Years ago I would have never even thought to ask this question. Somehow the concept of church just made sense to me. I'm sure that this had a lot to do with growing up in a single church from a very early age. Now that I am a pastor I meet people who have come from a wide variety of different church backgrounds and styles. Sometimes the challege is seperating what is biblical from what is traditional.
Others have already tackled this question from a biblical perspective. I'd certainly recommend reading Clowney's Church or Dever's analysis of a healthy church.
I certainly wish the Bible was more clear on certain aspects of church government and administration, but at the same time I have discovered that the essentials really are clear. The church is made up of the body of all Christians who by virtue of their faith are indwelt by the Holy Spirit. Jesus Christ is the head of the church and we are called to gather regularly with some portion of the overall body.
This afternoon I got one of those annoying chain letters in my inbox (no offense to the wonderful person who sent it to me). I think that the thing which annoyed me the most was that the story was so compelling that I read the whole thing. After the author worked her way through a beautiful illustration of faith in action she said "we're [her and her husband] not really church people". This comment had nothing to do with the story she told. Her subtext was, "to be a faithfilled person you don't really need the church".
What a shame that this family has disconnected itself from the rest of the body. It strikes me that God created community as a blessing for us. From the very beginning God there were relationships. God walked with Adam in the cool of the garden. He created Eve so that Adam would not be alone. The very nature of God Himself, the Trinity, embodies community.
What is the church? It's a God-created, God-intended, and (when done well) a God-blessed community of believers growing together in the image of Jesus Christ.
- Aaron
