"Whoever desires to come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me." Jesus speaking Mark 8:34

What the Church is

The word that we know as “church” is first mentioned in Matthew 16:18, Jesus speaking:-

“And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.”

The Greek word, that is translated as church is ‘ekklesia’. This is derived from two Greek words:-

• Ek – out of
• Kaleo – to call

So the meaning, for us, is an assembly of people that have been “called out”. Whilst this may be a little boring it is very important to get the understanding of church correct, right at the outset, as anything that calls itself church that does not match this definition is not Jesus’ church.

So called out from what? Let’s look for a moment at Acts 15:14:-

James speaking, “Simon has declared how God at the first visited the Gentiles to take out of them a people for His name”

So we can see here that it is God’s purpose to take us out of the Gentile nations and we then become His people. When a person is born again their spirit, which up to that point was spiritually dead, is made spiritually alive so that communication and relationship with God is restored (see Ephesians 2:4-6 below). In 1 Peter 2:9, 10 we read:-

“But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvellous light;  who once were not a people but are now the people of God, who had not obtained mercy but now have obtained mercy”

Here we see Peter explain more fully what being “called out” or “taken out” means. Once we are born again we become part of the royal priesthood and a part of a holy nation made up of the people of God. We are no longer a part of an earthly nation, we simply live in an earthly nation.

Consider the following:-

“ ... for which I am an ambassador in chains; that in it I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak ... “

Paul is a prisoner in Rome and he refers to himself and by extension all those that have been born again, as an ambassador. Now an ambassador lives in an earthly nation but he does not belong to that nation, he does not take part in ruling or reigning in that nation, he can’t vote in that nation. In effect he is an alien in a foreign land. And so are we. We live here but we are no longer from here. Our address has changed.  Look at Philippians 3:20:-

“For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ ... “

Here Paul again emphasises that this world is not our home. Our home is in heaven. Heaven is where our citizenship lies. We just live on this planet temporarily; we are just passing through on our way to heaven. We are pilgrims on this earth. We are just sojourners here:-

1 Peter 2:11, “Beloved, I beg you as sojourners and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts which war against the soul”

Paul tells us that we are already in heaven with Jesus, this is our “spiritual position”, it is a done deal. Position is often contrasted with practice and here spiritually we are in heaven but in practice we are still waiting to go to heaven.

Ephesians 2:4-6, “But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus”

Imagine you enter a lift on the ground floor and press the button to the penthouse suite. Practically we are still on the ground floor but in a spiritual sense we are already in the penthouse having pressed the destination button.  John further emphasises our position:-

John 17:14 Jesus speaking, “I have given them Your word; and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world.”

In this scripture it is Jesus telling us that we are “in the world” but “not of the world.” This is the main point, we are just passing through, we are temporary residents here while we make our way home to heaven.  And just to make sure we understand let’s look at what Jesus said to Pilate only hours before He was crucified, John 18:33-38:-

Then Pilate entered the Praetorium again, called Jesus, and said to Him, "Are You the King of the Jews?" 34 Jesus answered him, "Are you speaking for yourself about this, or did others tell you this concerning Me?" 35 Pilate answered, "Am I a Jew? Your own nation and the chief priests have delivered You to me. What have You done?" 36 Jesus answered, "My kingdom is not of this world. If My kingdom were of this world, My servants would fight, so that I should not be delivered to the Jews; but now My kingdom is not from here." 37 Pilate therefore said to Him, "Are You a king then?" Jesus answered, "You say rightly that I am a king. For this cause I was born, and for this cause I have come into the world, that I should bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice." 38 Pilate said to Him, "What is truth?" And when he had said this, he went out again to the Jews, and said to them, "I find no fault in Him at all.

Here Jesus emphasises that although He is the King of the Jews, His kingdom is not of this world. And so, if we follow Jesus, neither is ours. Jesus’ kingdom is a heavenly kingdom just as ours is. Remember our position is seated with Him in heaven, not on this earth.  Jesus’ kingdom will be on this earth at His second coming when He sets up His millennial kingdom from Jerusalem. But that is another study.

Now let’s go back to Matthew 16:18 where Jesus said, “I will build My church”. This is very emphatic, Jesus is the builder and the church is His. No one else can build the church. No one can call the church his. Jesus is the foundation and the Chief Cornerstone of the church, we are living stones that He is building into the church that He wants:-

1 Corinthians 3:11, “For no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ.”

1 Peter 2:6-7, “Therefore it is also contained in the Scripture, "Behold, I lay in Zion a chief cornerstone, elect, precious, and he who believes on Him will by no means be put to shame." Therefore, to you who believe, He is precious; but to those who are disobedient, "The stone which the builders rejected Has become the chief cornerstone,"

1 Peter 2:4-5, “Coming to Him as to a living stone, rejected indeed by men, but chosen by God and precious, 5 you also, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ”

Ephesians 2:19-22, “Now, therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, 20 having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone, 21 in whom the whole building, being fitted together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord, 22 in whom you also are being built together for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit.

So, the church belongs to Jesus and He is the Master Builder putting all the stones in order, on the foundation of Himself and the apostles, to build us into the holy temple of God. We become a dwelling place for God.  The living stones become the living building, and the building is the body of Christ and Jesus is the Head of the body, we are the members of that Body:-

1 Corinthians 12:27, “Now you are the body of Christ, and members individually”

Paul, in his letter to the church at Colosse, reinforces the point:-

Colossians 1:18, “And He is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things He may have the pre-eminence.”

Jesus is the Head of the Body as He is the Head of His church. The church is likened to a body having many different parts but without all of the parts it cannot function correctly (1 Corinthians 12:12-26). And no individual part is more important than any other. Without a nose the body cannot smell, without a big toe the body cannot walk.  This is why Jesus must do the building work. He knows where we are all best suited, we don’t. People may try to re-arrange or even build the body but they will fail and will only produce an impotent copy. The church is Jesus’ handiwork, not mans:-

Isaiah 45:9, “9 "Woe to him who strives with his Maker! Let the potsherd strive with the potsherds of the earth! Shall the clay say to him who forms it, What are you making? Or shall your handiwork say, He has no hands'? “

So the church is a group of people called out from this world who are just passing through on their way to heaven, being living stones , being built into the body of Christ:-

Ephesians 2:10, “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.”

What the Church is not

So where did the word “church” come from? Google dictionary gives the etymology as:-

Old English cir(i)ce, cyr(i)ce, related to Dutch kerk and German Kirche, based on medieval Greek kurikon, from Greek kuriakon (dōma) ‘Lord's (house)’, from kurios ‘master or lord’. Compare with kirk.

So church is a transliteration of Greek for 'Lord’s house', via the Dutch and German transliterations. The problem starts with the word “house”.

As we saw in the section above the church is not a physical building but a spiritual one being built by Jesus. A physical building is not built by Jesus and therefore cannot be His church.  Neither can the church be defined as “the Lord’s house”. Where does God dwell? We saw in Ephesians 2:22 that God dwells in us, the body of Christ, His church, not in a physical building. Consider what Stephen tells us, just minutes from his death:-

Acts 7:48-50, “48 "However, the Most High does not dwell in temples made with hands, as the prophet says: 49 Heaven is My throne, And earth is My footstool. What house will you build for Me? says the Lord, Or what is the place of My rest? 50 Has My hand not made all these things?”

So if God does not dwell in temples (or any buildings) made with our hands then we cannot call any building “the Lord’s house”. The church, the body of Christ, may assemble in a building for the purposes of worship but the building cannot ever be the church. A building may contain the church but in and of itself it is just a pile of bricks.

There is another problem that stems from this misunderstanding and that is the phrase “going to church”. It implies that the church is only found in a certain place. Furthermore if we don’t go to that place we can’t “meet with God”. Is not God part of our lives all the time? Can we not meet with Him when we wake up and all through the day? Do we have to attend a certain man made building before we can encounter God?

It is very common to hear phrases like “God is here today” as if He wasn’t yesterday or can’t be there tomorrow. Is He not omnipresent? Have we not seen that He dwells with us? Isn’t He always with us by His Spirit?

People often say “come Holy Spirit” or “Lord pour out your Spirit” as if the Holy Spirit is not part of us already. Does He not indwell us? Is He not always with us as Jesus promised:-

John 16:7, Jesus speaking, “Nevertheless I tell you the truth. It is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I depart, I will send Him to you”

So where did the idea of church being a building come from?

This is uncertain but what we do know from the Bible is that the true church used to meet in each other’s houses. Look at these references from the book of Acts:-

• 2:2, And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting
• 2:46, So continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they ate their food with gladness and simplicity of heart
• 5:42, And daily in the temple, and in every house, they did not cease teaching and preaching Jesus as the Christ
• 8:3, As for Saul, he made havoc of the church, entering every house, and dragging off men and women, committing them to prison
• 12:12, So, when he had considered this, he came to the house of Mary, the mother of John whose surname was Mark, where many were gathered together praying
• 16:40, So they went out of the prison and entered the house of Lydia; and when they had seen the brethren, they encouraged them and departed
• 20:20, how I kept back nothing that was helpful, but proclaimed it to you, and taught you publicly and from house to house

And from the epistles:-

• Romans 16:5, Likewise greet the church that is in their house
• 1 Corinthians 16:19, The churches of Asia greet you. Aquila and Priscilla greet you heartily in the Lord, with the church that is in their house
• Colossians 4:15, Greet the brethren who are in Laodicea, and Nymphas and the church that is in his house
• Philemon 1:2, to the beloved Apphia, Archippus our fellow soldier, and to the church in your house
• 2 John 1:10 If anyone comes to you and does not bring this doctrine, do not receive him into your house nor greet him

It is clear that if a church is IN someone’s house then the church is not a building but a gathering of called out people. It is an assembly of the saints within the house, it is not the house itself.

Until the time of Constantine, he became Roman Emperor in 312 AD, the body of Christ was persecuted by the preceding Roman emperors (some far worse than others). Under Constantine the persecution eased and Christianity became the predominant religion of the Roman Empire, Constantine himself being converted in 312 AD.  Unfortunately the Christianity espoused by Constantine was far removed from Biblical Christianity and the “state church” was born. The true church, the body of Christ, declined as the, false, state church grew. It was, almost certainly, at this time that buildings began to be built and were called “the Lord’s house”.

During the middle ages many “churches” were built along with cathedrals and monasteries. So instead of the church being pilgrims and sojourners whose home was in heaven, the false church was building a home for herself in, and of, this world.  It was at this stage that anyone who “went” to a church (building) became part of the (false or apostate) “church” and a partaker all of the rights and privileges that brought with it.

One of these rights was the right of baptism, without which, the people were told, you could not enter heaven. Only the false church could administer baptism (for a fee) and so people were kept in check by the fear of not being baptised, and thus on their way to hell, and the false church grew richer. This is of course false doctrine for, as we have seen, the requirement for “seeing the Kingdom of Heaven” is to be “born again” and not baptism.

Another right was the protection of the state, i.e. its armed forces. During times of war the false church, and its buildings, was protected by the King and his armies. This again is terribly false doctrine as the Lord is our protector not man.

So I hope it is clear that the true church, the Body of Christ, is not a building.

So what else is the church not?

A denomination

The church is not a denomination. Denominations are manmade and are set up to set apart their particular beliefs from other denominations. For instance:-

The Church of England was set up by King Henry VIII as a breakaway from Roman Catholicism over the issue of divorce.

Protestant churches were set up as a breakaway from Roman Catholicism over salvation differences. The RC added works to salvation whilst the PC believed that salvation was only by faith. Both retained other aberrant beliefs.

Presbyterian churches broke from other protestants over the role of the presbyter

A part of this world

Wherever you see the name of a country in the denominations title then you know that this is not part of Jesus’ church. For instance the church of England cannot be part of the true church as it has allied itself with an earthly nation rather than being part of the holy nation, we quoted 1 Peter 2:9 earlier. This can be said of:-

• The Roman Catholic Church
• The Church of Scotland
• The Russian Orthodox Church
• The Greek Orthodox Church

And many other examples that I’m sure you could look up. Remember our home is in heaven, our citizenship is in heaven, and we are part of a holy nation not an earthly nation.

A political party

Any church that can be called the true church of Jesus Christ, His body, will have no political affiliation. We have seen that we are ambassadors of Jesus on this earth. As ambassadors we do not participate in the political affairs of any particular country that we abide in, whilst waiting for Jesus.  Again, remember that Jesus said we are “in” the world but “not of” the world. We live here as temporary residents, as strangers and aliens, pilgrims and sojourners.

So when you read of the Christian Right, or conservative, you know that the term “Christian” does not refer to the body of Christ. Christian democratic parties are part of this world not part of a heavenly nation.

A social action group

In Matthew 28:18-20 Jesus gave us, His body, His church, the following command:-

"All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age."

So Jesus gave us a threefold command, the first being to make disciples. This involves witnessing to people about Jesus so that they may be saved. Some have been given the gift of an evangelist and their role is to preach the good news of Jesus to all that have ears.

Once folk have been saved they are then baptised and taught all the things that Jesus commanded. Jesus summarised this in Luke 9:23:-

 Then He said to them all, "If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me.”

Again a threefold instruction; self denial, bearing the day’s burdens and following the example and teachings of Jesus.

At no time did Jesus ask us to try and change the world for the better. Nowhere in scripture are we asked to set up social action initiatives to relieve suffering or poverty. Jesus tells us that there will always be poor people, and we can help them whenever we wish:-

Mark 14, “7 For you have the poor with you always, and whenever you wish you may do them good; but Me you do not have always.”

But we will never eradicate poverty or injustice. This will only happen when Jesus returns and then it will be the Lord Himself that will right all the wrongs of this world. We live in a perverse world, Philippians 2:14-15:-

“Do all things without complaining and disputing, that you may become blameless and harmless, children of God without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world” Consider the following also:-

1 John 5:19 “We know that we are of God, and the whole world lies under the sway of the wicked one”

Galatians 1:3-4, “Grace to you and peace from God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ, 4 who gave Himself for our sins, that He might deliver us from this present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father

John 7:7, “The world cannot hate you, but it hates Me because I testify of it that its works are evil.”

So yes we can, and should, do good works to show that we love, the brethren, our neighbours and our enemies. But we will not change this world. Yes it looks like sometimes people are “good” and do “good” things. But any good works outside of belief in Jesus are evil in His eyes. Any works that do not reveal the love of Jesus for the lost are fruitless.  Let me give you an example.

1985 saw the “Live Aid” concert organised by Bob Geldof to raise money for Ethiopia which was experiencing a famine. During the afternoon Mr Geldof was interviewed on live TV and forcibly told the watching audience to “give us your xxxxxxg money”. Children of all ages were watching but this did not restrain Mr Geldof. Good intentions but evil execution. Google Live Aid and see whether any lasting good came from it. Google “famines in Ethiopia” and you will see that there have always been, and continue to be, famines in Ethiopia.

The gospel was not preached either during Live Aid or to the Ethiopian people when aid was, eventually, delivered. Consequently there was no lasting fruit from the endeavour. It was done in the flesh rather than in Christ.

Do good whenever you can but don’t expect to change society. You won’t change the Devil’s plans.

A Sunday get together or social club

If you like to get dressed up on Sundays, meet your friends and chat over a nice cup of coffee then the true church is not for you.  This type of scenario can be seen in countless church buildings all over the country. People enjoying each other’s company but leaving Jesus out of the conversation. People singing songs and listening to someone “teach” for 20 minutes, and then forgetting what they heard (if they listened) within 2 minutes. But boy was the coffee good.

The true church has been built by Jesus to be a living organism made up of many different parts all with an important part to play. The aim is seen in Ephesians 4:11-16:-

And He (Jesus) Himself gave some (of His disciples) to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, 12 for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, 13 till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; 14 that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, 15 but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head-Christ- 16 from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love.

If any “church” does not equip, edify, build up, educate, teach the disciples then they are not fulfilling Jesus’ command in Matthew 28 (which is expounded upon by Paul in these verses). If disciples are not to be deceived by crafty and tricky men they need to be taught what true doctrine is so that they can spot the false.

If there is no education then the people will be deceived and led astray. If there is only stories being told and coffee being served, the body will not be fed properly and will fall away. This is what Paul had to say to Timothy in his second letter to him chapter 4:-

I charge you therefore before God and the Lord Jesus Christ, who will judge the living and the dead at His appearing and His kingdom: 2 Preach the word! Be ready in season and out of season. Convince, rebuke, exhort, with all longsuffering and teaching. 3 For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers; 4 and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables. 5 But you be watchful in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry

So, no church is not a dressing up club on Sunday no matter how good the coffee and company are.

Conclusion

Sometimes it helps to see what the church is not to help you find a place where, at least, there are few of the traits of a true gathering of called out people. Where you can be built up in the faith so that when trials and tribulations come, and they will, you will be able to stand. Consider the following verses:-

Philippians 1:27-30, “Only let your conduct be worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear of your affairs, that you stand fast in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel, 28 and not in any way terrified by your adversaries, which is to them a proof of perdition, but to you of salvation, and that from God. 29 For to you it has been granted on behalf of Christ, not only to believe in Him, but also to suffer for His sake, 30 having the same conflict which you saw in me and now hear is in me”

1 Thessalonians 3:7-8, “... therefore, brethren, in all our affliction and distress we were comforted concerning you by your faith. 8 For now we live, if you stand fast in the Lord.”

2 Thessalonians 2:15, “Therefore, brethren, stand fast and hold the traditions which you were taught, whether by word or our epistle.”

Ephesians 6:13-14, “Therefore take up the whole armour of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.14 Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness” 

Final thoughts

Hopefully we have shown that the true church is a body of believers and not a building made by man. The true church is the body of Christ and it is He that is building it, not man.

But when man DID start to build structures that were then referred to as “church” several other problems followed from this basic error. Instead of following the example of Jesus in denying ourselves and picking up our crosses on a daily basis, the false church began to:-

• Follow man not Jesus
• Satisfied themselves rather than denied themselves
• (In many cases) picked up the sword and laid down the cross

Essentially the pattern of worship that God had put in place for Old Testament Israel was copied by the false church. So first of all there needed to be a building to equal the Temple, and smaller buildings to equal synagogues. In turn a high priest was needed and then other priests in the smaller buildings. So we end up with, as examples:-

• St Peter’s Basilica and smaller Roman Catholic churches, with the Pope as the high priest and Father X, Y and Z as priests in the smaller “churches”.
• Westminster Abbey and smaller Church of England “churches”, with the Archbishop of Canterbury as the high priest and vicars as priests in the smaller “churches”

So the high priest, and his team of slightly lower ranked priests, began to officiate when the church gathered together instead of the whole church being priests, all of the same rank. So we slowly began to get what we have today – the clergy/laity split:-

The clergy run the whole show, saying the prayers, deciding on the form and content of sung worship, who sits where, who can have communion and who can’t, reading the scriptures, delivering the sermon etc etc

The laity sit there and accept it. Silent observers.

Did you know that God can “hate”? Well one thing He does hate is this clergy system where the body of Christ is split and we have one active person and so many other inactive people. The Bible refers to this as the “Nicolaitan spirit”:-

• Revelation 2:6, Jesus speaking, “But this you have, that you hate the deeds of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate”
• Revelation 2:15, Jesus speaking, “Thus you also have those who hold the doctrine of the Nicolaitans, which thing I hate”

The word is derived from two Greek words – nico and laos which mean, “victory over” or “victor of” and “people” (in the sense of lay or common people as opposed to clergy or professional people). One of the reasons that God hates this methodology is because it is completely opposite to what Jesus taught His followers:-

Matthew 20:25-28, But Jesus called them to Himself and said, "You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and those who are great exercise authority over them. 26 Yet it shall not be so among you; but whoever desires to become great among you, let him be your servant. 27 And whoever desires to be first among you, let him be your slave- 28 just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many."

Matthew 23:1-12, Then Jesus spoke to the multitudes and to His disciples, 2 saying: "The scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses' seat. 3 Therefore whatever they tell you to observe, that observe and do, but do not do according to their works; for they say, and do not do. 4 For they bind heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on men's shoulders; but they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers. 5 But all their works they do to be seen by men. They make their phylacteries broad and enlarge the borders of their garments. 6 They love the best places at feasts, the best seats in the synagogues, 7 greetings in the marketplaces, and to be called by men, Rabbi, Rabbi. 8 But you, do not be called Rabbi; for One is your Teacher, the Christ, and you are all brethren. 9 Do not call anyone on earth your father; for One is your Father, He who is in heaven. 10 And do not be called teachers; for One is your Teacher, the Christ. 11 But he who is greatest among you shall be your servant. 12 And whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted

So now the clergy are the ones with knowledge (and titles and flowing robes etc) and the laity are kept in ignorance and thus reliant on the clergy. It is the clergy that perform the ordinances of the Lord’s Supper and baptism.

If the clergy say you can’t join in with the Lord ’s Supper because you’re not a member of his or hers church, then you are excluded.

If the clergy says you must be sprinkled with water as a baby, rather than fully immersed in water when you are of an age to believe, then you do what you’re told.

What the clergy say you do. After all only they can interpret the Bible correctly, not you.

Do you believe me? Go into any “church” building on a Sunday and you will see this played out. Any.

Now if the clergy are in charge and they are deceived by the devil, then they will subsequently deceive the laity too (who never will challenge the clergy as he must know better). And thus the “church” becomes farther and farther removed from true Biblical Christianity until Jesus is no longer the Head. You end up with what we have today:-

• The Roman Catholic church which sacrifices Jesus over and over again in it’s Mass, even though in the book of Hebrews alone it states, at least, 8 times that Jesus was sacrificed “once for all”
• The Church of England, and numerous other state churches, where you must be baptised to be saved, rather than just believe
• Calvinist churches who teach that Jesus died only for the select few and the remainder of mankind God is pleased to send to hell
• The Mormon church, the church of Jesus Christ of latter day saints, who believe that Jesus and the devil are brothers and that you can be a god too
• The Jehovah’s Witnesses, and many other cults, who do not believe that Jesus is God
• “New” churches who do not believe in the millennial rule of Christ so they want to rule this earth now instead of waiting for Jesus. Essentially usurping God’s order.

The list could go on but I think this serves to consolidate things.

So should we use the term “church”?

For me the answer would be no. There is so much wrong with the term that folk today will only associate the word with a building made by man. The true meaning, as we have seen, is a called out group of people. So we could use instead words like assembly or fellowship. We could expand that to an assembly or fellowship of believers or saints or Christians.

In Acts 11:26 the believers were called Christians because they worshiped Christ, the Messiah. The historian Josephus called them "that tribe of Christians." Tacitus, the Roman historian, referred to them as "Christians, a name derived from Christ." Originally, the church called themselves "The Way” (Acts 9:2, 19:23 and 22:4). But later they began to refer to themselves as Christians, despite the fact that the name most likely was originally used to ridicule the believers.

So we could describe ourselves as followers of the Way.

Anyway, give it some thought. But be precise about your terminology.

I hope this may help in some small way.

God bless you.