Will the Real Church Please Rise?

Lately, I've been doing a lot of thinking about the term "church."  If you ask a child to tell you what a church is, the answer will likely involve a physical building with a tall steeple, which is technically correct.  But the church is more than a building.  In fact, in Biblical terms, the church is not a building at all.  The church is people--people who are following Jesus Christ--and therefore, the church is much more than a building.

According to the Bible, the Church includes all Christians "who have received forgiveness through Jesus Christ and placed their faith in Him as the only sacrifice for their sins."  There are "no boundaries as to age, race, gender, or denomination.  Every believer collectively makes up the Church and is the dwelling place of God through the Holy Spirit."

The preceding quotes are from the Assemblies of God Statement of Fundamental Truths, specifically Truth #10: God Designed the Church for a Purpose and a Mission.  From scripture, the founders of the Assemblies of God identified a four-fold mission for the Church:

1. To seek and to save people who are lost in sin by sharing the Good News of Jesus Christ (evangelism)
2. To be a corporate body in which people may worship God (worship)    
3. To build up and equip people so that they may grow to maturity in their Christian faith and become more and more like Jesus (edification)
4. To demonstrate God's love and compassion to all the world (compassion) 

Personally, I think the vast majority of American Christians have a very skewed image of the Church and its purpose that too often revolves around getting rather than giving.  They go to church to get something, and many of these folks fall victim to the "What's in it for me?" mentality.  When they don't think they're getting enough out of it, they quit going.  What they don't understand is that a church experience should be as much about giving as it is about receiving.

Look again at those mission objectives above.  If you're a not a Christian, most of those points are about receiving: receiving the Good News, receiving a new understanding of God through a worship experience, receiving teaching and knowledge from the Bible, and maybe receiving a tangible gift that meets your physical, financial, emotional, or spiritual needs.  However, if you are a Christian, you should help give the Good News to others; you should give your worship to God; you should give yourself by learning and helping in various ways to teach, encourage, and equip others; and you should give some of your time, talent, and resources to help those in desperate need.

You see, there is only so much growing you can do through receiving alone.  After you pass a certain point, you stop growing, and the only way to continue maturing in your faith is through giving.  The apostle Paul reminded us in Acts 20:35 of Jesus' words: "It is more blessed to give than to receive."  Jesus told his disciples as he sent them out to minister to others, "You received without having to pay. Therefore, give without demanding payment." (Matthew 10:8)  Everyone, no matter how old or young, no matter how rich or poor, how busy or how disabled, can find some way to give to God and be a blessing to others.  And the awesome thing is this: as we give to others, God meets our own needs in ways that only He can.

So let's go back to my original point.  Can your church building share the gospel with the lost and hurting?  Can your building worship God?  Can your building encourage, pray for, or teach others?  Can your building give to the poor and needy?  No.  Only people can do these things.  A church building is a valuable tool to be used in accomplishing these objectives.  But it is just a tool.

You are the Church.

Can your building move around the city?  Can it go visit someone in the hospital or in the next county?  No.  But you can.  You are the church.  And the ministry of the Church can happen anywhere you go because you are mobile.  You can even do ministry out of the comfort of your home by inviting others over for a meal, a Christian-themed movie, prayer, or a Bible study, or just to minister to them by listening to their troubles.  You might find that your non-Christian friends are much more willing to visit your home than a church building.  That is ministry.  That is giving.

When we have a narrow focus and think that ministry only happens within the 4 walls of a specific building, we limit God.  The church is not a building.  You are the Church.  How can you give?    

You have been treated generously, so live generously. 
Matthew 10:8, The Message