So What is the Church Anyway?

            So what is the church? I suppose before we start talking about its designed purpose and product we should first answer this question: What is the church?

            The church is identified as people both universally and locally who have trusted Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. They believe Jesus died on the cross to pay for their sins and was raised from the grave on the third day. They have submitted themselves to follow Jesus as Lord and seek obedience to his commands. This group of believers is also known as the body of Christ. It is made up of men and women from every nation, race, and language all over the world. In this sense the church is universal, meaning it contains every believer all over the universe, (except on Jupiter, but that’s another discussion altogether). In another sense there are local gatherings where Christians get together to worship Jesus, learn from the Bible and share fellowship with one another. The church is also organized with a leadership structure of elders and deacons who are responsible to shepherd, protect and lead the church.

            There were local gatherings of believers in the New Testament. Paul wrote his epistles to churches in Galatia, Ephesus, Corinth, Thessalonica, etc. (Gal. 1:2; 1 Cor. 16:19; Eph. 1:1; Phil. 1:1; Col. 1:2). In Revelation Jesus spoke to the churches in Ephesus, Pergamum, Smyrna, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia and Laodecia, (Rev. 2:1, 2:8, 2:12, 2:18, 3:1, 3:7, 3:14). They were groups of Christians who got together in a certain area or town.

            The church is universal as it contains every believer in Christ all over the world. Paul wrote to the Ephesians that “Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her,” (Ephesians 5:25), and that Christ nourishes and cherishes the church, (Eph. 5:29). Jesus told Peter that “on this rock I will build my church”, (Matthew 16:18). Paul told the Corinthians to give no offense to “the church of God” and not despise “the church of God”, (1 Corinthians 10:32; 11:22). Further examples could be given, but you get the idea. The church is identified as both a local body of believers who worships Christ as well as the total sum of all Christians everywhere who have believed in Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior.

            Now we should also identify what the church is NOT, according to the Bible. The "church" is not identified as a building. The church is instead identified as people. When Paul or Peter wrote their letters to "the churches" they did not write to a church building on 123 Main Street, Corinth. There were no church buildings in the 1st Century as the Christians mostly met in other people's houses. Peter, Paul, John and James were writing to groups of people who had trusted Christ and were gathered together as a body in various local areas. This is an important distinction to note. Nowadays we think of the 3rd Baptist Church of Cityville or the 7th Presbyterian church of Townsburg. This is somewhat understandable as the "church", the body of believers in a local area, does gather together in a building which we call a "church". But we need to remember that "the church" for which Christ gave his life and devoted so much instruction and teaching in the New Testament was not a building with drywall, air conditioning and chairs, but the very people who fill those buildings. It's a bit of a paradigm shift and it's necessary as we begin to think about the purpose of the church. This way we will not think about what should be the purpose of the building, organization, or pastoral staff of the 52nd Methodist church of Francisovilletown, but rather what is the purpose of the body of believers actually gathering in those places.

            Does this make sense? Are we all on the same page? Groovy. Now that we’ve identified, (or rather I’ve identified. You, the reader, just sat there and let me do all the work. Shame on you.), let’s get back to figuring out what should be the purpose and product of the church, both universally and locally, according to God and his Word.