by Amanda Mcknight

Created on: March 01, 2007   Last Updated: May 11, 2007

Essentially, the subject of church comes down to one simple question: What is your definition of church? Or, better yet, what is the purpose of church? Church officials urge their congregations to become members of their specific church. I wonder, sometimes, whether people understand that being a Christian instantly assures church membership. I believe that the world would witness a tremendous change in churches today if the church simply did not have a building! I am not an official member of a church, but I am a member of the body of Christ, united to other believers not through a building, but through the love and salvation of my Lord Jesus Christ. Indeed, the concept of "Christians without a church" is all most an oxymoron, when viewed in light of Christ's teachings. Acts 20:28 states, "Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood." God did not purchase a building with his blood; he purchased precious souls; he purchased all who will call upon his name. If the church could but focus on the love of God for others, the reality of the pain that others are feeling, and the hope that we have through Christ, then would we understand the essential aspects of life, that is, our relationship with God and our relationships with others.

A year ago, I was living in the Fiji Islands (located in the South Pacific, near Australia) with my family. While we lived there, my father was asked to preach at several different churches. One week we would attend a strict, formal Brethren church. The next week we would go to a dance-around-with-your-hands-in-the-air-and-get-slai n-in-the-spirit church. Another week we would go to a casual Baptist church. Then we would attend a small (about 10 people) church consisting of our "Fijian Family" and us. The concept is so beautiful to me- that the love of God is not restrained by different church customs, that as long as the hearts of the people are true and pure, God cares not how we worship Him. This is what the church is: the body of Christ- not a group of separated people meeting in one building. Not the youth building walls to keep the elderly of the church out; not the elderly despising the youth. Not men and women bickering over the need for a new church parking lot, or debating the issue of contemporary Christian music. Honestly, What it all comes down to is Jesus' words in John 10:10, "I come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly."

May the church of God begin to experience the abundant life of Jesus Christ!

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