The Church: What it is and what it is not
The word “Church” often brings to mind many different things and ideas. Sadly, many of the common interpretations, practices, and views about the Church often are not shaped by the Word of God but by traditions, man’s teachings, pop culture, our background, and other things.
To really understand what the Church is we need revelation from the Spirit of God and we need to see what the Word of God, the Bible, says.
What the Church IS:
For God’s interests and pleasure, NOT man’s
Many common church practices happen because we don’t realize or understand that the Church exists primarily for God’s interests and pleasure, rather than man’s. It is HIS house to serve as a beacon of His holiness and glory in this dark world which Satan is eager to corrupt. Just like God intended for Israel to be His special and holy nation in the Old Testament, we the Church, are God’s holy nation today (1 Pet 2:9). However, once we put man’s interests ahead of God’s then it gives Satan an opportunity to damage the church. Remember Matthew 16:23 when Jesus rebuked Satan working in Peter:
“Get behind Me, Satan! You are an offense to Me, for you are not mindful of the things of God, but the things of men.” (Matt 16:23)
We should not put the needs and interests of man ahead of God’s. How do we do this? Many times speaking the truth and following God’s standards for holiness will be unpopular with people. It may cause people to be upset or even angry with us. It may cause a congregation to lose people. Should we compromise the truth and please man or should we abide by the truth to please God? Obviously we must strive to please our God and not fear man.
House of the Living God
God has always want to dwell among and in His people. He’s our Father and simply wants to be with His children. Paul calls the Church the house, or household, or the dwelling place of the Living God (1 Tim 3:15). This implies that it belongs to Him and not to anyone else. At the end of the Bible, in Revelation 21:3, we see God finally achieving this goal of having His dwelling among His people on earth:
“Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people. God Himself will be with them and be their God. ” (Rev 21:3)
The Old Testament dwelling place of God was represented by the tabernacle and the temple. For both of these, God was very specific in how to build it and that it was His dwelling.
“Let them make Me a sanctuary, that I may dwell among them. According to all that I show you, that is, the pattern of the tabernacle and the pattern of all its furnishings, just so you shall make it.” (Ex 25:8,9)
Nothing was left up to interpretation. The people could not override God’s choices or do what they pleased with the tabernacle. Today, the church is the dwelling place of God. Why do we think we can decide what we think is right in the church as if it belongs to us? God’s principles do not change.
“For I am the LORD, I do not change” (Mal 3:6)
Bride of Christ
A bride ought to be a good and perfect match for the groom and for Christ it’s even more so. Just as Christ is holy, unblemished, spotless and perfect His bride, the Church, must also be this way (Eph 5:25-27). We need to see this as a goal of the Church and actively pursue it rather than accept the poor condition the Church is in today.
Kingdom of God
We Christians are the Kingdom of God. We’re God’s holy nation (1 Pet 2:9) with Christ as our King (Phil 2:9-11) . This is not something theoretical but must be absolutely true in all areas of our life. The Church visibly represents the invisible Kingdom of God. The Church is the only way for the world to have a glimpse of the glory, holiness, life, truth, power and authority of the Kingdom of God and its King, Jesus Christ. The Church must faithfully act as this ambassador of God’s heavenly kingdom. (John 17:20-21; Matt 16:18-19)
Heavenly, not earthly; Holy & separate from the World
The Church is a heavenly entity. It fully belongs to Christ and comes from Christ. It is “bone of His bones and flesh of His flesh” (Gen 2:23; Eph 5:30). It’s not made with human hands (Heb 9:11). It’s filled with and led by the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:2-4; 4:31; 6:3; 16:6). This means in our individual daily life and the work of the Church, everything must be led by the Spirit, following the Word of God, done through prayer and full submission to the Head — Christ. We cannot bring in the practices and schemes of the World or human ingenuity and wisdom. Not only is the Church not mixed and defiled by the things of the world, but the Church must stand against the trends and ways of the world. The apostle John reminds us that the “whole world lies under the sway of the wicked one.” (1 John 5:19). Jesus, the Head of the Church, says in John 17:16: “They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world.” If the Head is not of the world, then the body of Christ must also not be of the world.
Characterized by Oneness – with Christ and each other
The Church is characterized by oneness. There cannot be division in the body of Christ.
“that there should be no schism in the body.” (1 Cor 12:25)
In fact the death of Christ was not only to cleanse us from sin, but also to eliminate all divisions between man, reconcile us to each other, and bring us all into one body, the one new man (Eph 2:14-16). There is no more Jew and no more Greek (racial differences), no more slave or free (status differences) in Christ (Gal 3:28). Satan wants to divide the Church because he knows that a kingdom divided against itself cannot stand (Luke 11:17). Division brings desolation and weakness. Oneness and unity brings strength. Jesus prayed that all His disciples would be one as He and the Father are one (John 17:20-21) and that this oneness would be seen by the world.
“that they may be made perfect in one, and that the world may know that You have sent Me, and have loved them as You have loved Me.” (John 17:23)
Pillar and Ground of the Truth
Where can people find the truth and people who are living by the truth? It must be the church. We cannot follow superstitions, traditions of man and basic principles of the world (Col 2:8). We must be able to discern the truth from the lies of Satan, no matter how good they sound, and stand for the truth.
A Holy Priesthood
The Church is a holy priesthood. Priests in the Old Testament were special servants of God who had the privilege of serving in His tabernacle/temple in God’s presence. It was a privilege intended for all of Israel to be a kingdom of priests to God (Ex 19:6). Today, we are the holy and royal priesthood called to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Christ (1 Pet 2:5, 9).
Christ as the Head, not a man
The Church may only have Christ as its head (Eph 1:22; Col 1:18). This must also be true. We must learn to depend on Christ’s headship and not man to lead us. Christ gave us the anointing, the Holy Spirit, to teach us and we need to learn to hear from Him (John 14:26; 1 John 2:27). We should not glorify or uplift any man in any way in the church. Christ only is the Head.
What the Church IS NOT:
Not a building/physical structure
This is a common misconception that people refer to a building or place of worship as a “church”. This is clearly wrong and we don’t find this anywhere in the Bible.
Not a social club to meet people/make friends
As mentioned earlier, the Church exists to serve God’s interests and desires; it is not to satisfy our wants and desires. The purpose of the church is to manifest the glory, holiness, righteousness, love of God, to represent His kingdom on earth. For each of the members, we’re expected to follow Christ in His example of taking up the cross and denying ourselves (Matt 16:24), walking in the Spirit and not in the flesh (Gal 5:16), pursuing holiness (2 Cor 7:1), growing and increasing in the knowledge of God and walking worthy of the Lord (Col 1:9,10), and more. Our lives are no longer being lived to serve ourselves and we definitely should not use the church, the house of the living God, to do so.
Not a charity or a place of business
Certainly we’re called to do good works, help the poor, take care of the needy, but again, this is not the primary role of the Church. And because this is not the primary role of the church, the church should not be formed and function around this as the main basis of its ministry. It is also not a money-making enterprise. If the church is really God’s house and belongs to Him, shouldn’t we believe that He will take care of all its needs including financial needs? He certainly will. We can testify from experience that this is true.
Not for spiritual entertainment
If we take a step back and observe what many church services are, we’ll see that they’re often for the amusement and pleasure of the attendees. With their musical performances, choirs, bands, coloured lights, singers — it feels like a performance. Yes we may say it’s for God, but if we think about it, it’s really for our own enjoyment. They stir up our emotions for a moment, but what change does such a performance cause in our Christian life? Even non-musical services just require Christians to “show up” and sit in their seat to observe and listen. The Bible shows us that Christian meetings are not something we just show up to and observe, but we should all bring our portion to share with each other in order to edify the body of Christ (1 Cor 14:26). There is an active participation by all the members of the body to bring their spiritual “food” which requires that we have a daily walk with Christ to gain this “food” otherwise we’ll just come to gatherings spiritually hungry with nothing and expect to be fed by the “pastor”. No wonder when church gatherings began to open up after the pandemic many people preferred to just stay home and watch online or on Youtube. After all, what’s the difference if we’re just observers anyways?
Not for religious practices
To be a Christian is not to adhere to a “religion”. It is the receiving of a new life through faith in Jesus, being reconciled to God as our Father, following Christ day-to-day, resulting in our transformation and being conformed to Christ’s image (Rom 8:29). It involves a sincere, personal faith and love toward God. Outward actions are driven by an inward love toward God and directed by the Holy Spirit according to the truth of the Word of God. Nothing we do as Christians should be for outward appearances to look “holy” in front of others. This makes us no better than the Pharisees. Nothing we do should be superstitious. In other words, adhering to certain religious practices in order to receive “blessings” from God. This is self-centred because we’re actually just seeking a benefit for ourselves, and not doing things out of a self-sacrificing love for God. In the Church, we seek to be people who worship God in Spirit and Truth (sincerity and substance) (John 4:24), and not in an empty superficial way.
Does not belong to any person or associated with a person
In Matthew 16:18 Jesus said “on this rock I will build My Church”. Also, in 2 Timothy 3:15 Paul said, “the house of God, which is the church of the living God.” It’s clear just from these two verses that the Church does not belong to any person but it is the Lord’s. Even with all of Paul’s labour of caring for the churches in the New Testament, he never claimed that they are his churches. He referred to them as “the churches” (Rom 16:4, 16; 1 Cor 16:19; 2 Cor 11:28). He refused to take any glory or recognition. He asked “Was Paul crucified for you? Were you baptized in the name of Paul?” (1 Cor 1:13). He did not want anyone to put their trust in him declaring that “their faith should not be in the wisdom of men but in the power of God” (1 Cor 2:5). Today, people look up to big name preachers and pastors. Movements and ministries are named for people and believers are drawn to eloquence and personalities. On the other hand, Jesus had no outward attractiveness (Isaiah 53:2) and spoke an unpopular message (John 6:66,67). Paul came without excellence of speech, in weakness, and without persuasive words of human wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power (1 Cor 2:3,4). No glory for man.
No divisions or denomination
God has always wanted His people to be united and one. Jesus prayed for this before being arrested in John 17:20-23. “I pray… that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me….I in them, and You in Me; that they may be made perfect in one.” Jesus’ death on the cross wasn’t only to erase our sins but also to eliminate all factors that cause humanity to be divided. “He Himself is our peace, who has made both one, and has broken down the middle wall of separation…, so as to create in Himself one new man from the two, thus making peace.” Paul in 1 Corinthians chapters 1 and 3 condemned divisions and sectarianism, calling them works of the flesh. In Colossians 3:11, Paul says “there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcised nor uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave nor free, but Christ is all and in all.” In other words, the Church is not to be divided into different denominations, following different ministries and preachers, divided by ethnic groups, and so on. There is only one body, one Spirit, one hope, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God (Eph 4:4-5). In Christ, we are no longer Chinese, African, Indian, white, black, upper class, lower class, Baptist, Presbyterian, Methodist, etc. We are all one in Christ and He broke down all the separations that are found in our flesh by bringing us into the “new man” where there are no longer separations. The only permissible way the Church can be “divided” is by physical locality, and in the New Testament we see that it’s by geographic city.
Does not have a name (differentiates from others)
What is the church’s name? For the answer to this question we should check what the churches were named in the New Testament. You’ll find there are no names. They’re not called “Paul’s Greek Church of Corinth” or “The Church of Christ in Ephesus”. They are simply the church or the saints who are in a particular city (Eph 1:1; 1 Cor 1:2; Col 1:2; Rev 1:11). These are not their names but just who they are. A name, intentionally or not, causes any group of Christians who gather to become separated and differentiated from other Christians. There should be no division in the Body. There is only one body (Eph 4:4).
No hierarchy of position or power
There’s only one Head, Christ (Eph 1:22; 5:23; Col 1:18). He is our only Lord and King. No man is to be uplifted or glorified in the church. As mentioned earlier, even Paul did not want anyone to put their faith in man’s wisdom (1 Cor 2:5). Overseers in the church are to be like shepherds guiding and leading the flock to Christ and being an example, not to be regarded as or act like a lord over the congregation (1 Pet 5:3). All of us believers are members of the Body with different roles, not different statuses. People like to use Ephesians 4:11 to justify calling themselves “pastor” and taking a position of authority in the church, but the meaning of “pastor”, however, is to shepherd. It’s not a ruler – someone who gives commands and whose authority and actions cannot be questioned. This verse also states that “He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors”. These roles, not positions, are appointed by the Lord, not through obtaining a degree, a job interview process and hiring. Also, the purpose of these roles are to “equip the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the Body of Christ…” (Eph 4:12). The work of ministry is to be performed by the saints, the congregation, and the responsibility of the pastors, apostles, prophets, and evangelists are to equip THEM for the work – not to take over the work so that the saints become passive and inactive, merely being routine Sunday worshippers.
Not for employment (eg., paid preachers)
The church is also not a place for employment. Again, we do not see anywhere that a servant of the Lord in the New Testament was on anyone’s payroll. Paul accepted gifts but was never on any church’s payroll (1 Cor 9:4,11,18). He preached without charge. Once a person takes a salary then the person becomes obligated to serve the interests of his employer, rather than the Spirit. If the Spirit were to lead the preacher to speak and it was somehow contrary to the employer’s views then there is a conflict. It’s also condemned by Jesus in mentioning the doctrine of Balaam (Rev 2:14). Balaam was paid by Balak to prophecy a curse against the children of Israel (Num 22:7). God warned him not to go with Balak to curse because they are a blessed people (Num 22:12). Eventually Balaam disobeyed God but was unable to curse the Israelites and could only speak blessings. All the workings and functions in the church are not through man’s appointment, skill, ingenuity, wisdom, organization, but by the enablement and gifts of the Holy Spirit (1 Cor 12:4-11). The Church is a heavenly entity, not an earthly one, not made with human hands, and not of this earth. (Heb 9:11). We should not try to apply earthly methods to something heavenly.
“This is a GREAT MYSTERY, but I speak concerning Christ and the Church.” – Ephesians 5:32
May the Lord open our inner eyes.