What is “Church”?

Something that happened this past Sunday reminded me again of this question – a question that many people have been asking over the past few weeks.

What is “church”?

Maybe some people aren’t really thinking about it very deeply at all – they just consider church to be a service. It could be watched online, it could be watched in person. But really, it’s just something provided by a Christian group. And my relationship with God, or my spirituality, may or may not be helped along by it.

But that doesn’t fit at all with the Bible’s teaching about “church” – and maybe God’s Word should have some input into the discussion.

Then we have the optimistic, smiling faces that are telling us that “church is the people”. So when we’re greeted from the stage, or from a window on our phones or computers, these people are apt to say, “Hello, Church!”

Online, offline, it doesn’t matter, because wherever we go, we’re still the church. Of course, we love to meet together, but we’ll roll with whatever happens.

Next we have the suffering souls that are spending more time lamenting the “closure” of so many “churches” or church services. Not that they think that the church is a building – of course not. They would agree that church is the people. But they emphasize the idea that church is the physical assembly. Therefore, for those who have not been meeting, “church has been cancelled”.

I have repeatedly said that I think decisions to “close” or “not close” are complex and not easy to answer. But that’s not the question here. For us, who have had online services over the past few weeks, the question is – what is that? How does it relate to the biblical teaching of church?

First, I’m not the chipper smiling face of the first group. Yes, the church is the people. But the Bible very clearly thinks of church as the physical assembly of God’s people. It’s not something that works, for example, via letter-writing (that is, epistle-writing) (3 John 1:13-14). It involves things like laying hands on people, baptizing them in water, eating a meal together.

The very word that has been translated into English as “church” means “assembly”. It’s a concept that’s all through the Bible – certain things are done when the people of God assemble. There are times when, because of judgement, someone cannot be a part of the assembly – and that’s serious judgement (Psalm 1:5)!

Being together physically is a powerful thing. Although Jesus is still with us through His Spirit, and as the omnipresent God, we still long to physically be with Him (2 Timothy 4:8), and He longs to be with us (John 17:24).

So at the very least, whatever we’re doing now on Sunday mornings is and must be temporary and unusual.

On the other hand, I’m not exactly in the grim second group either.

For one thing, although I think we can make a parallel with letter-writing in the past, the fact is that the apostles were not picturing the technology that we have today (of course, the Holy Spirit who inspired the apostles knew all about it – but He was not directly addressing our very unusual situation).

Now some churches have simply been broadcasting sermons. That’s not much, but it’s something. It’s a message that is still coming from a shepherd who knows his flock. That’s far more important than listening to sermons online from someone who is not really thinking about you personally.

But our Sunday services, from the beginning, have been interactive. Two-way. So again, although this is something temporary and incomplete, we are assembling in some sense, and have never stopped.

And that brings me, finally, to this past Sunday.

I won’t share the details, for the privacy of the people in our church, but here’s basically what happened. Most recently we have been using GoToMeeting, which allows you to see anyone with an internet connected camera (and hear anyone with a phone). So we can share prayer requests, pray together, etc.

So we have all those little squares on the screens, and we can see the various people. Some people noticed that something wasn’t quite right in one of those little squares. So someone spoke up and asked – is everything ok? How are you guys?

The people in the other little square answered. Actually, we are having a major struggle.

And so our church has been able to minister to those people.

Did that happen as well as it would have if we were meeting in person? No where close. But it happened.

In Mexico, greeting people is very important. And even with audio or video, we can stop and concentrate on each person, mention their name, and see how they’re doing. And so I would not say “church has been cancelled”.

We’re very thankful for the technology that we have. But that doesn’t mean we’re not uncomfortable, and wondering what we should do next Sunday and the week after that. Because the life of the Body of Christ will not be complete in our local area until we are physically together.

I thank God whom I serve, as did my ancestors, with a clear conscience, as I remember you constantly in my prayers night and day. As I remember your tears, I long to see you, that I may be filled with joy.

2 Timothy 1:3-4