When I was a little girl, I used to play church with my brothers. We each played characters: the preacher, the song leader, and the people saying, “Amen.” This is what our minds came up with when we thought about church. There are many opinions about the church, but not everyone comes to the discussion with the same definition. Some believe that a church is a place where people of the same faith gather and learn about how to live. If this is the case, any motivational speaker with great advice and people gathering to listen could be considered a church. I remember when Oprah Winfrey was in her heyday; my mom used to say, “Oprah is having ‘church.’” All her congregants gathered daily at 4 pm to hear what doth saith Oprah. The same thing has been seen in recent years, like Kanye’s Sunday Service (we all know what happened with that). Much can be said about what does or doesn’t make a church. So that I do not overwhelm you, the listener, I’m breaking this topic into three episodes, each covering one characteristic of a local church body. First, a local Christian church should be for Christ, about Christ, and in service to Christ and the people of Christ. Yes, Christ in everything!
The first time the word “church” is used in the Bible is in Matthew 16: 13-20. In this passage, Simon (Peter) proclaimed Jesus as the Messiah, the Son of the living God (Matthew 16:16). Jesus says to Simon (Peter), “And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock, I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.” There are a few different interpretations of this passage. Did Jesus mean that the church would start with Peter as the first “rock” on which the church would be built? Or did He mean that the message that He, Jesus, is the Messiah would be the rock on which the church would be built? Both are plausible, for Peter was certainly instrumental in the growth of the church (see Acts 2), and the gospel is indeed the church’s foundation. However, to focus on the definition of church, we will discuss the latter interpretation. It is clear that the gospel message, which is “Christ is the Son of the Living God,” is the cornerstone of the church (Eph. 2:20).
Peter himself says to the early church, “As you come to [Jesus], a living stone rejected by men but in the sight of God chosen and precious, you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ” (1 Pet. 2:4-5). The early church was made up of Christian Jews and Gentiles living in Rome at the time. However, the principles in the letter also apply to the modern local church. From this passage, we understand that, according to the Bible, Christ must be the cornerstone of the local Christian church, and those who profess Christ are to build up the church as holy priests.
The church is the body of Christ. Paul explains this metaphor in 2 Corinthians 12, “For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. For in one Spirit, we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and all were made to drink of one Spirit. For the body does not consist of one member but of many.” So, the church is a group of people who profess Christ with one Spirit and serve one another as different parts of Christ’s body.
The people of the church assemble until Christ returns. Hebrews 10:23-25 says, “Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful. And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.”
The church worships together. Colossians 3:16 says, “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God.”
The church is where the body of Christ learns from God’s Word. Timothy says to the church, “Preach the word…” (2 Timothy 4:2). The goal is to become a disciple of the Christ. A disciple is a student who learns and listens to the Word of God.
While these examples only scratch the surface when describing the church, some churches don’t meet this basic description. Let’s talk about what a church is not.
The church is not for unbelievers. However, some churches cater to the unbeliever. Rather than basing their teaching on the Word of God, ministering to the body of Christ, and worshiping together, some churches today cater to the appetite of those who don’t know Jesus. Rather than sharing Jesus with the world, they allow the world to dictate how they run their church. In many cases, the sermons must be fun, entertaining, or theatrical. After all, the people aren’t going to stick around if all they do is “preach the word”!
Imagine this: the church leaders decide to make their Easter service (the service that many unbelievers attend) “less biblical” so that people who haven’t been to church feel more comfortable. So they leave out specific ideas like “Jesus shed His blood,” “Jesus paid for our sins,” and “He was resurrected from the grave.” Believe it or not, this happened in a church! The leaders actually came up with this plan. The problem with this strategy is three-fold:
In Romans 10:14, Paul says, “How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching?” In other words, how will the unbeliever know the gospel if no one preaches it? Though God didn’t intend for the church to be designed for the unbeliever, unbelievers are certainly welcome. When they come, they should hear what it means to be a believer. By the Word, the Spirit, and the grace of God, they may come to Christ.
2 Timothy 4 doesn’t say to preach what makes people comfortable; it says, “preach the word…” (2). The purpose of preaching the Word is to “be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching…” (2). God’s Word in and of itself is life-changing and powerful! The church should rely on it to pierce the hearts of those who receive it.
2 Timothy 2:3-5 explains, “For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths. As for you, always be sober-minded, endure suffering, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.” In other words, entertaining people’s curiosity, emotions, and worldly desires will not suffice because once you stop entertaining them, they’ll leave and find another place that caters to them.
Please understand my point. Everyone should be welcome to attend a local church, but the mission of the church should be to worship God, emulate Christ, and serve one another. When the church is no longer about being the body of Christ, God has “left the building.”
After His resurrection, Jesus said to His disciples, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age” (Matthew 29:18-20). Notice we are called to baptize disciples, which are those who believe, and to teach them. We are not saving them, coercing them, or entertaining them. Instead, as we live our lives according to Christ, we share the gospel with unbelievers and invite them to come to church so that they can learn about Jesus alongside us. The church teaches, God moves, the Holy Spirit convicts, and Jesus saves (not necessarily in that order).
I like what Jackie Hill Perry once said, “When you stop believing that the location of God’s power is in the gospel, you start to develop methods for your ministry instead of praying. You start to trust your strategies more than the Spirit. But conversion is the work of the Holy Spirit. Sanctification is the work of the Holy Spirit. Spiritual understanding is the work of the Holy Spirit. It does not matter how clever you are, how winsome you are, or how intellectual you are. If God doesn’t move, people will not respond.”
Ultimately, the church is for the church, but for anyone who is not a believer, we invite you to receive the gospel of Jesus Christ. There are many other characteristics of church that I will cover in the coming episodes. For now, when you walk into a local church, ask yourself the following questions:
What are the core beliefs of this church? Do they believe in the gospel? Do they preach from the Bible?
Do they minister to one another? Do they have ministries that help to encourage, teach, and pray for each other?
What did I learn from attending this service? What did I take away from my time in corporate worship with fellow believers?
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Church: You keep using that word Pt. 1