Every religion has a counterpart. The Muslims have their mosques; the Buddhists have their temples. For Jews, it is the synagogue; and for Christians, it is the church.
The common denominator among all of these terms is they all refer to a place wherein a religious institution provides religious services for its members.
Unfortunately, this was not the intention of Jesus Christ at all. It is probable that Christians eventually adopted some concepts (intentionally or not) from "other religions," twisting the concept of "church" into what it is today.
In New Testament Greek, the word for "church" is ekklesia. It means an "assembly of called-out ones." It usually referred to an assembly of citizens who were called out to convene at a public space to deliberate some matter. It was a political term; not a religious one. Kings had ekklesia's. Governors had ekklesia's. Governments had ekklesia's.
Jesus is recorded using the term only twice. One was during a teaching He gave after He was asked about who would be greatest in His kingdom:
“Moreover if your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault between you and him alone. If he hears you, you have gained your brother. But if he will not hear, take with you one or two more, that ‘by the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established.’ And if he refuses to hear them, tell it to the church. But if he refuses even to hear the church, let him be to you like a heathen and a tax collector. (Matthew 18:15-17)The other time Jesus utters the word "church" was to Peter, after he confessed that Jesus was indeed the Christ:
Jesus answered and said to him, “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 also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it. And I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.” (Matthew 16:17-19)When reading anything historical (including the Bible), we must remember that everything that came after that particular point in time...had not happened yet. Both times Jesus mentioned the "church," the church as we know it today did not exist yet. There were no Christians yet. The cross was literally just a device for capital punishment. The disciples did not even understand yet that Jesus was to die and rise again; in fact, Peter had only just said that he realized Jesus was the Christ.
So what did the disciples know by this time? They simply knew Jesus' core message: that the kingdom of God is near. In their minds, Jesus was going to free Israel from the Roman Empire and set up a new kingdom for them. Together with a kingdom came a church (an ekklesia), which was literally King Jesus' assembly of people he had called out. And whom did he call out? The disciples, of course! That's why they were already clamouring about who would be the right-hand man in Jesus' new kingdom. To put it simply, in the above two passages, Jesus was telling them that (1) His government was the last say on civil disputes, and that (2) He would build his government on Peter's faith.
So What Set The Church in Motion?
After Jesus' resurrection, He gave more direct instructions to the church (again, His assembly of called-out ones A.K.A. the disciples). He told them to:
- Go and make disciples of all nations;
- Baptize them; and
- Teach them everything He commanded.
And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age." (Matthew 28:18-19)
And He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned. (Mark 16:15-16)
Then He said to them, “Thus it is written, and thus it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead the third day, and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. And you are witnesses of these things. (Luke 24:46-48)What should be the mission statement of the church of Jesus Christ? Simple: To go and make disciples of all nations by preaching the gospel of repentance and remission of sins to them; and to baptize these disciples and teach them everything Jesus commanded.
It Is Finished*
A favorite quote of many Christians is what Jesus said on the cross:
So when Jesus had received the sour wine, He said, “It is finished!” And bowing His head, He gave up His spirit. (John 19:30)We love the concept. The narrative goes like this: Jesus already paid the penalty for my sins, and I no longer need to win God's favor just to be saved. Is this narrative true? Yes, but to summarize it using "it is finished" can mislead many people. Many people hear this narrative and think, "Now that I am saved and going to heaven, I just need to live my life and make sure I please God with it until I die and finally go to heaven." Why is this misleading? Because as Jesus' work was being finished, ours was only getting started.
And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come. (Matthew 24:14)Jesus, the first body of Christ, did what He had to do. But Christ was not done. He has a new body, which has a much further reach than the previous body. The new body is the church. And just as Christ had a mission through Jesus (to preach the gospel to Israel and to die for our sins), Christ has a mission through the church (to preach to gospel to the world and to die to our old selves).
And behold, a woman of Canaan came from that region and cried out to Him, saying, “Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David! My daughter is severely demon-possessed.” But He answered and said, “I was not sent except to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” (Matthew 15:22, 24)
These twelve Jesus sent out and commanded them, saying: “Do not go into the way of the Gentiles, and do not enter a city of the Samaritans. But go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. And as you go, preach, saying, ‘The kingdom of heaven is at hand.’ (Matthew 10:5-7)
For as we have many members in one body, but all the members do not have the same function, so we, being many, are one body in Christ, and individually members of one another. (Romans 12:4-5)
For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as the Lord does the church. For we are members of His body, of His flesh and of His bones. “For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.” (Ephesians 5:28-31)
Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? Shall I then take the members of Christ and make them members of a harlot? Certainly not! Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? (I Corinthians 6:15, 19)
For as the body is one and has many members, but all the members of that one body, being many, are one body, so also is Christ. For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free—and have all been made to drink into one Spirit. For in fact the body is not one member but many. Now you are the body of Christ, and members individually. (I Corinthians 12:12-14, 27)It is finished for Jesus. It isn't finished for the church. "Go into all the world and preach the gospel," Jesus said. Not, "Come, and invite people to attend church service." If we want Christ to return, we need to finish proclaiming Christ's message--now not just to Israel, but to all nations.
Go: A Movement
The church, then, is not a static religious institution or organization. It is a movement--a campaign. It is much closer to an electoral campaign than to a religious institution. In a religious institution, you come to meet; in an electoral campaign, you go to proclaim. In a religious institution, you receive services from the institution; in an electoral campaign, you give a message as part of the campaign. In a religious institution, members are net takers; in an electoral campaign, members are net givers. In a religious institution, the goal is continuity (ie. to service members throughout their lives); in an electoral campaign, the goal is finality (ie. to fully accomplish a mission).
The church is a movement. We are a movement that has a specific mission: to proclaim a message to everyone on earth. As a movement, we are all expected to contribute to that mission with the hope of finally accomplishing it. May we begin to renew our minds and return to Christ's original intent for the church.
A Bride, and a Body
Besides being a movement, the church is also described (by Paul) as a bride and a body. We've discussed what being Christ's body means. The church as a bride is an important concept as well. Notice that we are called a bride, not a wife. The difference is that the bride is (culturally) meant to be adorned and prepared and made ready and presentable for the groom at the wedding. As we go and make disciples (as a movement), the growing pool of disciples is meant to be continually made more and more like Christ (as His body), such that we will be presentable to Him when He comes again (as His bride).
Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord. For the husband is head of the wife, as also Christ is head of the church; and He is the Savior of the body. Therefore, just as the church is subject to Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in everything. Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her, that He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word, that He might present her to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish. (Ephesians 5:22-27)
For I am jealous for you with godly jealousy. For I have betrothed you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ. (II Corinthians 11:2)
Therefore, my brethren, you also have become dead to the law through the body of Christ, that you may be married to another—to Him who was raised from the dead, that we should bear fruit to God. (Romans 7:4)
Now I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away. Also there was no more sea. Then I, John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people. God Himself will be with them and be their God. (Revelation 21:1-3)
Let us be glad and rejoice and give Him glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His wife has made herself ready.” And to her it was granted to be arrayed in fine linen, clean and bright, for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints. (Revelation 19:7-8)The Bottom Line
The purpose of the church is to provide services for members only if it is a religion.
If it purports to be the church of Christ, it must exist for a focused, specific purpose: to go and preach (not to come and fellowship) the gospel to everyone; to baptize new disciples and teach them what Jesus taught; to be Christ's body on earth, and influence it as Jesus did; and to prepare itself to be a worthy bride at the second coming of Christ, the groom. Everything else is inessential.