Ask the average Australian, “What is a church?” the answer will involve a building. An example might be an impressive Gothic building like this one.
Christ Church, South Yarra. (2022, October 10). In Wikipedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christ_Church,_South_Yarra
This church is so famous that one of Melbourne’s best known streets is named for it: Chapel Street.
Other church buildings are not so grand.
Numurkah Christian Church.
Whether a building is an aesthetic or architectural masterpiece or an ugly shed, there is something that makes a building a “church”. It is the place where people gather together to worship God and to hear the good news about Jesus. In fact, if a building stops being used as a place of worship, it ceases to be a church. It “was a church” and not “is a church”.
So what makes a building a church? It is not what it looks like but what is is used for.
There is another meaning of the word, church, that is more important than a type of building. It is the people who gather to worship God. The “church” is people who are disciples of Jesus.
Jesus once said to his followers, “Again, truly I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything they ask for, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven. For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them.” Mathew 18:19-20.
We can see a few things about the church from what Jesus said.
Firstly, people who follow Jesus have to work together. Being a disciple of Jesus works best in groups. Being a solo Christian is really hard and usually unsuccessful. Being with other disciples makes things so much easier.
Secondly, Jesus wants his disciples to work in groups. That’s why he said, “where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them.”
Thirdly, because Jesus’ disciples are God’s hand and feet on Earth, they need to work together when they cooperate with God. As Jesus said, “if two of you on earth agree about anything they ask for, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven.”
So, even though church buildings can be beautiful and sometimes inspire us to feel closer to God, the real church is people. More especially, the church is God’s people when they meet for worship, for learning about their faith and for service to the world.
