What Is a Church?

Sometime ago, after giving a devotion to a Christian club at a local school, some of the adult sponsors talked with each about the meeting while cleaning up the classroom. During the discussion, one person mentioned how some of the students who attended may have never heard the gospel. Some of the young people were not a part of a local church, and they had no Christian influence in their life. This discussion prompted one sponsor to say, “For some of these kids, this club is their church.”

Think about that. She claimed that a group of students made up a church all on their own. This student club elected officers that are not prescribed in the Bible and had no way of defining its membership. While her comment was sincere, I do not think she understood the implications of her statement. Yet she made it without reservation.

Comments like this one show the confusion that many Christians have regarding the church. Some struggle to understand the difference between a local church and a small group Bible study. Some do not know the difference between a church and a civic organization that meets, raises awareness about a particular issue(s), and has members. Add to the mix that some churches have multiple congregations (multi-site), multiple worship services, or online services, and it is easy to get lost. We might not initially think of a church as much more than any other group that meets with a common interest in mind. However, we will find, upon reflection, that it is much more than just another civic organization.

The Church Is an Assembly.[1]

First, the church is an assembly. The New Testament uses the Greek word ecclesia to refer to a church. The word refers simply to a gathering of people, Christian or not (Acts 19:32, 38–39). As the church grew, the word took on the more specific meaning of a Christian gathering. So, Acts 5:11 tells us that a “great fear came upon the whole church” (ecclesia) after the Lord disciplined Ananias and Sapphira for holding back the proceeds of the selling of their property that they claimed to have given the church. To clarify that the word ecclesia refers to an assembly, verse 12 says, “And all the believers used to meet together in Solomon’s Colonade” (NIV).

What did they do when they assembled? Acts 2:46 gives us a brief description: “And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts.” Christians gathered regularly (perhaps daily) to worship God, which required them to assemble. Thus the church is a visible body. In order for the church to be visible, it must assemble.

The Free Will Baptist Treatise aligns with this description. It says, “A Christian church is an organized body of believers in Christ who statedly assemble to worship God, and who sustain the ordinances of the Gospel according to the Scriptures.”[2] The word organized is very important because it makes clear that a local church is not just any assembly of Christians but a particular gathering of Christians that has been formalized by membership.

This explanation means that a local church cannot simply be a few Christians who meet up for Bible study or bump into each other at the grocery store. Instead, the local church is an organized body of believers who assemble for the specific purpose of worshiping God and administering the ordinances. If an assembly has not gathered, then a church has not gathered. When Christians forsake assembling, they forsake the church.

The Church Is an Embassy.

Secondly, the church is an embassy of the universal church. Though not physically a part of the country to which it belongs, an embassy is the sovereign territory of its country. In the same way, a local church is the visible expression of the church universal. Historically, Christians have recognized that the universal church is something larger than a local congregation.

The New Testament refers to the church as something more than a local congregation. Paul says that “through the church the manifold wisdom of God [is] made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places” (Eph. 3:10). Later, he would write in that same letter: “Christ is the head of the church, his body” (5:23). Similarly, Peter writes to Christians who have been dispersed in “Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia” (1 Pet. 1:1) He describes these Christians as living stones “being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ” (2:5). None of these references has one particular church in mind but rather all Christians everywhere.

As Christianity spread throughout the Roman Empire, new churches formed. In Acts 15:3, Paul and Barnabas were “sent on their way by the church” of Antioch to the church in Jerusalem to settle a matter of doctrine. Upon doing so, the church in Jerusalem sent delegates with Paul and Barnabas back to Antioch. Acts 15:22 says, “Then it seemed good to the apostles and the elders, with the whole church [ecclesia], to choose men from among them and send them to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas” (italics added). Here we have an example of two separate congregations functioning together as the church.

Other passages also support the idea of the local church as an embassy. In 1 Corinthians 1:2, Paul addressed his letter “to the church of God that is in Corinth.” Notice that he did not say “to the church of Corinth” but, instead, he said “to the church of God in Corinth.” Sam Alberry states, “Paul does not say that they are ‘part’ of the church of God, as if the church of God is all the local church collected up and put together. No, the local church is the church of God, in that particular locale. They are the embodiment in Corinth of the universal church.”[3] In other words, they are an embassy.

The church moves beyond the visible to the invisible. No one congregation could fully represent all that God’s people are. However, when we see the visible church, we see the invisible church. The local church is a glimpse of something greater. Though the sun is distinct from the sunrays it gives off, the two cannot be separated. In the same way, the universal church, though distinct from the local church, cannot be separated from it.

Unfortunately, some people are tempted to think of themselves as a part of the universal church while having no formal attachment to a local congregation. In doing so, they claim to be a part of the church without actually belonging to a church. Such thinking (though it may never be verbalized) makes the local church unnecessary, though it is a good idea perhaps—even helpful. Christians who have become jaded with the church (perhaps rightly) often hold this fallacy, if not consciously then subconsciously. Yet this stark separation between the visible and the invisible church is foreign to the Bible. To be a part of the local church is to be a part of the universal church and vice-versa. The two are inextricably linked.

The Church Is a Family.

Thirdly, the church is a family. “So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God” (Eph. 2:19). God did not save us to be lone wolves who live in isolation; He saved us to be a part of a family. We did not get into the family because we gained God’s favor but only because God adopted us into the family by the work of His Son. Jesus has made us members of God’s household.

In a time where many people struggle with loneliness, the church gives us a place to belong. This blessing may sound nice at first, but no one is more honest about our faults than our families. Being a part of a family can be frustrating at times, but it is necessary for our sanctification. They know us better than anyone, love us the most, and are usually our biggest critics. And more than we like to admit, they are often right about us.

The great thing about family is that we can do many stupid things, yet family does not turn its back on us. They call us back when we stray. And when we come back, they welcome us with open arms. This is exactly what the church is. Being a part of God’s household reminds us of the harsh but true reality that we do not belong here. Yet God in His mercy brought us in despite our sin.

The Church Is a Bride.

Finally, the church is the bride of Christ. Scripture highlights the parallels and connections between human marriage and the relationship that Christ has with His church. The Apostle Paul said, “Christ is the head of the church, his body, and is himself its Savior” (Eph. 5:23) and that He “loved the church and gave himself up for her” (5:25).

The church’s gathering is also a foretaste of eternity with Jesus. The Apostle John describes the church as a “holy city, a new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband” (Rev. 21:2). The day Jesus returns will be a marriage feast: “Let us rejoice and exult and give him the glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and his Bride has made herself ready; it was granted her to clothe herself with fine linen, bright and pure—for the fine linen is the righteous deeds of the saints” (19:7–8). This description awaits the church. We will be perfected, and we will live and reign with Jesus in paradise forever.

If Jesus loved the church to the extent that He gave His life for her, then the church clearly matters greatly to Him. Jesus loves the church, and He will do anything for her, like any good husband would do for his wife. Do not claim to love Jesus but hate His church. The two are one-flesh. To despise His wife is to despise Him.

Conclusion

This overview leaves an important question that Christians must answer: Does church matter to you? Jesus does not forsake the church, so how can we? Thankfully, the Bible tells us that it is not too late to be a part of His church. Revelation 19:9 says, “Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.” There is still time. The invitation stands. Will we come?

About the Author: Jeremy Craft is a former contributor to the HSF and is the pastor of Piney Grove Free Will Baptist Church. He holds a Master of Divinity from Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary and a Bachelor of Science from Welch College. He resides in Chipley, Florida with his wife and daughter.


[1] The four major headings to describe the church in this essay come from Sam Alberry, Why Bother with Church?And Other Questions about Why You Need It and Why It Needs You (UK: The Good Book Company, 2016), 11–23.

[2] The Treatise of Faith of the National Association of Free Will Baptists (Nashville: Executive Office of the National Association of Free Will Baptist, 2016), 13.

[3] Alberry, 17.

Author: Jeremy Craft

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