The Church

As a follower of Christ, a saint, a Christian, a believer, or whatever related term you are familiar with, I will most likely have many posts about the Church. When I write, the Church, I mean the people, not any particular building where people meet.

Several years ago, I had the priviledge of being under the leadership of a very special couple. The husband was the interim pastor of, what I used to refer to as, "the church" I was attending. He introduced several challenging subjects to the congregation and challenged us to grow. One of the areas was in the way we spoke about and interpreted our role in the Kingdom of God. 

He was the first person I knew who really emphasized that the Church is the people and NOT a building. Further more the sanctuary or temple of the Holy Spirit lies in each believer and not in the center of the building in which the Church meets. He even went to far as to call it just that, a meeting, and not a "service." Service, he asserted, is when you actually leave the four walls of where the meeting takes place and do something for the others, for the glory of God. 

Some thought it was just an issue of semantics. Others were reluctant to change and thought his ideas bordered on sacrilege. I, however, was intrigued. 

I had grown up in that "church" but for years had known in my heart that there was SO much more to this "church" thing than what I had been taught to believe or had seen lived in the lives of those around me. The things this pastor spoke alluded to this same idea. 

So began the wheels turning inside my noggin. Why ARE we here?  What are we doing for the Kingdom? Have we lost our saltiness? I would like to explore these questions and more with the hope to connect some more dots and get a clearer view of the big picture.