We are the church

 

     When the act of going to church hinders us from being the church we have problem. In this blog I'd like to address something I've been seeing more of in some circles, and less of in others. Some Christians understand they are the church, and they're building bridges, networking and creating an atmosphere of love that touches more people than a single building could.  

        On the other hand there are still some Christians who have it all wrong this area. They view the church they attend as a team, their team, and they have a "cult" attitude about it. If someone does not go to the building they attend, then they wont associate with them, even if they used to associate with them. 

      Where we attend Sunday is a building where,  WE - the church - the people of God meet. We are the church, the church is not the building. This is why the "cult" attitude makes no sense. 

       I've unfortunately had to switch churches several times in my lifetime.  It's not an easy experience, especially when those you've grown to love have a "cult" mindset and not a "church family" mindset. A cult mindset says, "If you don't go to my church then I wont respond to you anymore. I wont help you, I wont be friends with you. Don't call, smile, facebook or email me because I will ignore you". That's what cults do. You're either in or you're out. That's not how WE the church should be.

       A Christian with a true church mindset, who understands we are the church says, "You may go to another building, but we are still family in Christ. You are my brother/sister in the Lord. You may fellowship in another part of town, but we are still connected. We can still fellowship together." These Christians understand that Christ in us makes us the church and not the buildings we attend on Sunday.

    Christians who understand this are doing wonderful things. They are reaping the rewards of bridge building across city, state, country lines. Christians who don't understand this are sadly still adding to the problem by building walls instead of bridges, isolating instead of including, writing off instead of embracing. Those people will be shocked when they get to heaven and see that their "church" does not have a reserved section and they are mixed together with everyone.

         We will not see a red team, blue team, green team, yellow team and white team in Heaven. We are the team! United or divided that is our choice here on earth, but in heaven unity is the only way.We are the church, we are one team, one family, one people of God that just happen to fellowship at different buildings.