Tonight was a great night of fellowship. Although we were missing several people for many reasons, we still had our church service in the basement of our pastor’s home. It was a little different tonight in the fact that we had more of a Bible study with discussion rather than a sermon from our pastor. It was a nice change of pace. One thing we talked about was what the church is to some people compared to others. So many people define the progress of a church by its appearance and the number of people attending. What I have been learning lately is that is not true. When we say “the church” we should be speaking of “the body”, “the people.” The church is so much more than a building. Some go to” church” as part of a religious ritual, but it should be so much more than that. We spoke about the importance of gathering together and why we should. Hebrews 10:24-25 states, “And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.” We are meant to be together. Yes, we are also meant to worship our God in our homes alone, spending intimate time with God, but we are also to surround ourselves with other Christians. There we can be lifted up when we feel discouraged, there we can learn more about the Bible with more than just one person’s thoughts and there we can open our hearts and share what’s going on in our lives. The church should be a second family. It shouldn’t be something you feel you have to do to please others.
If you don’t know, Joel and I have been serving at a church plant called The Way. We don’t yet have a building other than our pastor’s basement. Tonight, we also discussed how some people have said to us that they would come to our church “once there is a building” and “once we have a meeting place.” Our pastor’s wife said it well: “The church is not a building, it’s the body and the body is the people. We’re starting with the people, not the building.
There has been a video going around Facebook for a couple weeks now from a guy who wrote a poem about why he hates religion but loves Jesus. Many people took this message in a way he didn’t intend for it to go. Many people think that religion=church, but that is not the case. He even stated in his message that he “loves the church” and I believe he meant the body, rather than a specific building. We need to learn to separate religion and church, the true church that the bible talks about, not the one that man has made it into.
In case you didn’t know: what is the Body? When I talked about the body in this post, I am speaking of the people who make up the church. We are the body in that we are all to serve a different purpose to fulfill the true meaning of the church. Romans 12:4-6a For as in one body we have many members, and the members do not all have the same function, so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another. Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them.
