Church - Not Just a Place to Go - But A Life to Live

 

The phrase “Church of Jesus Christ” has been quietly reduced in many minds to a location, a calendar event, or a weekly obligation. For some, it is a building you enter on Sunday morning and leave behind by noon. But when you listen carefully to the words of Jesus, that understanding begins to unravel. The church He described was never meant to be merely a place you go—it is something you are.

 

Jesus first introduces His church in a deeply personal way: “I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it” (Matthew 16:18). Notice what He does not say. He does not point to a structure, a schedule, or a system. He speaks of a people—living, moving, advancing. The word He uses for “church” (ekklesia) refers to a called-out assembly, not a physical location. From the very beginning, Jesus defines His church as something alive.

When church is reduced to a place, commitment becomes minimal and manageable. You attend, you listen, you leave—and in many cases, you feel as though you’ve fulfilled your responsibility. Faith becomes compartmentalized. It exists within the walls of a building but rarely extends into daily decisions, relationships, or priorities. In this model, attendance replaces transformation.

 

Make no mistake, the 'assembling of the Church' is a vital part of being counted among the Redeemed. It is in these 'assembly time' that God's people grow in faith, unity, and fellowship. To minimize the assembly is a huge mistake, at the same time, to make the entire goal being assembly is to miss the words of Jesus. Candidly for many in 21st century small town America (admittedly in the South), for several generations, the concept of the church has, subconsciously, developed into Church as being simply the place we go (when we can).

 

But Jesus consistently calls His followers to something far deeper.

He said, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me” (Luke 9:23). That is not language of occasional participation—it is the language of identity and surrender. To be part of His church is to live a life shaped by Him, not just to visit a place associated with Him.

Again, Jesus makes this unmistakably clear in John 15: “Abide in me, and I in you… apart from me you can do nothing.” Abiding is not something you do once a week. It is a constant, ongoing relationship. It speaks of dependence, connection, and daily life. If the church is His body, then it cannot be disconnected from Him except in appearance only.

 

This is where the difference becomes undeniable:

When church is a place you go, faith is optional beyond attendance. It is worth noting that anything we make optional in our lives will, at some point, not be a part of our life.

When church is something you are, faith becomes the framework of your life. In other words, you live life according to the words, principles, and calling of Christ.

 

Jesus describes His followers as “the light of the world” (Matthew 5:14). Light does not exist only in one location—it shines wherever it is. If the church is the light, then it must extend beyond a building into homes, workplaces, neighborhoods, and conversations. A light that only shines inside a building isn’t fulfilling its purpose.

He also says, “By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another” (John 13:35). That kind of identifying love cannot be contained within a weekly gathering. It is lived out in how we forgive, serve, give, and respond to others daily. The church, then, is not defined by where it gathers but by how it lives.

One of the clearest pictures Jesus gives is in Matthew 7, where He speaks of those who hear His words and do them versus those who hear and do not. The difference is not knowledge—it is application. It is the difference between attending and becoming.

 

This exposes the real danger of viewing the church as merely a place: it allows a person to feel spiritually complete without being spiritually transformed. You can sit in a service and still live disconnected from Christ. You can hear truth without being shaped by it. You can attend without abiding.

 

But when the church becomes something you are, everything changes.

• Prayer is no longer seen as a burden--It becomes a normal part of your day
• Worship is no longer confined to songs—it becomes a lifestyle.
• Evangelism is no longer for the 'spiritual elite' -- it becomes a natural outflow of life.
• Discipleship is no longer for a few--it becomes a normal path for all
• Fellowship is no longer a handshake—it becomes shared life.
• Ministry is no longer a program—it becomes a posture.
• Mission is no longer a "Pastor" vision--it becomes a church reality
• Obedience is no longer occasional—it becomes intentional.

 

Jesus never invited people to attend something. He invited them to follow Him. “Follow me” was His consistent call. And following Him leads to a life that reflects Him—not just in moments, but in patterns.

So the question is not, “Do I go to church?”

The deeper question is, “Am I part of what Jesus is building?”

Because His church is not a place you go, It is a life you live!

Bemoaning The Wrong Things

A few years ago many were amused or irritated by teenager Ethan Couch's legal defense of 'affluenza' in a deadly drunken car crash.  They were certainly not amused by the damage and death he cause, but by the seemingly preposterous defense he offered.  Affluenza, while laughed at by many, seems to be a modern day affliction that has, arguably, grown into an epidemic.

According the online dictionary known as Merriam-Webster (well that is familiar), one of the definitions for affluence is the "extreme materialism and consumerism associated with the pursuit of wealth and success and resulting in a life of chronic dissatisfaction, debt, overwork, stress, and impaired relationships."  All of this brings me to my definition (according to "Watts" dictionary that I've written in my heart), "Being so accustomed to getting one's own way that one feels they deserve all the best things in life to the exclusion of the interest of others."  This definition is confirmed by the number of publicity ads which include the two words, "You Deserve".  You can get the computer you deserve, the car you deserve, the spouse you deserve, and the money you deserve, if only you will do it OUR way.  Truthfully, this attitude plays to the basic instinct and desires of all human-kind so this should not be a surprise about how powerful this approach is to people at large.

The real surprise is how easily this attitude has made its way into the modern-day church.  For the life of me, I cannot imagine Paul, Peter, John, James, or any of the rest of those first-century believers taking a stand on 'what I deserve', because they were keenly aware that, without Jesus, they were deserving of a place designed for the devil and his demons.

When a people gets consumed by an 'I deserve' mentality and then 'when they don't get what they 'think' they deserve,' a problem develops that, in the words of a really OLD children's song, is both 'deep and wide.'  Complaining, bemoaning, and (as David Ring loves to say) belly-aching follows.  For instance, we have long enjoyed the luxuries and amenities of the modern day church building such as heat, air, and padded pews.  So today, this generation has come to believe that we 'deserve' to have heating & air to be comfortable.  So, they church must provide that OR, the attitude is, "we will have to do something else."  While you may think this is a somewhat trite illustration, it begins the downward fall.

For many years, Southern Baptist churches were generally 'cookie cutter' type of churches.  The programs and schedules were very similar, no matter where you lived (well - at least in the south - GRIN).  Sunday schedules went like this: 9:45 SS, 11am worship, 6pm - Discipleship Training (I.E. Training Union, Church Training, etc), 7pm - Evening Worship.  Renegade churches began to 'dare' to change their schedules 9 or 9:30am and the church world begin to come apart, more accurately, the 'programmatic church' began to unravel.  

I said all of that to say this:  Sunday School and the "Training" (no matter what it is named) are both really good 'tools' if they are used correctly.  However, the purpose or goal of God's church or God's people has never been to promote, maintain, or build a program or establish a tradition, but rather, it is to make disciples.  These words were the 'marching orders' of Jesus when He left Planet Earth.  It is not to make sure each church has a comfortable building (which most churches in America do), technology (which many, if not most, do), a Sunday night large group worship time (which fewer and fewer do), or even Sunday School (which - well you know).  Making disciples, 'people who act like, live like, talk like, and care like' Jesus, is our prime directive.  

Add to these truths the fact that most churches (we all know the numbers - 70% to 90% plateaued or declining) are struggling and in trouble.  Additionally, many of the church that are in trouble are unaware of just how vulnerable they are.  Yet, the things which are 'bemoaned' the most by many are NOT lack of disciples being made or people saved by the changing power of Christ.

The number one complaint or regret seems to be (and I quote), "Nobody is having "Discipleship Training" any more" or "No one is having Sunday evening service any longer."  Now it is true that training disciples is exactly what Jesus commanded us to do when He left the earth, however, the regret has little to do with the abandoned process, rather, it is the loss of a program which they are bemoaning.  Additionally, while we should never "Forsake the assembling or the assembly", the rub about Sunday night has little to do with authentically meeting God is a corporate time of worship as it is the loss of yet another programmed time.

Years ago, I heard a pastor say, "People aren't afraid of change, they are afraid of loss."  If God could and would bless anyone because of 'programs', it would have to be Southern Baptist because we have programs for everything.  Programs, in and of themselves, are not bad.  They make great tools (as long as they work, but a program makes a horrible god.  

Maintaining a program is hard work, making disciples is hard work, but one produces man walking with man while the other produces man walking with God.  I pray that we are not so far 'down the road' that our ship of motivation, perception, and commitment can't be turned around.   

Let me illustrate what I am trying to say:  My wife and I seem to do more traveling (mostly for ministry) today than ever before.  Inevitably, we leave home and one of us forgets something.  It may be something we wanted to carry or something we wanted to do, but we forget it.  Candidly, it depends on how far we have made it on our trip as to whether or not we will, 'turn around and go back.'  I see this as a picture of where we are in the church today.  Have we gone down the program road so far that to return to a process and lifestyle is beyond our thoughts or thinking?  Have we bought into the "Institutional church' and given into the "gravity" or "pull" of the institutional church that to change the direction is seemingly impossible?  

Today I began writing another article entitled, "Let Stop doing the business of being a church".  My fear that is we are so far down the road of making the local church and her 'programs' our focal point that to turn around and make the 'manifest presence of God' our priority, to see Him work powerfully, and to expect Him to do what only He can do, is beyond belief.  The work of God's church, by God's church, in God's church, and through God's church is not something that should one should be able to explain, but rather something that is only explained by God.  The only way someone can be saved is if God does the 'heavy lifting.'  

Perhaps what we should be 'bemoaning' is that too much of what we do is easily explainable by man and not attributed enough to a divine, supernatural, and all-powerful God in heaven.  Perhaps we should be 'bemoaning' that we have little expectation of God showing up.  Perhaps we should be 'bemoaning' that the reason these things are true is because we are living in Mark 6.   Mark 6, to this preacher, is one of the saddest passages of the entire Bible.

Jesus went home to Nazareth to help those people who had helped Him when He was growing up.  Verse 5 and 6 intimates that, "Jesus could do NO MIGHTY WORK there....because of their unbelief."  If that wasn't bad enough, verse 6 follows with (the famous Watts translation) "so He went someplace else to do what He WANTED to do in His hometown."  

My prayer is that we will relearn or rediscover what is important and what is not and reclaim the mission, ministry, and mandate to which our Lord has called us.