what should church look like?

In the last post, I asked what comes to mind when you hear the word 'church'...now before you read any further, I want to ask you to take that question one step further. Close your eyes and picture what you think the 'ideal' church should look like. Try not to create what you think is the right image, but just allow your mind to respond to the word 'church'. What size is the 'ideal' church? What imagery is present in the 'ideal' church? What type of people attend the 'ideal' church? What are they wearing? What does worship look like? You get the idea...

what should 'church' look like?

Following are several images that came up when I performed various searches based around the word 'church' - simply from a picture the differences are obvious. Other than it's size, we can't determine much about the churches depicted below, but I wanted us to begin to do some searching within ourselves as we begin to dig in. 

be honest with yourself...

 

Look at each picture individually and spend time thinking about how it matches up to what you think church should look like. Is your idea of church captured in one of the photos below, why or why not. What are the differences (if any) between what you think church should look like and each photo below. Are the differences based on God's Word? What are the outside influences or personal experiences that shape your idea of church, and cause it to differ from some of the images below? 

What images were closest to your idea of what church should look like? What images were most different? Why?

We aren't going to spend a lot of time discussing what the physical appearance of a church should be. I simply wanted to get us to start thinking, addressing the truth that most of us have a preconceived idea of what church should look like. In order to gain a biblical understanding of church, we need to make sure we are not influenced by things other than God's Word.


moving forward...

I asked people from all walks of life, who attend churches of various beliefs and denominations, and have different responsibilities within these churches, four questions that deal with the idea of the local church within the universal Church (the body of Christ). I will be posting the responses in the posts to follow - I am excited, I know that the answers are going to cause us to stop and think! I included the questions here so that we can all answer them ourselves as well. Feel free to share your answers in the comments. 

1. What is the purpose/role of the local church within the universal Church (the Body of Christ)?

2. What role (good or bad) do denominations play within the universal Church?

3. What authority does the local church have within the universal Church?

4. Given the many different ideas, doctrines, beliefs, etc. that separate local churches,  how do we encourage unity within the Body of Christ?

'Church'

What comes to mind when you here someone say the word 'church'? A building? A group of people? A worship experience? The Body of Christ?

We live in day when 'church' can mean a multitude of things. There are mega churches with thousands of members. There are small churches with a handful of members. There are non denominational churches and churches that belong to a denomination. There are new churches and churches that have been around for hundreds of years. There are churches that worship with lots of instruments, some with a few, and some with none. The list of characteristics that make up and differentiate the many local churches goes on and on. Yet, biblically, all of these local churches are supposed to make up the one universal Church - that being the Body of Christ that encompasses all who are truly saved.

So, the real question becomes this: is your idea, or my idea, of the local church and it's relationship to the universal Church (the Body of Christ) biblical? 

the Greek word in the New Testament translated 'church' is ekklēsia, meaning "a calling out, that is, (concretely) a popular meeting, especially a religious congregation (Jewish synagogue, or Christian community of members on earth or saints in heaven or both): - assembly, church"

That definition is a pretty stripped down idea of 'church' compared to what we are used to. There really isn't any solid structure described...church by definition is a group of people that have been called out to worship God. This is where our idea of church needs to be rooted.

I challenge all of us to pray for God to remove any outside influences that may be shaping our idea of what 'church' needs to be, what we think it ought to be. Lets get back to the basic, biblical definition and use God's Word alone to expand our idea of church, based on solid Truth.

As we move forward, we will look at the beginning of the early church, some of the challenges it faced, it's role within its local community, and it's role within the universal Church. We will also look at the structure that Paul, being inspired by the Holy Spirit, laid out for us. (structure is needed when this group of people begins to grow, and it's imperative that this structure is biblical). Included in this structure is church government, church involvement, church discipline, church worship, etc. 

I will strive to ensure that this idea of church will be biblical, based only on God's Truth. However, I am human, I am continually growing, and I make mistakes. I'm asking you to hold me accountable. Discussion is good, and as we navigate through this deep, powerful, amazing idea of 'church' together, I know we can all grow in unity, based on solid Truth!

What comes to mind when you hear the word 'church'?

mission statement:

so what exactly is the purpose of this blog? 

 

So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed in him, "If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free." 

 Let's take a step back and look at what the Bible is - the Bible is God made manifest. God has revealed Himself through His Word, that we might know Him, and be set free. John 8:31,32 - So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed in Him, "If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free."  This promise/command is so profound. Stay in my word (the truth)- you will prove out to be my disciples. Stay in my word (the truth), and you will be set free. Those who believe in Jesus will be set free by the Truth as they abide in it! This should build up within us a passion, overwhelming desire to KNOW the TRUTH laid out in God's Word!

The more we know/understand God's Word (His attributes, commands, promises, all the amazing things encompassed within this awesome, living Word), the more we know God. The more we know God, as He has revealed to us in Truth through His Word, the more free we become - the more free we become, the more effectively we can be used by God as He reveals Himself to through us to the world around us - for His glory! 

with that in mind...

     mission statement: 

to seek freedom by digging into this beautiful Word of perfect Truth, through which God has revealed Himself, stripping away all outside influences - allowing this powerful Word to stand alone, using this Truth alone as a lens to shape our perspective on everything around us...for His glory!

I believe that this Word is so much deeper than we could ever imagine...and it must be the sole root that everything else in our life stems from, including how we perceive everything taking place around us. In order to look at the things around us through the lens of Truth, we will need to dig in to God's Word itself, not sidestepping the hard topics but looking at everything - learning as much as about our God as He will reveal!
We will look at how to apply this Truth in our daily lives by taking a look at a lot of things that God puts before us...articles, books, culture, the arts, church, current events, etc. and discussing how they relate to God's Word.

I know some of these things will be hard to understand, I am learning more about how awesome, how great, how big my God is everyday! Hard is OK! God will not allow our pursuit of Him to be in vain! I also plan to use the ideas and perspectives of others that may not align with ours to drive us deeper into the Word, knowing that this may cause us to stretch our mind at times...this has proven to cause great growth in my life!