What is a Church?

Here’s the church. Here’s the steeple. Open the door and here are the people. Do you remember how to use your two hands to visualize these words? The local church has seemingly always been a part of my life. My grandfather was a pastor and as long as he and my grandmother had any say in the matter, I was to be connected to a church. That meant Sunday School and at least the morning church service. Returning for the evening service was out of the question. I have memories of listening to a lot of sermons, but can’t really recall anything I heard until I became a teenager. Hard seats, heat, bugs flying around the lights (some entertainment), and adults carrying Bibles formed my early impressions of what church was. But I am sure a lot got through to me because of all the thinking I did about God, heaven, and hell. Thankfully, for most of my growing up years I did not live very far from a Bible teaching church. That, however, begs the question. What is a church? Is it a building? Is it a denomination? Is it a meeting of two or three Christians for Bible study and prayer?

The New Testament makes it very clear as to what constitutes a church. The concern here is not a definition of what theologians refer to as the universal church (all true believers everywhere beginning at the Day of Pentecost). A local church is made up of professing Christians (1 Cor. 1:2; 1 Thess. 1:1). The basis for belonging to a local church is the relationship that Christians have to one another through their relationship to Jesus Christ (1 Tim. 3:15; 1 Pet. 1:22-25). A church is where people who have trusted Christ as their Savior gather together because they are related to one another as a spiritual family. They will meet together with some regularity (Rom. 16:5). These meetings do not require a permanent building. The early church met in homes and rented buildings. A church will meet as often as is necessary. The first day of the week (Sunday) became the regular meeting day because the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead took place on Sunday. The idea of a Christian who would be unattached to a church is foreign to the New Testament (Heb. 10:25). A local church will have some form of organization (Phil. 1:2). Elders and deacons form the essential leadership structure. And because of the variety of spiritual gifts among believers and the tasks that have to be carried out, there will be other offices and functions in the organization of the church. A local church will observe the ordinances. New converts will be baptized as a public confession of their faith in Jesus Christ (Matt. 28:19-20). In its meetings the church will fellowship around the communion table to celebrate the redemptive work of Christ. And, finally, a local church will devote itself to the apostles’ teaching (Acts 2:42). Fellowship, worship, prayer, mutual helpfulness, encouragement, testimony, and praise grow out of the soil of truth-rich Bible teaching and preaching. The local church exists in the world for the purpose of taking the gospel to the ends of the earth.

But knowing what a church is does not guarantee meaningful and God-honoring participation in the life of the church. The Christian must find a church that is doctrinally sound, spiritually alive, Bible centered, Christ exalting, and missionary minded. No church is perfect, but that is no excuse for becoming a church tramp and not putting one’s roots down. Finding and joining a church will mean exercising a ministry within that church. Don’t be a bench warmer. Get to work. There are plenty of things that need to be done. If the ministry you are interested in doesn’t exist, then speak with the pastoral staff about it. Fan the flames of your spiritual gift. Too many churches are filled with Christians who are spectators, allowing others to carry the load of service. A church needs systematic and faithful givers. One of the marks of Christian maturity is generous financial giving. The local church needs believers who have placed their personal finances under the lordship of Jesus Christ and give in proportion to their income (1 Cor. 16:1-4). How sweet is the sound of harmonious music. But sweeter still is a church where the saints are preserving “the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace” (Eph. 4:3). Differences of opinion and conflict in the local church are the opportunity to exhibit the graces of the Spirit. When there are problems in the church, don’t run away. Handle them God’s way through peacemaking, forgiveness, and reconciliation. Be loyal to your church and discover the spiritual dividends that come as a result. The church needs lots of encouragers. Encouraging words, deeds, phone calls, keeping up with the needs of others, love, and compassion can make a church a soft spot in a hard world.

What is a church? It is God’s family on this earth gathering together and spreading out in the rhythmic pattern of obedience to God’s Word. It is a band of brothers and sisters in Christ who are eager to serve the living God. It is a place where forgiven sinners gather to worship the God of all grace. It is an assembly where men, women, young, old, rich and poor share their common life in Christ as they serve one another. It is a company of world-weary pilgrims who renew their strength for the journey ahead. It is a flock of God’s sheep who feed upon the words of the Good Shepherd. It is a congregation of God’s heralds who scatter to their communities and throughout the world as ambassadors of reconciliation.

Dr. Howard E. Dial
Berachah Bible Church