What Is The Church?

When you look up the word “church”, you’ll likely see a series of results referring to buildings and local addresses to your area. Though physical structures are a way to define the word “church”, this lacks the true essence of the meaning. For in the Bible, when it refers to The Church, it doesn’t talk about any impressive buildings, for they didn’t exist yet; rather, it speaks of the people of God.

Another way to put this is: if you got a group of Christians together and put them in a field with no building in sight, there you’d still find The Church.

For Jesus, seeing The Church built up was of utmost importance. Repeatedly does Jesus speak of the plans for God to work through The Church and that at the end of time He will come back for The Church.

Church also reveals an important fact of the Christian faith: that it needs to be done in community. Having regular connection with other Christians, even as little as a couple hours per week at a weekend service, helps us champion each other, care for each other, and build each other up into becoming all God has called us to.

The Church also exists not just for itself, but also for the world. It’s no coincidence that an overwhelming number of major nonprofits around the world are connected to a church. As the followers of Jesus join together, we become an unstoppable force to bring justice, mercy and hope to people from all walks of life.

The Church isn’t perfect— it makes mistakes because it's full of people. However as you continue this journey of being a Christian, you can see God move through The Church to profoundly impact your life and empower you to do the same for those around you.