What Is a Church Anyway?

Common sense tells you that you can’t know where you’re going until you find out where you are.  In terms of church concepts, a lot of people don’t have a clue where they are.  Can we get down to brass tacks? Let’s start slow.

• A church is a group of people.
• A church is a group of people who have common backgrounds.
• A church is a group of people who think alike.
• A church is a group of people who are similar in lifestyle.
• A church is a group of people who meet once a week.
• A church is a group of people who share life experiences.
• A church is a group of people who live and grow together.

We’re not really getting anywhere with this line of thinking.  We might as well be describing a lodge or club.  Let’s try another way.

• A church is a group of people who have the same political goals.
• A church is a group of people who are comfortable with each other.
• A church is a group of people who accept each other as they are.
• A church is a group of people who celebrate diversity.
• A church is place where it is okay to not be okay.

What do we have here?  This is more like an exercise in social experimentation than the church of the living God.  Let’s keep going.

• A church is a safe place to associate with others.
• A church is where people are taught good morals.
• A church is a group of people who believe in God.
• A church is a group of people who choose a pastor to direct them.
• A church is a group of people who hire a pastor to look after them.
• A church is a group of people who commit to each other mutual care and support.
• A church is a place where people come to get uplifted and encouraged.
• A church is a place where people hear a positive message for living their lives.
• A church is a place where membership enhances your social status.

Closer, but we’re not there yet.  These are side benefits of the church, but it is so much more.

• A church is a group of people who are followers of Jesus Christ.
• A church is a group of people who believe in the Bible and practice its teachings.
• A church is a group of people who have a dynamic experience with the Spirit of God.
• A church is a place where people come alive in worship, praise and prayer.
• A church is a place where signs, wonders and miracles take place.
• A church is an exciting place where people’s lives are changed.
• A church is a place where addictions are broken and people are delivered from bondage.

Yes … but, not quite.  At least we’re getting to the heart of the matter.  The problem is, churches that reach this state often settle here and plateau.  Instead of moving forward, they become satisfied.  They believe that they have arrived at the ultimate purpose.  But danger awaits churches that linger here.

• They turn inward and emphasize meeting their own needs first.
• They demand personal pastoral care that taxes their pastor’s time.
• They begin to solidify their positions in the group.
• They seek to perpetuate and defend their power.
• They get overly interested in land, buildings and influence in the community.
• They try to professionalize their operation and conform to secular definitions of church.
• They obsess on worshipping their worship, mutual-admiration and entertaining themselves.
• They lose their motivation to grow and reach out to the unchurched.

So, what is a church?

A church is an ecclesia, a “called-out” people.  What is it called out to do?

A church is a group of people called out by God to carry on the mission of Jesus Christ in the world.  It holds a deep and conscious conviction that it must spread the gospel, make disciples and reproduce itself over and over.  The true definition of a church lies not only in what it is, but what it does. “For God so loved the world …” The church of Jesus Christ understands that love that has no object is not love.  Love is not a thing to be studied, but a principle to be practiced.

Neil Cole says, “We must plant the seed of the gospel of the Kingdom and the fruit that will grow will be changed lives living out their faith together, and that’s exactly what we mean by “church.”  The true fruit of an apple tree is not an apple, but more apple trees. Within the fruit is found the seed of the next generation. Christ in us is the seed of the next generation. The difference this seed can leave in the soil of a people group is significant. We all carry within us the seed of future generations of the church. We are to take that seed and plant it in the soil of every people group under the authority of our King.

The difference this seed can leave in the soil of a people group is significant. If we put Christ and His kingdom first, we leave behind agents under submission to the reign of their King.” (cmaresources.org).

Mainline churches are dying.  Mega-churches are more collectors of disgruntled Christians than soul-saving stations.  Modern trends lean more toward introspection than outward evangelism.  Somebody desperately needs to light a fire—or more like ignite a volcanic explosion!—in order to impact an increasingly unchurched world.  How much longer can we wait?

Go.  Preach.  Disciple. Plant. Work while it is day, for the night is coming when no one can work!