What is the church? Certainly we see churches on streets in our neighborhoods, downtowns, in almost any populated area . But, are those churches in the biblical sense of the word? According to the Bible, the church isn’t a building, it’s a group of people, of saints, of fellow believers. In fact, very few church buildings were constructed prior to the early fourth century.
What does the bible say about the church? Jesus spoke of His Church (Matt. 16:18). His use of the term speaks of a large universal group. Then there’s Paul who addressed some of his letters to particular churches: 1 Corinthians 1:2 (ESV) “To the church of God that is in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints.”
So, the word “church” can be a large body or a small local one. In fact, the Greek word for “church,” (ekklesia) simply means “assembly.” We, the church, are the assembly of God’s people, “sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints.” With this understanding, we may have a number of local churches in our own city or town, but there is only one church worldwide, the total number of living saints, followers of Christ.
This also would lead us to understand that most local churches as we most commonly use the term, have non- believers present. In the biblical sense, these folks are not truly members of the church. Some are seeking God. Some are seeking refuge. Others are quite good at playing the Christian role. They pray publically, they do good deeds, they help others, they even profess their faith and perhaps witness to the lost, but they are lost themselves.
I was one of these people. For five years, I played the Christian game. I thought being a Christian was just being someone who went to church regularly and tried to live a good life according to biblical principles. I was mistaken, and I think there are a lot of people in local churches unknowingly playing the game like I was. Going to church doesn’t make you a Christian any more than going to a bank makes you a dollar bill.
Others have less godly motives. Some join a local church for the business connections, maybe to find a spouse, or maybe just because they’re lonely. We welcome them to our local bodies of believers to hear the Gospel message, but biblically spaeking, they are not truly church members until they have turned control of their lives over to Christ.
The church is truly God’ family. It is called “the body of Christ” (1 Cor. 12:27). As such, we are the visible representation of the invisible God. When people look at us, they should see the love of God. When they watch what we do to help others, they should see the hand of God operating in their lives. And, when they hear the words we speak, they should hear the voice of God calming the angry, reasoning with the uninformed, caring for the suffering.
We have no excuse for anger, rudeness, or disrespect toward others, even to our enemies. We are told just the opposite: 2 Timothy 2:24-26 (ESV) And the Lord’s servant must not be quarrelsome but kind to everyone, able to teach, patiently enduring evil, correcting his opponents with gentleness. God may perhaps grant them repentance leading to a knowledge of the truth, and they may come to their senses and escape from the snare of the devil, after being captured by him to do his will.
Who do we think we are confronting others who are hurting as we were, misused as we were, lost as we were? We are the church, God’s ambassadors to a foreign land (2 Cor. 5:20). Let us represent our King well and see to it that His work is done.
Believers Armed and Dangerous 