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What is the Church?: Part I
Part I: Purpose
Several years ago I became involved in a summer-long intense study that shaped my thinking on my life in light of God and His plan at a pivotal time in my life; right before college graduation. I was starting to decide the direction my life would take after I received my diploma. Like many people in my major I had been looking to the big cities of the Midwest United Stated in hopes of landing that all important internship with a large flagshipcompany and filling my pockets with money. At the same time a good friend was greasing my metaphorical wheels to have me invest the summer instead taking advanced, intensely focused classes through the church I was now calling home. After being turned down for most internships I gave in to my friend and agreed to dedicate my summer to doing something he called, a summer apprenticeship.
My friend had told me countless times about how key this summer would be and how well this apprenticeship would help me to make the big choices that were coming ahead of me upon graduation in December, but I didn't comprehend the weight of what he meant until later that summer. The apprenticeship covered three main subjects: the book of Acts, the Pauline Epistles (Letters in the New Testament written by Paul), and a life-direction and purpose course called Life-to-the-Nth. Throughout these courses the focal point of the paradigm shift which took place within me centered around my understanding of the church. This new understanding led me to redirect my life path and align my life with what God was doing in this age.
When I starting coming to my new church, I knew there was something inherent in this church that I had been longing for quite some time, community. But I had no idea why I felt this way and I don't think I could have expressed this longing in that term as I didn't know it was what I was looking for until I experienced it.
My understanding of the church prior to this monumental summer was ungrounded and I thought it was superfluous to faith. I thought of the church as a structure put in place by man, as a social gathering, not necessary to the plan of God, as only a building, or a place to go. In our culture this can be exactly what the church is, its a building, its a place we go (mostly just on Sundays). People say, "I'm going to church.", "What church do you go to?", "I go to this church.", "Where is your church?" All of these phrases express the church as a place. To my recollection no where in the New Testament is there ever a place that was called the church, or a place that was set aside only for people to worship. In most cases they would meet in someone's home. The church is a community of people.
The most eye-opening discovery that I believe God showed me that summer, was His purpose for the church. First of all, that blew my mind, God has a purpose for the church? The church is not something thought up by man? But even more so, learning that not only does God have a purpose for the church, He has always had a purpose for the church, its been part of His plan since the beginning. In the gospel of Matthew Jesus asked Peter who he thought Jesus was, and Peter replied "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God." To which Jesus replies:
"Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven. And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it."
Matthew 16:17-18
This passage is a great example of a wonderful literary tool, foreshadowing. Jesus gives us a glimpse of what is to come, he says "I will build my church". I've always been curious as to what was meant with the term 'church' in this passage, was it a known term to the culture of the time? Thanks to my lovely wife and her Greek background from college, I now know that 'church' (or the Greek word: Ekklesia ) means assembly or a gathering of people. So Christ says that he is going to build an assembly of people, that is what is coming.
One of my favorite books of scripture is the book of Ephesians. The book is basically a three foot long sandwich. You could chew on it for days. The book of Ephesians was written by Paul to the believers in Ephesus. Through the first couple of chapters Paul speaks of something called the mystery:
"...which [God] lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight making known to us themystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ."
Ephesians 1:9 (emphasis added)
"How the mystery was made known to me by revelation, as I have written briefly. When you read this, you can perceive my insight into the mystery of Christ, which was not made known to the sons of men in other generations as it has now been revealed to his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit"
Ephesians 3:3-5 (emphasis added)
Paul then gets down to the point:
"This mystery is that the Gentiles are fellow heirs, members of the same body, and partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel.....to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ, and to bring to light for everyone what is the plan of the mystery hidden for ages in God who created al things."
Ephesians 3:6,8b-9 (emphasis added)
I can still remember the sense of awe I felt the first time I thought through this passage. Most of us today (at least in America) are gentiles (non-Jews), so the fact that we are partakers of the promise of Christ doesn't seem like new information. But to the believing Jews, who believed for centuries that the Gentiles were unclean and weren't even to touch or eat with them, this would be a mind shattering paradigm shift. The part that got me was that this plan of bring all people to God through this new body, or assembly, or gathering, or church was in God's plan for ages, for all time, since the beginning. Then the why comes:
"...so that through the church the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places. This was according to the eternal purpose that he was realized in Christ Jesus our Lord"
Ephesians 3:10-11
Next time you're in your church service, ask yourself this question: "How is this displaying the manifold wisdom of God to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places?" Maybe you can see it. Maybe your church is functioning just as God designed. But this is clear, there is something about the way the church is to function that is beyond us, beyond the Sunday service, beyond just attending something. The church is God's plan. He's been unfolding the chapters of His plan for thousands of years throughout scripture. His plan climaxed with the sacrificing of Christ to usher in his new people, His chosen. That through Christ's sacrifice those who accepted the gift and followed could be reunited to Him. He's created a new people, and this new people transcend race, culture, nations, ethnicity, you name it.
This whole idea of 'what is the church' has been mulling around in my mind for several years now, and I think I've just begun to arrive at a place where I can start to put it in words. The significance of what God is doing through the church is unfathomable to me. There is something that He planned for us, that He planned would be demonstrated through His church, and I don't think the majority of churches today are pulling this off. Ask yourself this: "How can attending a service once a week display God's manifold wisdom?" I don't believe it can. I don't believe church was planned by God's eternal purposes to function as an event, as something we can get from it. I think the church was purposed to be something bigger, something more. And that something is a community of people, better yet a family of families.
I will begin to unfold this idea as time goes, this has been only part 1. God used His disciples to carry out His plan, to setup His church, and He crafted how it was to be in scripture, that we will see.
Read What is the Church?: Part II next.
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Blando's Blog
Disciple of Christ, Husband, Father, and IT-guy.
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