What is Church?

“For where two or three come together in my name, I am there with them." (Matthew 18:20 GNB)

The Church, sometimes called “the Body of Christ,” has many forms and expressions, which are frequently the subject of hot debate. We can however, be so taken up with these very discussions, activities and committees, as to be in danger of being diverted away from the true meaning.

When, some years after we first became Christians, my wife and I attended a conference, there was a last minute change of speaker. He was well known and respected within church circles, but I was apprehensive. I feared that he was going to bombard us with traditions and church practices. I didn’t want anymore of what I called ‘churchianity.’ I was looking for reality, life in the Spirit.

On the first evening, we were each given a blank sheet of paper and instructed to mark a blob in the centre, representing ourselves. Around that mark, we were to place further blobs, of appropriate size and closeness. One for each each Christian with whom we could be real, share anything with and feel accepted; someone from whom we could even accept admonishment.

When all was done, he suggested that those marks, no matter how few, represented a form of ‘church’ for each of us. I received this like a breath of fresh air. He had cut through all religious trappings and taken us to the scriptural grass roots.

I have since found that when there is a coming together of those of like mind, no matter how informal, where hearts are really open to God and each other, God is given the freedom to act and move amongst us, often in unexpected ways. This transcends church structure and cannot be organised, but just happens. Precious!