What Is the Church?

Our local newspaper ran a feature article for a few years called, "Church of the Week."  In each issue there was a photograph of an interesting place of worship, and not one of them had any people in the photo.  Really they were just featuring unique buildings around the county that were used for religious purposes.  If the congregation is part of the Lord's church as described and established in the New Testament, the people are the church.  I took a photo of our congregation standing in front of the church building, and I imagine that someone thought we should stand aside, "so the church could be seen in the picture."

In this lesson Dr. Baxter clarifies the meaning of the word, "church," explaining how the Greek word, ekklesia, came to mean God's called out body of people.  Thinking of the church as the people can seem a little unnatural to anyone who has not done a biblical study of the term, but it is correct that the people are the church.  In fact, that is the only correct use of the term, "church."

Baxter calls attention to Acts 5:11 and Acts 8:3, in which fear came upon the church and later Saul laid waste the church, entering homes and dragging men and women to prison.  Not only do these verses point to people rather than buildings, but the second one shows us that those people were the church, whether they were all together in the assembly or separately spending time in their homes.  This is an important teaching with which all Christians everywhere should be very familiar.  We are the church, no matter where we are or what we are doing.

Churches of Christ have a habit that confuses a lot of people, maybe even some of our own newer members.  Sometimes we say "churches" or "churches of Christ," as in Romans 16:16, 1 Corinthians 16:19, and several other NT places.  At other times we refer to the church as one universal, united body, as Jesus did in Matthew 16:18, and as Paul did in Ephesians 5:25.  What we are actually doing is acknowledging in our practice the two different senses of the word, "church," as used in the New Testament.  Both are biblical, but one means the worldwide church, and the other refers to a local congregation.

So, if there are different churches (congregations) within driving distance, and if they are all truly a part of the Lord's church worldwide, how do we decide in which congregation we will serve?  Baxter suggests five things that could influence such a decision to one extent or another.

Where can I do the most good?
Where can I get the most help?
Where can I easily be present?
Where do I feel most at home?
Which congregations are scripturally sound?

We can have quite a discussion on any of these five questions.  Above all, the church is one, and thinking about the relative advantages of different congregations should not produce attitudes of rivalry, division, and one of my favorite odd phrases from the King James Version, "party spirit."  (Remember, that was identified as a sin!)  God wants the whole church to succeed in its mission, and if we are godly Christians, we do too.

Baxter then deals with some misconceptions about the church.  It is not just an organization.  It is certainly not like a social club, and I will add that, as relates to the expectations of some, it is not exactly like a social services agency either.  It is not a building, as we have seen.  It is not perfect.  It cannot simply call itself a church and be acceptable to God but must actually be what God wants it to be (Matthew 7:21).  Also, it is not an activist organization like a political party or a revolutionary group promoting upheaval, but as Baxter observes, is a spiritual community that can change society by teaching and example.

At first glance you might not think there is much to discuss in attempting to define a church or the church.  Yet, here we have simply scratched the surface.  People spend their entire lives studying the New Testament and trying to refine the concept of the church.  We can all be glad that we have God's perfect message to give us the proper understanding of what it is and what it should be.