As we emerge from the pandemic, the Church world is asking itself some very basic questions: What is the Church? What is the Church supposed to be doing? How does the Church know when it is doing the right things? How does the Church determine when it has been successful? The answers to these questions will vary church by church, and denomination by denomination. But surely the Church founded by Jesus Christ can find some unifying commonality, even in the midst of our organizational distinctives.

We better. Above all else, Jesus wanted us to be one – to be unified. That was His prayer for us in John 17. If you haven’t read it in a while, now might be a good time. Seriously, before you read this article any further, take some time to listen to Jesus as He prays for His followers “to be brought to complete unity.”

Now that we’ve been reminded just how much Jesus values unity, let’s take a run at answering that first question, “What is the Church?”

It is in Matthew 16:18 that Jesus introduces us to the word church when he says, “On this rock I will build my church.” The Greek word is ekklesia. It consists of two root words, ek, meaning out from and to, and kaleo, meaning to call. The word church is literally a calling to the followers of Jesus Christ to come out of the world and to gather together.

The concept behind the word ekklesia was not new to the Jewish people, but prior to Jesus, the followers of God were called to gather at a place—a mountain or a tabernacle or a temple – where His Spirit would meet with them.

In Jesus, the ekklesia would be called out of the world to gather in His Spirit’s presence. This is a major shift. The worship of God had always been tied to a place. From Jesus forward, the worship of God would instead be tied directly to the presence of God’s Spirit – and that presence can happen anywhere. Anywhere!

Listen to Jesus as He describes this shift, “Believe me, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem . . . a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth.” John 4:21-24

The Church is literally the gathering of the ones who are called by God out of the world to gather in His presence. From this definition, we can begin identifying some foundational truths about the Church:

First, because it is a gathering, Church cannot be experienced alone. Jesus demonstrated for us the powerful spiritual discipline of spending time alone with God. In Luke 5:16 we read, “But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed.” Time spent alone in the presence of God can be powerfully transformational – and every believer must include that discipline in their lives – but doing so is not Church. Church is something different, and the magnified presence of God’s Spirit, experienced when His people gather together, is also different. You can’t experience it alone.

I often ask non-churchgoing believers if they participate in Church as Jesus commanded His followers to do. Quite often their answers run along a similar line, “Well, I go to church in the woods or on the lake, and God and I do church together.” Friend, it is great to spend time alone with God, but it’s not Church. You can’t do Church without other people. To experience Church, and the magnified presence of God’s Spirit, you must include at least one other person. Jesus said, “For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them.” Matthew 18:20.

I must confess, it’s easier to worship alone. The discipline of including someone else in my worship of God costs me something. It’s just not convenient. It means I have to deal with someone else and their problems and needs – and they may discover I have problems and needs of my own. Doing so messes with my self-centeredness and self-sufficiency. It may also require sacrifices in my schedule or my bank account. It may involve travel and having to go to a place that is not comfortable or to my liking. I may even have to listen to someone else talk or sing! It’s just easier to worship God alone.

But that’s the problem. According to King David, our worship of God should cost us something. See I Chronicles 21:24. Gathering with other people requires sacrifice and patience and longsuffering and love. There is a cost involved – and the paying of that cost gives our worship of God authenticity. What is the result of authentic worship? It is His awesome presence, and when that happens, it is Church with a capital C!

Second, the magnified presence of God’s Spirit requires a humble posture. Imagine for a moment how different we would think and act in worship if we could actually see the glorious presence of God’s Spirit. How would your thinking change? Your expressions? Your posture? Your selfish desires? Would the clock matter? Would the temperature matter? Would the style of the songs matter? Would the clothing someone is wearing matter? Would the comfort of the chair you’re sitting in matter?

My friends, if we could see the presence of Almighty God dwelling among us in unapproachable light, we would fall on our faces in awestruck reverence. NOTHING ELSE WOULD MATTER. The sheer weight of His all-seeing and all-knowing holy presence would cause us to openly cry out for forgiveness and mercy. We wouldn’t give a single thought to someone else’s sin. Quite to the contrary, in the presence of pure love, expressed in boundless mercy and grace, we would be overcome by a full and genuine desire to love others. Pettiness and offense and bitterness would vanish. Our comforts and preferences wouldn’t even cross our minds. We would, quite literally, be lost in wonder, love and praise.

This is the Church, and this is what the Church should experience when it gathers together. But do we? If we don’t, then we must be honest enough to ask ourselves, “Am I worshiping God – or am I worshiping myself?” Whose name is more important when I gather with others, mine or His? Maybe the reason our churches are dying is because we are gathering in our own names. Maybe, instead of worshiping, we’re just seeking to be entertained. Friends, until we grapple with the fundamental problem of self-worship, we will not experience Church or His presence – and the church will continue its march toward irrelevance and death. We must do better, and by His grace and mercy, we will. Amen.