What Is the Church?

    What is the church?  I can tell you what it has been for me.  I attended a non-denominational Vineyard church for about 15 years.  Now I attend a First United Methodist church.  I've found these churches to be very accepting places where I could experience community.  Community is in short supply in our society these days.  A good church is a place where you become known and loved - really loved despite all your flaws and failures. But it is more than that.  It is the body of Jesus on Earth.  As such, it is made up of its members, each with their own unique calling.  The bible paints the picture like this. Paul says in 1 Corinthians 12, "Just as a body, though one, has many parts, but all its many parts form one body, so it is with Christ. For we were all baptized by one Spirit so as to form one body—whether Jews or Gentiles, slave or free—and we were all given the one Spirit to drink. Even so the body is not made up of one part but of many.

    Now if the foot should say, 'Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,' it would not for that reason stop being part of the body. And if the ear should say, 'Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,' it would not for that reason stop being part of the body. If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be? But in fact God has placed the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be.  If they were all one part, where would the body be? As it is, there are many parts, but one body.  ...its parts should have equal concern for each other. If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it.  Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it."

    This body - the church - is an organic group of individuals.  All the members walk out their faith with their unique calling and gifts.  For instance, I love finding God in secular music.  It is like a treasure hunt for me. And I have not yet found a ministry that fits in our new church yet.  So I contacted the pastors and told them what a difference it made for me when I walked into a church the first time as an adult and the pastor was playing U2's "Pride: In the Name of Love" before the service. I love that song and it made me think, "these guys really believe what they are saying."  It made me want to come back the next week.  I have a heart for the unchurched as they walk out their path to finding God.  And I think hearing of God through secular music could really reach out and make God real to people not familiar with the whole church experience. So I suggested to my new pastors that I get an application for the computer that allows us to set up playlists and schedule them.  I would pick secular music and cross-over music that speaks of God to play before the service when people are coming in.  I have tons of it in "unorthodox soaking" playlists that I used during my soaking/prayer times.  I think these songs would really speak to the unchurched who visit our church. I believe, that for many people, the quickest way to their hearts is through music.  I see this as a possibility for my ministry.  The pastors' responses were immediate.  They loved the idea and submitted my request for the monthly billed software to committee. 

    Each member of the church has their own unique way that they walk out their faith and want to serve others.  Some serve inside the church.  Others serve in outreach ministries where they bring relief to the poor and sick and hurting.  Others support service organizations with their giving.  These organizations go out into the world and bring the same sort of relief to victims of natural disasters, disadvantaged life situations, war, famine, and oppression. 

    The church is the sum of all these members following their inclinations to being God’s love in the world.  And it is a place where we can grow in our faith, listening to the teachings of Jesus in the weekly sermons, and worshiping God through song (which is optional). And we have the immediate opportunity to walk out what we have learned because we are in community and in relationship with others.  The church preached the words of Jesus and encouraged me to read scripture. In doing so I fell in love with Jesus.  He really was a man like no other before or since. And so his body is the same.  And churches are tied together by their common foundation of Jesus's teachings.  So as a member, you are part of a greater whole that spreads the love of God throughout the world.  What a wonderful thing we can be a part of.