What is Church?

Matthew 16:18 (KJV) — 18 And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.

Ekklesia: a gathering of citizens called out from their homes into some public space.

Jesus’ Church is His people, called out from their homes—their old way of life, their “comfort zone”—into public spaces for

Worship. Prayer. Discipleship. Evangelism. Fellowship.

“We are called out to hear (and give) the good news and rejoice, worship, commune, confess, and serve Christ in the liberating presence of the Spirit” (Frank Maccia, Tongues of Fire).

In other words, Christianity is a lifestyle and Church is who we are, not where we go.

The Church has been compared to:

A body with many members.

Christ is the head—the source—of the Church.

A temple with many stones.

Christ is the foundation and chief corner stone of the Church.

A grapevine with many branches.

Christ is the vine, and we are the branches. Without Him, we can do nothing.

What are we (the Church) supposed to be doing? What is our purpose?

The Church’s Purpose

Acts 1:8 (NASB) — 8 but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth.”

“power” dunamis: ability, strength, capacity.

Believers receive dunamis (ability) by the Holy Spirit. Paul references this in his letter to the Corinthians, writing, “the Lord made us adequate as servants.”

The power we receive is for making us adequate and effective as servants, as witnesses.

Christians are given power to serve.

Modern Pentecostalism (heavily influenced by American ideology) has two fundamental flaws:

Internalization of divine power: the Holy Spirit helps us live according to God’s Word.

Commodification of divine power: treating the Holy Spirit is a resource to be spent.

In other words, we treat the Holy Spirit much like how we treat money: get as much as you can and spend it on yourself and/or your family.

In my opinion and reading of Scripture, a more correct view is that Holy Spirit power works not only (or even primarily) for us, but works through us for others.

Our verse today (Acts 2:8) says that power is given to be witnesses of Jesus.

In John 15, Jesus says that the Holy Spirit “will testify about Me, and you will testify also.”

In John 16, He says the Holy Spirit “will guide you into all truth.”

Our very lives become witnesses of Christ.

Being witnesses for Jesus is the purpose of the Church.

Christ created the Church as support for His followers and as the mechanism by which the Gospel is transported globally.

The Church, inhabited and empowered by the Holy Spirit, can now finally fulfill the mandate given to Adam and Eve.

Expanding the Garden

Genesis 1:27–28 (NASB) — 27 God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. 28 God blessed them; and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it; and rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”

Adam and Eve were to carry His image beyond the borders of Eden, essentially expanding its borders into all the world. Since God walked in the garden (Gen 3:8), expanding Eden meant bringing the presence of God into all the world. This has always been humanity’s mandate. Only now, with the empowerment of the Holy Spirit, can this be fulfilled.

Each of us carry the presence of God into the world. As we fulfill our commandment to be witnesses and preach the Gospel, others will also receive Him. “Repent and be baptized,” Peter said, “and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.”

“The mark of the true church is an expanding witness to the presence of God: first to our families, then to others in the church, then to our neighbors, then to our city, then the country and ultimately the whole earth” (G.K. Beale, The Temple and the Church’s Mission).

Call to Action

What is Church? An extension of the Garden of Eden. Two things keep this from happening:

Hiding in shadows rather than living in the light of God.

Failing to guard against invading forces.

Adam allowed the serpent to slip into the garden.

We’ve allowed serpents like politics, greed, envy, idolatry, lust, and pride slip into the Church.

In response, we will:

Ask the Lord to reveal any invaders in our own lives. Then we will repent and take the appropriate actions to expel them and keep them out.

Commit to living in the light of God.

1 John 1:6–7 (NASB) — 6 If we say that we have fellowship with Him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth; 7 but if we walk in the Light as He Himself is in the Light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin.

Let’s be the Church. Walk in fellowship, walk in love, walk in Light and bring the presence of God with you wherever you go.