Several years ago I asked a group of pastors to define “church.” Honestly I don’t remember a lot of specifics from the conversation. What I do remember though was being surprised that there was not a clear unanimous answer. It seems pretty clear in scripture but it was not very clear in that conversation. So as you read this, how would you define “church”? You see, in order to get to solutions of how the church can be relevant or how the church can accomplish her mission, we have to have a basic understanding of what the church is. We will never get to where we are going if we don’t even know who we are! We can’t possibly uncover our mission if we aren’t settled on our identity.
So there are many options. Is the church:
- A building, a place where people gather for a religious service?
- An attractional event designed to draw those outside the church into the church?
- A gathering of people coming together to invite others to share their faith beliefs?
- A hospital of sorts where people in spiritual and sometimes emotional or physical wreckage come to for healing?
- A gathering of people coming together to express their faith, through music, preaching and prayer?
- A refuge where people of faith come to be encouraged and built up after being worn down by the world around them?
- A community of like-minded people who learn together and do life together?
- A missional organization that reaches out to the community and the world doing good for others?
- You fill in the blank _____________________________________________?
Even in these answers, there are varying degrees and depths to which we can explore. For instance, being a community of like-minded people who learn together and do life together would have very different meanings for Unitarians than it would for Baptists than it would for Catholics than it would for Full Gospel congregations. The examples could go on for quite some time. So how do you define the church? Seriously, stop and give your definition before you go any further. Then dig a little deeper and ask what your definition would mean to someone of another denomination or of another geographical location say in Africa or India or China or even North Korea? What would your definition mean to someone of another race or cultural background? Does the meaning change or is your definition of church a universal constant?
In a way, I find myself personally caught between two very different church worlds. I grew up in a highly conservative and traditional congregational church. Even today the primary hymnbook of the church is made up of hymns from the 1700s and 1800s and the morning worship service is sung acapella. The churches do not have pastors, but rather they are led by the elders and the men of the church. In stark contrast, for the past 25 years I have worked in mega churches where there is no hymnal, most of the music is less than 5 years old and usually a 10 year old song would be considered out of date. My son plays drums and guitar in the services with a modern rock band, moving lights, smoke machines and video images going on around him.
I’ve actually sent my kids to the church camp I grew up in just to mess with them. Not really. I’ve sent them there to experience a church culture that is very different from what they typically experience each Sunday but one that loves God just as much as the environment they are currently immersed in. It is a good experience for my children but I’m pretty sure that if these two cultures came together, there would be some pretty significant disagreement, maybe not hard core judgement but some disagreement. Are either less “Christian”? I don’t think either of them would say that when you really get down to it, but they do church very differently. Are either less “church”? Well, that may depend on how you define “church.”
Each of the definitions above could possibly be considered an element of the church however, our concept of the church would be lacking if we took one of those definitions to be our sole definition. Actually even if we took all of those definitions as a composite definition, we would still not get it right because we need to go back to scripture and see what the church was, and what it was intended to be.
Admittedly there are some definitions in the Greek Lexicon and in our Bible Study tools that are not especially helpful. One definition in Thayer’s Lexicon is, “any gathering or throng of men assembled by chance or tumultuously.” However accurate that may be at some church business meetings, it is not particularly helpful nor is it representative of what is spoken of in the New Testament. We seem to get closer in this definition from Strong’s Concordance, “the whole body of Christian believers.” or even better from HELPS word studies, “people called out from the world and to God, . . . the universal (total) body of believers whom God calls out from the world and into His eternal kingdom.” And, “[The English word “church” comes from the Greek word kyriakos, “belonging to the Lord” (kyrios).” Maybe more simply, the church can be called the “Bride of Christ.” We can see this in Ephesians 5 and Paul’s comments in 2 Corinthians 11:2 as well as multiple references to Jesus as the bridegroom.
Throughout the New Testament we can see the church identified as a group of believers belonging to God. It is clear that Paul sees each of the churches he writes to as a group of believers not as a group of random people. The church or the analogous church is spoken of in terms of purity. Paul speaks in terms of “splendor, without spot or wrinkle.” Jesus speaks metaphorically using the imagery of a virgin. The church is seen as a holy, set apart group of Jesus’ followers whether referring to the global, timeless community of believers or the local current gathering. There is no real ambiguity. When the church grew, it grew with those who were being saved. When Paul spoke to the church it was with the understanding that they were believers.
Recognizing the identity of the church is a critical step in our journey to Relevance 2.0 because if we are not absolutely solid on who and what we are, we will never be able to function effectively. The church is to be the pure and spotless bride of Jesus (Ephesians 5:27). It is made up of His followers who are not only ready for His return but they are also ready for living in Him, regardless of circumstance or trial, through His Spirit everyday on this earth regardless of when He returns. This is the church of which Jesus spoke when He said that the gates of hell would not prevail against it.
Here is the important part of that understanding though. We can assent to that ecclesiological understanding academically but if we truly embrace the church as the holy, spotless body of Christ, it will change everything. If we truly embrace the biblical model of the church, then the church can stand triumphantly, not for itself but triumphantly over the world and the gates of hell will not prevail against her.
We will take a look at this radiant bride a little later but next, let’s look at the purpose of the church.
Prologue
Relevant?
Defining Church
The Purpose of the Church
The Radiant Bride
Worship
Worship in the Church
Holy Huddle