Biblical Church

Have you ever thought of what church looked like in the Bible? It looks pretty different from what we know as church today. I wrestle with this. I don't think that the Bible would presume that all church would look similar to what it looked like in the book of Acts, but ultimately, I find it interesting that church looks almost nothing like it did in Acts.

What is church?

Church is the body of Christ. That metaphor is important because it identifies the key parts. Christ is the head of the church. Each individual is a member/part of the body of Christ. Each part must be connected to the head (Jesus Christ) in order to function properly and move the body in the direction that the head wants it to go.

Church is the gathering place (Hebrews 10:24). We are challenged to meet together to stimulate one another to love and good deeds. The fact of the matter is that Jesus Christ has a purpose for us, if we are going to accomplish that purpose, we need to be pushing each other in the right direction. As a youth pastor, there is always a temptation to call hanging out "fellowship". Unless we are pushing people toward God, we are not participating in fellowship.

Church isn't a building, it's a body of people in motion together. You think about that early church (Acts). They didn't have any particular location, but they gathered together regularly, prayed for people, and let as many people know about Christ as possible. They were in motion. They moved forward.

The point of this is to wrestle through the goals for church. We can't get caught up in making church the right place for people. Sure, yes we want to remove road blocks for people to connect with the head, but in reality, church is what it is. Church is the body of Christ. People are going to make a choice to be a part of that body or not. We can't be people pleasers, we have to move in the direction that God wants his church going. He wants us making disciples (Matt 28:18-20), he wants us pushing each other toward him (Hebrews 10:24), he wants us communicating the manifold wisdom of God (Eph 3:10) and he wants us to equip the saints for works of service (Eph 4:11-12). There are other passages that deal with the goals of the church, but these are certainly some key passages as well.

This is just something to wrestle with. Think about it.