Over 8 years ago in springtime 2001 I joined 22 of my best friends on a two-week houseboat trip on Shuswap Lake. It was a great time of young adults hanging out together, partying all night on the deck, sleeping away the hot days, watching movies piled up on top of each other on a single couch, playing card games, praying and worshiping, just doing life together for two weeks. We decided on the last night to do communion together, so we got the bread and wine out, I said a few words about 'where two or more are gathered', together we are a church, and we partook.
Now, there's nothing wrong with that. It's one of the greatest experiences of my life, and I'm so glad for the memories - both of the trip and of that communion experiences. But was it 'church' that we were experiencing on that boat?
I've been reading a book that seems to agree with the 'where two or more are gathered' concept. Like many other books in the genre, it alludes to 'doing church differently', explaining that after all, church is simply a getting-together of Christians. It could be at a bar, on the beach, in a boat, at a warehouse, wherever. As long as somebody says "Jesus" in a non-expletive way. But is that true? What is it that makes a church? Is 'church' a gathering or a meeting at all? These are, of course, questions that have been running through my head, things that I have to have solid answers for as I'm embarking on this church planting venture.
First, and most importantly, no I don't believe that church happens just 'where two or more are gathered'. I DO believe that a special manifestation of the presence of Jesus is present where two Christians gather in His Name, but the context of the verse referred to, "where two or three come together in my name, there I am with them" (Matthew 18:20) is how to properly deal with a brother who sins against you. Where two or three agree in Jesus about how to deal in love with a sinning brother, He gives His blessing.
Although this has implications FOR the church, it has nothing to do about DOING church. I wish people would stop proof-texting what they WANT the Bible to say, and start doing according to what it DOES say.
So what does the Bible say about church? First of all, Jesus established church as His own. He told His disciples, "I will build my church" (Matthew 16:18) upon Peter's confession that Jesus is "the Christ, the Son of the Living God" (Matthew 16:16). The church is Jesus'. It belongs to Him. It's not 'my church' that I'm planting, it's Jesus'. He cares about it and for it more than I ever could. It's His body on the earth (Colossians 1:24) and His bride into eternity (Revelation 19:7-9). And the rock that it's built on is the confession of Peter, which was revealed to Him by God (Matthew 16:17). God is building the foundation of the church in the lives of believers.
In a real sense, the church IS the people. We don't GO to church, we ARE the church. Whether we're gathered or scattered, we are Jesus' church as we keep the confession that He is the Christ, the Son of the Living God.
But how can we BE the church, and specifically, do we NEED to BE the church gathered? What is the benefit of that, and how should it happen? To start, we read in Hebrews 10:25, "let us not give up meeting together". The immediate context tells us why - so that we can encourage one another, spur one another on to love and good deeds, warn one another against sinning, remind one another of the great love of God and how we responded to it at first, and to remind one another of the Gospel.
Some people have told me that while they are still Christians, they have rejected the church. The New Testament Church doesn't exist anymore, they argue. What was the New Testament Church, I ask. They respond with Acts 2:42-47, which says that the earliest believers "devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer... All the believers were together... they continued to meet together... the Lord added to their number". It says nothing about 'true Christians' leaving the fellowship in search of something better. So these frustrated Christians abandon the modern-day expression of church in order to engage in something that looks less like church than anything in Scripture - non-attendance. Blogging. Talking theology over a beer or a coke. Leading somebody to a Christ without a bride.
Instead, we need to look at what the earliest Christians did and why, and how we can relate those principles into our own cultural situation. They 'devoted themselves to the apostles teaching' - our churches must be places where Scripture is taught. The Apostles' teaching is available to us by the miraculous preservation of their words in Scripture. At some 'churches', Scripture is not preached. It might be referred to, but not preached, not taught, not 'unpacked' or opened up. At others, the pastor deems himself to have the wise and life-changing words and instead of Scripture, they exclusively preach their own special revelation, or tips for a happy marriage, or what their family was up to this week. Where and when church happens, Scripture and the Gospel is taught and preached. Secondly, they devoted themselves to fellowship - devoted, like committed. It is a group of people who are committed to one another, to gather together, to fellowship with one another. Third, they devoted themselves to 'breaking of bread' as Jesus had demonstrated the night He was betrayed. They shared communion together, and the church has not stopped since. Church is where communion is experienced. Finally, they devoted themselves to prayer. Church is where people pray. I had a conversation with friends about the responsibility for the church to be a place/gathering of corporate prayer. It shows in what we call "worship time", in "family time", in "ministry of the Holy Spirit time". It disarms me that so many 'mature Christians' are disengaged during times of prayer, and fully engaged during times of teaching. But I digress.
We go on to read in Acts 2 how all the believers were together, they continued to meet together, and the Lord added to their number those who were being saved. We read that 'wonders and signs were being done by the apostles' and that people were 'selling their possessions and goods, and they gave to anyone who had need'. These are the outworkings of a church that preaches Scripture, experiences communion, and prays, committed to one another and to meeting together. That's what I'm looking to start up in Aldergrove.
Nothing's wrong with blogging (I hope!). Nothing's wrong with talking about theology over a beer (I know!). The Church is very much INvisible, but the Church is also visible. Somebody made the remark that while the visible Church (that which society sees) isn't made entirely of the true (invisible) Church, the invisible Church IS entirely part of the visible Church. That means that if a person is a part of Jesus' Church, His body, His future bride, that person needs to identify with an expression of a church here and now.
There's so much more to say about this. What about the church scattered - that is, outside of regular meetings? What about small groups, care groups, home groups, accountability groups, evangelism, outreach, mid-sized communities, clusters, and a whole assortment of other ways of 'doing church'? Maybe I'll write about those later. But this I firmly believe - what I wrote here about proclaiming Scripture and Gospel, praying, and communion... those need to be foundational to what it means to be church.
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