What Is Church ???

Rev. Daniel True

People frequently ask me “why go to church”? This question usually comes from non-church goers but occasionally from folks firmly embedded in a local church for most of their lives. So, let’s look at the issues and try to find some resolutions to this and similar queries – the purpose of the church.

BC, that is, Before Church, the Hebrew faith had a pretty good understanding of how to worship, study the Scriptures, care for one another, etc. In fact, the Pentateuch (first five books of the Old Testament) was packed with instructions regarding the “religious life” of the Jews. Most of those “laws” were not “optional” – they were mandated to be followed to the “T”, and serious penalties (including death) were occasionally imposed for violators.

Following the first coming of Jesus and His resultant death, resurrection and ascension, the “Church” was established. It was generally based on Temple worship of the old days but with emphasis on the teachings of Jesus, and later, of His close Disciples, who were then “elevated” as Apostles (until the Pentecost outpouring of Acts 2, which endued all of them with the power of the Holy Spirit, the Disciples were in their “learning” mode). Many of the tight restrictions of Judaism were relaxed – love, of God and one another, was the primary message of the day – rather than strict ritualistic worship.  It worked!

Unfortunately, the Jewish leaders in the Promised Land (Palestine/Israel) and the Roman captors (who were pagan until the 4^th century AD) felt that this (Christian) movement would undermine their roles and authority in the religious world. After all, Jesus was called “ . . . the King of kings and Lord of lords . . . ” (1 Tim 6:15) (Rev 17:14) (Rev 19:16), and that was a threat;  that He was going to subversively overthrow the known government(s) of the day. That lead to His crucifixion.

In the early days, when the Apostles were alive and helping in the formation and growth of the Church, Christians met in diverse locations (mainly because of persecution by the Jews and Rome), had various “teachers”, and shared their financial resources with those in need.  They had NO pastor or leader as such; they came together in unscheduled gatherings, and the Spirit of God would provide a “message” or “teaching” to anyone whom He chose. Many times the message was given to women to present.

Over the years, as the church spread world-wide, “man” decided to change the original “non-structure” to fit their demands or convenience, and that was the beginning of the various denominations and sects of the Christian Church as we see today!

Unfortunately, the constraint on this space does not allow a discussion of the various churches right now, but many of them have lost their “first love” as described (and issued a “warning”) in the Book of Revelation: loving and the helping of one another, and the teaching of the un-compromised Word of God!

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So, where could one find the right church to attend these days, you ask? Well, you may have to search far and near to find the acceptable church (you will NEVER find a perfect one!) but you can find one that follows the major precepts of the Early Church. “Free fellowship” (that does NOT tell you in the prayer book the words to use (by rote) in greeting fellow members and visitors!) is a good start. It will probably be preceded with a show of “brotherly love” toward one another.

Look for a Bible near or in the hands of the sermon giver. An “article” from the Reader’s Digest or “letter” from the Bishop may be good but is probably not pertinent to what the local people need to hear. Holy Spirit is our teacher and He directs the right teaching to those servants who are prayerfully in tune with Him. Also, “canned sermons” are a “no-no” – those are the ones that a minister delivered to a different congregation elsewhere, and following their successful reception, he saves them for use later, at another location. Messages should be time and place–oriented for current needs; never “out of the can”. And, seeing teleprompters is NOT a welcomed site, for it requires a “produced” message!

Likewise, lifting up the teachings and/or work and accomplishments of other, well-known ministers is dangerous; for it creates a type of “cult following” (I have some good examples of this that I may offer in a future teaching).

Contrary to most denominations, each local church is an entity unto itself and has to be nurtured in that vein – never patterned after another church or minister. What’s good in Missouri may not be good for Massachusetts!

Now the final dagger – the church is not intended to be a hospital for its members. And, it is not designed to get people saved. The church is a training and instructional institution to equip its people to go out into the various parts of the earth to bring people to Christ, not to the church to receive salvation.

The church is NOT a “country club” where all the saved go to be together and have meals and games and parties. Sure, those things are nice and there IS a time for that, but those should not be the primary purposes of the church. The Great Commission instructs us to “go out”, not stay huddled together. You should go out and minister, and come back for more instruction in the things that you encounter that you didn’t know how to deal with. Then, go out again!

That, my friend, is the purpose of the church; yesterday, today and tomorrow – until our High Priest, Jesus, the King of kings and the Lord of lords, returns!

THEN we won’t need a Church!