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If there are only four people in our family, should we divorce? You may think these two questions are in no way related, and yet if you think about the nature of the church, as initiated by Christ himself, the comparison is valid.

The problem with society's understanding of the concept of church' today is that it is so different from Jesus' original stated intention for his people. First let's consider what the Bible has to say about church.

Two recurring images of the church occur in the New Testament. The first is that of a body, each part having a different function so that the whole entity becomes an interdependent, ministering community, its members serving one another. In this way the individual and the community grow to maturity. This is possible only in a relational context of closeness and love.

We may meet together on Sundays for worship and other activities and call this "going to church", and yet we are called to BE the church, uniting and functioning as the body of Christ.

The second image of the church is that of a family. The book of Ephesians tells us that our corporate identity as family is derived from our understanding of God as our Father (Ephesians 3:14). Throughout the New Testament family terminology is used to identify believers, who are frequently called brothers and sisters, and are once even referred to as mothers and fathers (I Timothy 5:1-2). As we all become children of one Father, we are each drawn into God's universal family of faith and thus into a family relationship with one other.

Thus the New Testament portrays the church as a network of intimate, loving relationships. We are family. Although there may be differences among members of such a family, our basic identity comes from the fact that each person who trusts in Jesus becomes a child of God. As children of the same Father, we are to love one another as brothers and sisters.

Unfortunately the world today is full of "churches" that are little more than institutions practising a form of religion based on tradition rather than on relationship. In such cases the corporate image is more applicable than is any comparison to family. Therefore if the membership of one of these establishments is to dwindle, it may well be justified in disbanding. However the church is not called to be a corporation.

Given the God-intended nature of the church as "family", we are left with an organic entity that cannot merely disband when numbers are small. We belong to one another just as head, arms, legs and torso make up the human body. We can no more tear this family apart than individual parts of our physical body can decide to go off in different directions. Whether we are three or twenty-three in number, disbanding is not a viable option.

Learn more about this author, Ann Johnstone.
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