So Where Do You Go To Church?

In the book of Acts, it is pretty easy to see that the early Christians 'fellowshipped' on a daily basis. Nowhere in that book are there examples of 'set' meetings like the liturgical works of art we have today. We have tried to imitate the 1st century by dividing up into home fellowships or bible studies and the question still is asked  "Where do you fellowship?" This really is the same question as: "Where do you go to church?"

In the Old Testsment there was first a tabernacle (in the wilderness -Exodus, Leviticus Numbers etc) then there was the temple that Solomon built. Under the New Testament contract a new  construct appeared which was 'not made with hands:

44 Our fathers had the tabernacle of witness in the wilderness, as he had appointed, speaking unto Moses, that he should make it according to the fashion that he had seen. 45 Which also our fathers that came after brought in with Jesus into the possession of the Gentiles, whom God drave out before the face of our fathers, unto the days of David; 46 Who found favour before God, and desired to find a tabernacle for the God of Jacob. 47 But Solomon built him an house. 48 Howbeit the most High dwelleth not in temples made with hands; as saith the prophet, 49 Heaven is my throne, and earth is my footstool: what house will ye build me? saith the Lord: or what is the place of my rest? Acts 7:44-49

The church I belong to is a church that a person can't GO to. Fellowship occurs on a daily basis. It is a huge group and it is amazing what transpires within the group  because it is directed by the "Head' ( or 'Lord' if you prefer) Jesus Christ. Its members are found all over the world and it is called 'the body of Christ':

12 For as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body: so also is Christ. 13 For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit. ........... 27 Now ye are the body of Christ, and members in particular. (I Corinthians 12:12-13,27)

So Where Did Adam and Eve Go to Church?

The huge puzzles with 350+ pieces are quite a challenge. My grandchildren are great at solving 24

piece puzzles by just spreading the pieces out on the floor and scanning for similar colors and shapes! They don't have to look at the box to see the picture of the finished puzzle! The large puzzles are different, one has to see the big picture to see where the pieces go.

The Word of God is similar to the larger puzzles. There is a panoramic big picture of God that is so necessary to keep in mind when focusing in on one small piece. Using the old proverbial saying that 'one can't see the forest for the trees', the trees represent various pet doctrines that people grab onto at the expense of the bigness of God. I have seen this over and over even with very educated theologians. For example, just pick a topic of something like the 'church' and see what differences of opinions exist on what the 'church' should be. So where did Adam and Eve go to church? If they didn't 'go to church' who taught them?

I loved my trek through Genesis.  I took a whole year and I barely scratched the surface! The things I did learn however really showed me a greater understanding of Romans and God's graceful heart. It showed me the whys of Corinthians and and the absolute necessity of the tough love of Galatians. God works in people's hearts if we let Him. We don't 'perform' for God, we love and trust Him. That is what He has wanted from the beginning. In Exodus, Moses is a huge player. God gave him  a job to do. He was to help Israel obtain the promises of God and get out from under the crushing bondage they were in. Moses showed them God's power because they had forgotten what he had promised their fathers.

¹¹ And Moses said unto God, Who am I, that I should go unto Pharaoh, and that I should bring forth the children of Israel out of Egypt?  ¹² And he said, Certainly I will be with thee; and this shall be a token unto thee, that I have sent thee: When thou hast brought forth the people out of Egypt, ye shall serve God upon this mountain. 

¹³ And Moses said unto God, Behold, when I come unto the children of Israel, and shall say unto them, The God of your fathers hath sent me unto you; and they shall say to me, What is his name? what shall I say unto them? ¹⁴ And God said unto Moses, I Am That I Am: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I Am hath sent me unto you. ¹⁵ And God said moreover unto Moses, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, the Lord God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, hath sent me unto you: this is my name for ever, and this is my memorial unto all generations.  

¹⁶ Go, and gather the elders of Israel together, and say unto them, The Lord God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob, appeared unto me, saying, I have surely visited you, and seen that which is done to you in Egypt:¹⁷ And I have said, I will bring you up out of the affliction of Egypt unto the land of the Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites, unto a land flowing with milk and honey. Exodus 3:11-17

What happened on the Day of Pentecost when the gift of holy spirit became available to anyone who believed, had the same heart behind it. Moses could talk to God because he had holy spirit upon him. On the day of pentecost the spirit was given to reside IN any heart that believes, not just upon certain individuals.

³⁹ For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call. Act 2:39

Moses was a servant in the household of God, we have the grace to be sons (Hebrews 3:1-6). The burning bush is no longer outside of us but within our hearts. As sons we serve by bragging about our Father and that's when the 'church' becomes un-mistakenly visible.

The First Century Church

Click on map to enlarge

What should the church look like today? To find the answer to this, it is necessary to look to the book of Acts to see how churches were started and maintained. The book of Acts records the influence of the holy spirit that came on the day of Pentecost as a result of the death, resurrection and ascension of Jesus Christ.  Every person who desired to know God received the spirit of God when they confessed Jesus as Lord and believed that God raised him from the dead. This is all summed up in the name above all names, Jesus Christ.  The name 'Christ' is significant.  It represents the designated savior and Lord. He is the risen one. When we accept this, we receive the priceless gift of holy spirit to utilize.

As the book of Acts unfolds, things changed from a works-orientated Judean religion, with all it's oral traditions and laws, to a powerful dynamic new way of life. As the apostles and disciples grew and Gentiles became part of the church, we can look at a center of activity in Antioch of Syria where Judeans and Gentiles melded together to form a local first century church. In this church, according to Acts 13, there were prophets and teachers actively involved in its growth. It was decided that Paul and Barnabas needed to travel to other areas to start new groups.  After prayer and consideration of this, they believed and agreed this is what the spirit had laid on their hearts. At that point, these two men  functioned as apostles (apostolos in Greek means - he that is sent) and set out to travel around sharing about what Jesus Christ really meant to their lives. Apostles have very unique functions in this regard and it is important to understand, they don't send themselves, their call is from God. Without God the mission is fruitless.

Acts 13:1-4 Now there were in the church that was at Antioch certain prophets and teachers; as Barnabas, and Simeon that was called Niger, and Lucius of Cyrene, and Manaen, which had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch, and Saul. As they ministered to the Lord, and fasted, the Holy Ghost said, Separate me Barnabas and Saul for the work whereunto I have called them. And when they had fasted and prayed, and laid their hands on them, they sent them away. So they, being sent forth by the Holy Ghost, departed unto Seleucia; and from thence they sailed to Cyprus.

The church at Antioch would have no lack. Not only did those who made the decision to send Paul  continue to function, but all the believers in Antioch functioned to fulfill and minister the life in the body of which they were spiritual members. We are not talking about an organization or a denomination here, we are talking about living life in the body of Christ with Jesus Christ as the head. The holy spirit was the energizing and inspiration for every person to function.  All too often in today's churches, the spiritual matters of a person are relegated to someone else thus taking away the individual's growth in walking by the spirit in a relationship with God.

We see this same principle as Paul went out to various cities and taught. He did not stay long as local groups came together. Paul taught them to rely on God and work together in true unity. Paul did not try to replace holy spirit for them. They tried to make Paul and Barnabas into gods themselves but Paul taught them plainly about going to God. He did circle back and check on them and sent communications to them from time to time. He also appointed elders to watch over  the groups. The elders were from the locale area and rose up naturally as seasoned leaders and laborers. Paul was instrumental in allowing this to happen. He was humble enough to rely on God to recognize holy spirit working in others lives. The point of all of their teaching was that it was the same spirit of Christ from God that worked in all of them powerfully.

There are many gems to mine in Acts 13 and 14 to see the action of the spirit of God in setting up the church. Antioch was the first place disciples were called 'Christians'(Acts 11:26b). This church was so different from anything that had ever existed before. 'Christians' today would do well to look at this model. What was dynamic about the first century church was not the absence of bricks and stained glass. It was about the power of God manifested in everyday life in each disciple.

Everyday is Church!

The body of Christ is the Church (ekklesia) of God. It is one under one Head, Jesus Christ. The Greek word ‘ekklesia’ is a word that is translated ‘church’ in the New Testament. It refers to a called-out group of people ('ek'-out from or of; 'kaleo'- to call). The church was never to be about the buildings (an idea that really flourished in 350 AD) or about a certain denomination or organization. It is about people, men and women who are committed to the lordship of Jesus Christ and who exercise the power of God in everyday life.

 Jesus Christ pointed this out in John 4:20-24 when the woman at the well related their conversation to  physical places of worship.  

20 Our fathers worshipped in this mountain; and ye say, that in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship. 21 Jesus saith unto her, Woman, believe me, the hour cometh, when ye shall neither in this mountain, nor yet at Jerusalem, worship the Father. 22 Ye worship ye know not what: we know what we worship: for salvation is of the Jews. 23 But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him. 

Stephen in his answer to his accusers states  in Acts 7:48-49:

 Howbeit the most High dwelleth not in temples made with hands; as saith the prophet, Heaven is my throne, and earth is my footstool: what house will ye build me? saith the Lord: or what is the place of my rest?

Today the English word ‘church’ (link) brings to mind a  ‘house of the Lord’. The word for ‘belonging to the Lord’ is another Greek word 'kuriakos'.  John Ayto's useful "Dictionary of Word Origins" (Arcade:
New York, 1990) speaks of this word and it's development:

--*church* [OE] Etymologically, a *church* is the 'Lord's house.' Its ultimate source is Greek *kyrios*... The adjective derived from this was *kyriakos*, whose use in the phrase 'house of the Lord' led to its use as a noun, *kyriakon*. The medievlal Greek form, *kyrkon* 'house of worship' was borrowed into West Germanic as *kirika, producing eventually German *kirche* and English *church*. The Scots form *kirk* comes from Old Norse *kirkja*, which in turn was borrowed from Old English.-- 

History and evolution of word etymology must be responsible for the King James translators to substitute the word ‘church’ in place of ‘ekklesia’ when translating from the Greek texts. Other translators such as Tyndale translated the word ‘ekklesia’ as 'congregation' instead of 'church'. King James actually uses the word 'assembly' for 'ekklesia' in other places.

The first use of the word 'church' is in Matthew 16:18. 

And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter ( petros- shifting, movable, stone), and upon this rock(petra - referring to himself - immovable) I will build my church (ekklesia, not kuriakos); and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.

Jesus Christ was not building a cathedral or any type of building, he was drawing people to God through his life. He was and is  building  an assembly or a congregation who will be gathered together when he returns. I doubt very much that the Basilica in Rome or Westminster Abbey are going to be lifting off on that day.  On that notable day all the members of the church of God also called the body of Christ will be joined to the head Christ irrespective of denomination, non-denomination or un-denomination!

Denominational, Non-denominational, or Otherwise?????

The Free Online Dictionary defines denomination as:

1. A large group of religious congregations united under a common faith and name and organized under a single administrative and legal hierarchy.

2. One of a series of kinds, values, or sizes, as in a system of currency or weights

3. A name or designation, especially for a class or group.

Cash has denominations, stamps have denominations and yes, non-denominations have denominations.  So many people categorize themselves as non-denominational. This label for churches has become a category in and of itself. What do they mean? It can mean a lot of different things. Maybe their church doesn’t belong to one of the mainstream, mainline denominations. Maybe they don’t like organized religion. Many non-denominations are organized. Some people call themselves non-denominational so they can remain as free agents floating around forming and absorbing  a belief system as they go.

Acts 6 is an interesting chapter in the growth and maturity of the first century church. It is important to understand that the apostle Paul was not yet on the scene; at least he is not named. It is also important to note that large numbers of people had  listened to the apostles; first about 3000, then 5000. People who had come in to Jerusalem for Pentecost decided to stay and see, some decided to go and tell at home.

With those who stayed and lived in Jerusalem in Acts 6, we start to see somewhat of an organizational structure developing. In the first few verses do we can detect a combination of a denomination with a little bit of a hierarchy developing and a non-denomination flavor in which autonomous people were involved in helping to make some structural decisions. A new denomination was forming or was it? Was it a new synagogue? This question is an interesting one to follow throughout the book of Acts and into the seven church epistles to see what God had in mind.

Those early disciples of Jesus Christ certainly were passionate individuals that made the choice to get together with other passionate individuals, to learn from those who had been with Jesus Christ and accept the life of a new administration where each individual had been hot-wired to God. Of course the Sadducces (not too fond of resurrection talk) and the high priest were crashing in indignation all over the place. The new Christians were emboldened by the spirit of God residing in their hearts that they assertively declared all that they had seen and heard.

A new administration was taking root. Stephen in his brillant sermon in Act 7 declared:

Acts 7:48-50 Howbeit the most High dwelleth not in temples made with hands; as saith the prophet, Heaven is my throne, and earth is my footstool: what house will ye build me? saith the Lord: or what is the place of my rest? Hath not my hand made all these things?

The disciples had met the Messiah, some personally and some through the teachings of the apostles. The new church was to be God’s church based on the cornerstone of Jesus Christ and filled with the spirit of God. The written Word was not available like it is today.  Actually some of the Word was being newly laid down and it was quite a departure from the Judean religion of that day. The church was not static and its leaders were bold, believing and growing. In the very next chapters of the book of Acts there was a 'scattering abroad' of the disciples to other regions of the world at that time and  the conversion of Paul. Things continued to grow in a dynamic way. Looking at the big picture of Acts in its entirety, it is really heard to stick a label on what was happening.