People, Not Buildings

In John 17, Jesus prayed that his church would be one in the same way that he and the Father are one. So why is there more competition between Christian denominations than there is in the Superbowl playoffs?

I believe the problem is a failure to understand what church is, stemming from an emphasis on buildings, institutions, and doctrines rather than people. Many people believe church buildings are special, holy places, and whenever they walk into a church building they immediately feel closer to God. Some people even think that they can only communicate with God inside of a particular building. And yet the same God who feels so present to us in church on Sunday morning is equally present with us on Monday morning. The same God who feels so present in a cathedral is equally present in a landfill. He never leaves us or forsakes us, but we so easily take our focus off of him.

For many, church is only a building. If they don’t like one, they can go to another. Church becomes a fad, even a form of entertainment. They can “shop” for various churches without ever becoming committed or building relationships with any specific group of believers. This church-shopping mentality fuels competition between congregations rather than uniting them in the common purpose of Christ.

In the Bible, the word “church” is translated from the Greek word ekklēsia (Strong’s 1577), literally “called out” as in a community of people called by God. In the Bible, church is not a building, but a group of people who make up the body of Christ (Ephesians 1:22-23, 4:15-16; 1 Corinthians 12) by doing the work of Christ in the world.

The people are the church, not the building. If you are a believer in Jesus Christ, church is not a place you go to once a week, but a commitment to follow Christ that you live out each and every day. You are the church!

One Body

There are many manmade “denominations” in the world, but there is only one body of Christ. Every individual who follows Jesus as Lord is a member of the body of Christ, regardless of their denomination, location, age, race, gender, nationality, language, or culture. Jesus is building up a Kingdom of people from “every tribe and language and people and nation” (Revelation 5:9). He is doing away with all ethnic, linguistic, and cultural barriers by uniting his followers into one body. And yet we still allow the smallest things to divide us.

I can only imagine how much it grieves the Lord Jesus Christ when petty arguments over theology cause division in his church, and when minor disagreements cause believers to cut off relationships with one another, and even hate one another.

Part of Paul’s message in 1 Corinthians 12 is that every member of the body is important. He writes, “The eye can never say to the hand, ‘I don’t need you.’ The head can’t say to the feet, ‘I don’t need you.’” Every member of the body is vitally important. And yet, the global body of Christ currently lies fractured in a million pieces over theological quibbles.

With ten fingers, I can accomplish a difficult task.

If I’m missing even one finger, I will struggle.

If I’m missing several fingers, it may be almost impossible.

Just as I need all ten fingers in order to work most effectively, so the body of Christ needs all of its members in order to carry out the work of Christ most effectively. It is vitally important for all members of the body to work together in unity. And when Paul talks about unity in the body, he isn’t just talking about unity among individual believers, but also, in a broader sense, unity between different church congregations. Even the first century believers had differences and disagreements over theology. And yet, they recognized that the core gospel message they held in common was far more important than any minor difference in theory or practice.

Iron Sharpens Iron

Certainly, correct doctrine is important, and we should openly discuss biblical and theological matters in a spirit of good fellowship, “as iron sharpens iron.” And yet, how many denominations have split over the most trivial issues? Doctrinal disagreements divide the body of Christ, often inhibiting or even destroying the work of Christ in the process. Our focus should be on the core truths we hold in common, not the less important issues we might disagree about.

I once heard a true story about a group of Christian missionaries who traveled to a third world country together on a missions trip. They came from very different denominations, and during the plane ride they got into a major theological argument. This argument was so bad that they felt certain they would not be able to work together once the plane landed.

But when the plane landed, they discovered the situation on the ground was much worse than they had anticipated. There had been a major flood and many people had lost their homes. The missionaries immediately jumped in and began working together to help build shelter for the homeless, provide food for the hungry, and get medical attention for the injured.

As soon as they got busy doing the work of Christ, their theological differences no longer seemed to matter.

We cannot allow our faith to be merely theoretical, based on only on endless study and debate of theological ideas, but with no accompanying action. It took a catastrophe of epic proportions to wake these missionaries up to the reality that in a world with billions of people in desperate need, action is what really matters.

They got busy doing the work that Jesus will one day judge us on when he returns to divide the sheep (those obedient to doing the work of Christ) from the goats (those disobedient to Christ).

Matthew 25:37-40: “Then these righteous ones will reply, ‘Lord, when did we ever see you hungry and feed you? Or thirsty and give you something to drink? Or a stranger and show you hospitality? Or naked and give you clothing? When did we ever see you sick or in prison and visit you?’And the King will say, ‘I tell you the truth, when you did it to one of the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were doing it to me!’”

We have the luxury of spending a lot of time in theological discussions. Most Christians in the world do not have this luxury. We have the luxury of spending a lot of time studying the Word of God, which is a good thing, but we too easily forget that many Christians around the world still lack access to the Bible, or do not know how to read.

Your average Christian lives in Africa or Asia. Many live in dire poverty and suffer persecution. While we have the luxury of “armchair theology,” Christians in many parts of the world must do “theology on the run.” They don’t have time to worry about minor theological issues when they are too busy ministering to those in desperate need.

Is it any surprise that most miracles happen in third world countries, and not in the West where we have become comfortable with “church as usual”? If we spent less time in endless theological debate and more time actively doing the work of Christ, what miracles would we see?

Surely there is great urgency in the times in which we live. The world is changing faster and faster, and new technology allows us to reach the ends of the earth in ways previously unimaginable. This is the moment in which the body of Christ will either make disciples of all nations, or fail because the body is not working together

Satan’s strategy to defeat the church is “divide and conquer.”

We cannot afford to let petty disagreements divide the Body. The church around the world must unite for the common purpose of continuing Christ’s work in the world. I pray we see the day when our different church congregations and denominations are actively working together, hand in hand, in a united effort to reach our communities and the world for Christ.