WHAT IS A CHURCH?

We will never grasp the answer to this question until we understand that the church is not a building or an organisation.

The scripture is clear in that it says the church is a body of called out ones who are meant to be God’s representatives on earth. All made possible by the Holy Spirit.

Generally speaking we do not understand this fact as most of the time we refer to the church as that building down the road or some such title as the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints or the Assembly of God denomination.

Whatever happens can only happen with the approval of the guy who runs the church down the road or the leaders of the denomination. Yet when you look at scripture, the times that a body of people made decisions for other churches than their own was minimal. In the scripture, each church made its own decisions.

The reason this happens is the fact that the organisation is generally seen as the church. Therefore they are given the authority to make decisions on behalf of everyone else and that is why you can go into any meeting of a particular denomination anywhere and you will find the same thing happening regardless of country or culture (in most cases).

When we first moved to Australia, we were invited to attend a Pentecostal church which was part of a denomination. We were told that the good thing about the denomination is that no two meetings were the same. After attending about five different churches of this denomination, one thing struck us. All the meetings were identical. You will find this to be the case in most denominations as what they do on Sunday morning gives them an identity. Stray from it and you lose that identity. In other words, we do things this way so if it appeals to you come and join us.

The New Testament church was quite different. It was the church wherever a few people gathered together whether it is in the home, by the river, in the synagogue, in the public square, in the open.

There was no such concept as we can’t meet together until we have an ordained minister present as everyone was ordained to go and bear fruit. They didn’t need a minister or pastor as everyone was used by the Holy Spirit to deliver the “spirituals” as the gifts are commonly known. They didn’t need an ordained preacher as everyone was invited to speak and discuss their walk with the Lord.

This happened because the New Testament Church was people, not rituals and organisations. The dynamic of the New Testament Church was brought about by the people who were part of the “ecclesia” called out ones and all were equal in that respect. A nobleman was not treated with any more deference than a slave.

The New Testament Church had a fierce motivation to care for each other and to spread the good news of the messiah. Today, the church is primarily something that you go to and go through rituals agreed to by the hierarchy of the denomination. Once you have done this, you have fulfilled your religious obligations.


The idea of being a called out one to establish God’s kingdom is a foreign concept to most churches and church leaders. How do I know? Simple. Prayer is usually the last thing they do and you won’t defeat the enemy without prayer, lots of it.