Church Without Walls
I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it.”
Matthew 16:18
Here’s a phrase often batted around Christendom that you never read in the Bible. Ready? Be prepared for a surprise. Here it is:
“Where do you go to church?”
You would think that, in the 1st century, as the Jesus movement grew so rapidly in so many locations that the question would have been a common one. Yet there’s no record of it being asked. Ever.
While we’re at it, let me rattle your cage a bit more. There is no place in the Bible that actually says you should “go to church.”
Now before you stop reading and start shaking your head at my heresy, let me clarify things. I’m not saying that you shouldn’t gather together with other believers for worship and teaching and fellowship.
But in the time when the New Testament books were written, nobody thought about reducing “church” to a building. They didn't even have any buildings for church people to gather in then.
They just had people. The people were the church.
In the time when the New Testament was written, nobody thought about reducing church to a building. They didn't even have any buildings for church people to gather in. They just had people. The people were the church.
A People or a Thing?
A strange thing happened over the centuries, however. What used to be the name of the people became the name of a building.
We see this all the time in our day. Folks will look at the building where believers gather and say, "You have a beautiful church."
But to the early Christians, that would make no sense. To early Christians, that would be like somebody in our day looking at a crib and saying, "You have a beautiful baby."
No, no, no. A baby is people. A crib is a thing. A crib is just a place where you put the baby. You don't even put the baby in there all the time. You just put the baby in there so they can rest up and recharge to go back in the world.
The world is where the action is. The world is where life is to be lived. The baby was made for the world.
If you have a baby, would you want them in the crib 24 hours a day, 7 days a week? Well, if you're exhausted right now, maybe you would, but that's not what the baby was made for.
How it went or where it went?
Another phrase you never read in the Bible is, "Hey, how was church today?" People ask that a lot in our day.
"How was church today?"
Usually, that means, "How did a particular service go? How did the hour go? How was the music today? Was it your kind of music? Did you like it? How did the sermon go? How much did you like the talk?"
We measure church by, "How was that one little group of people on that one little platform in that one little building during that one little hour? How did they do?"
For hundreds of years these questions were never asked. Because the key issue wasn’t what happened when the Body was gathered, but when the Body was scattered.
The key issue wasn’t what happened when the Body was gathered, but when the Body was scattered.
This tendency to restrict the church to a particular place at a particular time was never Jesus’ idea. His declaration, I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it” did not see the church as a fortress to protect His followers from the world but as a force to be released in the world.
That being the case, a really good question to ask isn’t, “How does God think church went today?" Rather it’s, “How does God think the church went every other day?”
Not by what was done during one hour on Sunday as much as what was done the other 267 hours of the week.
Make no mistake. Gathering together to worship and learn and have community is a real good thing to do.
Your growth will be stunted without it. I hope you make a very deep commitment to do it on a regular basis.
Gathered to Scatter
But here's what's critical to understand. Our assembling together is not the end but a means to the end. We come to the crib to rest up and recharge and get nourished, so we can go into the world.
Bottom line? Church isn't something you go to behind the walls. Church is something you are beyond the walls.
Church isn't something you go to behind the walls. Church is something you are beyond the walls.
I'll tell you a little secret as to why this is so important. We are not going to win the world for Jesus with a bunch of bumper stickers that say, “Follow me to my church,” or doorknob hangers that invite people to “try out your church.”
The fact is they don't particularly care about what happens in our crib. They don't care if we sing great songs or hear great talks or have a great building. Their needs are a lot more pressing than that.
As it turns out, what the world around us is interested in and waiting for is what actually matters most to God. And it's what the real church is called to. That is, in the name of Jesus, to go out to love the least, last, and lost and help them find forgiveness and freedom, help, and hope.
Turns out, what the world is interested in and waiting for is what actually matters most to God. That is, in the name of Jesus, to go out to love the least, last, and lost, helping them find forgiveness and freedom, help, and hope.
Jesus went so far as to offer some specific examples for being this church without walls: Feed the hungry. Clothe the naked. Care for the sick. Visit the prisoner.
So, go ahead and “go to church” on Sunday. But just remember that at the end of the day, church wasn’t where you went – it’s what you are.
Prayer:
“Lord, I have to admit that for all too long I got it all wrong. I saw church as a place I went rather than as the person I am. Help me find the restoration and recharging I need when I gather with other believers. But also help me see that the acid test for discipleship isn’t what happened behind the walls but beyond the walls.
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