The church is defined as the assembly of its members. It is not the building nor is it based on popularity or religious men or any such thing. It is based on Jesus and belongs solely to Him. As such it would be reasonable to accept that He has something to say about what it looks like and how it should operate. He gave instructions to the apostles of what to do in establishing His church which began in the book of Acts, chapter 2. The letters (or epistles) give us an idea of the worship practices in the 1st century and the guidance given by the apostles to correct errors as they came up. The pattern can be more easily understood with the study of each of these documents.
Not every church or religion is right with God and it does no good to worship or join just any church. This said, not every church is perfect in character or perhaps even doctrine but we are obligated to serve based on what we can observe in the scriptures and other historical works of Christians in the first century. Jesus died and established His church which you can read about in the scriptures. He only created one so where is it (?) would be a valid and fair question. The church was created as decentralized entity because Jesus is the head of it (Col. 1:18). It can be found anywhere the members are worshipping according to the pattern that is defined in scripture. Although it may seem strange that with all these denominational churches out there that so many could be wrong, Jesus said that it would be this way (Mat. 7:13-14).
The church is also referred to as His BODY so they are one and the same.
You can study these passages to verify what is said for yourself.
- Mat. 16:18 (I will build MY CHURCH)
- Eph. 4:4-6 (One Body, One Lord, One Faith, One Baptism, One God)
- Eph. 1:18 (One Spirit) also see Eph. 2:12-18
- Eph. 1:23 (The CHURCH which is His BODY)
- Col. 1:18 (He is Head of the BODY, the CHURCH)
- Rom. 12:5 (One BODY, many MEMBERS)
- 1Cor. 10:17 (One BODY)
- 1Cor. 12:20, 27 (One BODY)
- Rom. 16:16 (churches of Christ salute you)
The books of Colossians and Ephesians complement well in this area of study.
The content of the worship and the reliance upon the scriptures is what matters more than the name on the outside of the building. However, if the doctrine is correct, so will be the name. There are many churches that have the right or a biblical name but don’t have the correct doctrine and vice versa. This is why it is important to learn what Jesus required for worship in His church and compare it to what you actually see or are being told. This is difficult for some people to accept but we can’t pick and choose our obedience to God nor accept parts of scripture without accepting it all. We want all or nothing in our relationships, so does God (Mat. 22:37-40; 2Thes. 3:5; Ecc. 12:13). We are not allowed to change the rules or expectations no matter how zealous or sincere we’re trying to be. The importance of the authority of scripture is found in these passages below:
- Deu. 4:2
- Pro. 30:6
- Rev. 22:18
There is so much more to learn and this is a lifelong journey. Eternity is at stake. Everything that anyone ever says to you, regardless of perceived authority, must be backed up with the Bible, in proper context and with the right heart and intentions of harmonizing His word. Afterall, we’re going to be judged by what is said in the Bible and nothing more.
