Never Go To Church Again!
What is church, according to Google?
One quick search, and ‘Church’ is defined as, “a building used for public Christian worship.” We have been surrounded with other faiths, most of whom believe that to practice your religion you have to go to a temple or special building. Due to this cultural influence, we think of church as a place to go to.
Does the definition of church matter?
Yes. An unbiblical understanding of church can lead to unbiblical results in church life. With just the wrong definition, the church can become counter-productive in life and mission.
Church According to The Early Church
The Apostle Paul taught the disciples that they were the church, a larger family. He used metaphors like household (Eph 2:19), body Rom (12:4-5), field (1 Cor 3:9), and other verbal pictures. Incredibly, nowhere in the Bible is the church described as a physical building.
Thus, for the early disciples of Christ, the Church was never a building but a larger family (1 Tim 3:14-15). It was about the people and relationships, never about the infrastructure.
But The Early Church Met
The early church did need a place to come together. They needed a place to meet as a church, not a church. Since they were taught that they were the temple of God, they never looked out for a physical temple.
They regularly met in their own houses (Act 2:42), like at Priscilla’s (Rom 3,5), Nymphas’ (Co. l4:15). Sometimes, the church met in secret places, for fear of persecution, but never counted them as temples or churches. That’s why there weren’t buildings dedicated as ‘churches’ for the believers to come together.
The early church was convinced of the truth that God’s people, not buildings, are the church. Therefore, they never invested resources in constructing shrines or buildings, but continued to be the church and meet in houses.
The Church Today
The early church was distinctly relationship and community life-oriented. The church today is, noticeably, program and activity-centred.
Which proves Jeff Reed right, when he says, “We have lost the sense of a church being a family of families and have developed instead an organizational, market-driven model and a shopping mall mentality.”1
Woefully, the church today is largely organizational. We have been deceived into believing that the building is the church, a place to go to. We may disagree with that statement, but many pastors and churches live this concept.
Does this mean we shouldn’t use a building for church meetings?
Of course, not – we may, as and when needed. But remember, we are the church, a family, and our identity is not in a building. Believing and living this truth can re-align church life and missions to biblical expectations.
So, let us never go to church again!
Let’s start looking at people as the church. We can meet outside the church building and still be the church. Whether we meet in a building, a house, or anywhere else, let’s remember we are the church, the living temple of God.
¹Reed, Jeff. “Belonging to a family of families” introduction pg. 06
One Reply to “Never Go To Church Again!”