deem that the approval of the pastors is the same as the approval of God.

Those approved by the pastors will be able to come into their inner circles as their status is enhanced. Upon the approval of the pastors, they become "somebody" inside the church. Only the insiders are special in the eyes of these pastors. This way of approving people conditionally is against the message of the unconditional love of God.

When the insiders or followers do what the pastors demand, their status will be promoted. If not, their status will be reduced.

Only the insiders know what is done behind the closed doors of the church. Outsiders will not know the decisions or secret agendas of the inner circles. By keeping this way of church government, the pastors and leaders continue to be great rulers, ruling over the people through fear and intimidation.

When some people begin to question the teachings or leaderships of their pastors, they will immediately be shunned or ostracized. If they leave the church, they will instantly be excommunicated. They will be deemed as rebels or unbelievers even if they attend another local church.

Thanks be to God that we are baptized in the name of Jesus Christ, and not in the name of our pastor!

Acts 2:38
Then Peter said to them, “Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

Thanks be to God as we place our faith in Christ for salvation, we become a part of the Body of Christ. We are the church of Jesus! Each of us is important and special in the eyes of God!

Depending on the genuineness of their faith, a local church may or may not be part of the true universal church of Christ! If their Head is not Christ or if their teachings are not Biblical or if their behaviours are not godly, and so on.

A true church is not a building or a denomination, and is not centred on any one spiritual leader or religious dictator. A church is where believers can encourage, teach, exhort and build one another up in the knowledge and grace of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Ephesians 4:11-16
11 And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers,
12 for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ,
13 till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ;
14 that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting,
15 but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head—Christ—
16 from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love.

A true church of Christ will grow even in a global pandemic as each member is joined and closely knitted together in the love of Christ, supplying where there are needs and lacks, and edifying each other until finally all of us have fully grown in the Lord, yes, till we are completely perfected in Christ.

A true church will be strong even in trials and tribulations when we will no longer be like children, forever changing our minds about what we believe because someone has told us something different or has cleverly lied to us and made the lie sound like the truth. Instead, we will lovingly follow the truth at all times—speaking truly, dealing truly, living truly. In doing so, we become more and more in every way like Christ Who is the Head of His Body, the Church.

A true church is unshakeable as our faith is firmly built upon the Solid Rock of our salvation.

Hebrews 12:27-28
27 Now this, “Yet once more,” indicates the removal of those things that are being shaken, as of things that are made, that the things which cannot be shaken may remain.
28 Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us have grace, by which we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear.

Our Lord will sift out everything without solid foundations so that only the unshakeable things will remain. As the Kingdom of God cannot be shaken, let us please God by serving Him acceptably with thankful hearts, and with holy fear and awe. Worshipping Him alone.

Written on: 25 August 2020