“The church isn’t the building- it’s the people!”
I have heard that statement more times in the last 4-5 months than I have in my entire life. Honestly, I didn’t know how many people actually believed that idea until now. But I see that idea or the practical equivalent expressed just about every day on social media.
And, for the record, I think that statement is true.
The church has never been a physical location. “Going to church”, while I get the idea, is one of the most inaccurate statements we can make as Christ-followers. Church isn’t a location we travel to; it’s who we are.
We don’t go to church. We gather with the church. The church is not a weekend function to attend, but a family of people to belong to.
However, I think that if we aren’t careful, we’ll use the phrase “The Church is the people” in a way that is just as inaccurate as thinking the church is a place we go to. Because while the church is the people, there are two specific instances when the people aren’t the church.
#1- The church isn’t the people when the people are disconnected from each other.
One of my greatest concerns with the (over)use of this phrase in our current culture is that I believe it is being used simply as an excuse to remain disconnected from other followers of Jesus.
That is precisely the opposite of what the church is.
If you look at the word for church, ekkelsia, it is the word used for the assembled covenant people of God.
It is not used for the individuals that make up people of God.
It’s been fashionable to minimize the importance of gathering on Sundays for years. Ideas like “I don’t need the church to follow Jesus,” or “I can follow Jesus on my own” had been prevalent in our individualistic culture, and the pandemic, I believe, accelerated this.
It sounds great. Maybe even spiritual. It’s just completely unbiblical.
What makes us as Christ-followers uniquely the church is the fact that we gather. The Bible knows absolutely nothing of “I can follow Jesus on my own without others.” In fact, passages like Hebrews 10:24-25 explicitly reject that kind of thinking:
24 And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, 25 not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.- Hebrews 10:24-25 (NIV)
When we intentionally choose to disconnect from each other, we cease to really be the church.
Now, let me be clear: I firmly believe that connection can happen through an online platform. Online relationships and connections are just as real, and often more so, than in person ones. So this is not directed at the person who, for a variety or reasons, may be choosing to pursue connection with the church online in this season. That’s one thing.
It’s entirely another to have distanced yourself from the church during this time…and to use “The church is not a building, but the people” to do it.
Because while the church is the people, it’s only the people when the people are gathered together.
That gathering doesn’t have to be huge. Jesus put His stamp of approval on gatherings as small as two or three.
But even a gathering of that size requires getting out of our individualistic bubbles and connecting with others.
#2- The Church isn’t the people when the people aren’t on mission.
Gathering together is only part of what makes us the church. It’s not just a question of whether we are together. It’s also a question of what we do while we’re together- both while we are gathered and while we are going about our lives throughout the week.
The Church is the gathered people of God. But the church is more than a gathering. It’s more than a moment that happens on the weekend. It’s more than a meeting.
Consider what Jesus said in Matthew 16:18:
“… I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it.”- Matthew 16:18 (NIV)
Here’s the thing about gates: they are a defensive mechanism. The can only keep something out…the implication being there is something they need to stop.
The clear picture Jesus paints of the Church here is one that is advancing forward and taking back what the enemy has stole for the rightful King, Jesus.
The Church here is not a moment on the weekend. It’s a movement that not even hell itself can slow down.
So why- especially in America- does it seem the church is slowing down?
Well, I would argue it’s because the people have stopped being the church because they’ve stopped being on mission.
When we begin to think of church as a place to be safe from the world, we’ve lost what it means to be the church. When we think of church as a place we huddle safely with our Christian friends, we’ve lost what it means to be the church.
The Church is not a safe-space for Christians until the trumpet sounds. The Church is meant to be an army advancing through our world with the Good News of Jesus, committed to reaching people far from God and giving them a chance to respond to the Gospel. That’s is our mission!
And I believe that when we commit to that mission, it truly is unstoppable. Jesus promised that!
The only thing that can stop the mission of the church is when the people get off mission. And when the people get off mission, they’re no longer being the church.
The Church is meant to be MORE
The Church is certainly not the building. But it’s more than just the people. It’s the people connected to each other and on mission together. When that’s happening, the Church becomes an unstoppable force that changes the fabric of the community it’s a part of.
Over the next four weeks, we’re going to be exploring exactly what that looks like through our brand new series Unstoppable. I’d love to invite you to attend in-person at 11 AM, but if you can’t make it then or aren’t yet comfortable coming to an in-person gathering, you can join church online at 11:15am or 7:15pm on Sunday or 7:15pm on Monday night.