Weekly Reflection 06/03/08
June 1, 2008 – 11:39 pm
What makes church a church?
Nowadays, congregations meet in some unusual places whether it is a school, old barn, someone’s basement, a theater, coffee house or even outside in a field somewhere. The question I pose is does it really matter where we meet as believers to worship God and to fellowship? The reason I pose this question is because lately I have been running across people who seem to be hung up on things that to me are seemingly unimportant.
For instance, if a church switches from pews to chairs does it make the sanctuary any less Holy? How about the color of the carpet? Or better yet, if the church has a steeple is it more holy to the Lord than the missionaries meeting with a tribal people of some sort in a mud hut in some far off distant land?
Scripture
Jesus speaks in Matthew 18:20 the following message:
20 “For where two or three have gathered together in My name, I am there in their midst.”
My Thoughts
Maybe I am just simple minded, but this really speaks volumes to me. See for me this says it does not matter where you are meeting but, how you are meeting. If you are meeting with another person and you are talking about God whether it is praise, prayer, devotion, etc… essentially you have church. This is how the early churches we formed. Basically, believers came together and spent time with one another in prayer, singing, praising, learning and even eating.
We as men have placed the importance on the material things of this world. This is not what God intended. There is nothing wrong with having a nice facility to meet at but, it should not be the focus of God’s people. In the most unlikely places God can be found. As long as the church is divided by such petty things the power of what the church could be will never be fully witnessed and it is my prayer that we start focusing our attention outside the church to the lost rather than the relics inside the church wherever that maybe.