Listen to a group of people talk about “church” for any length of time and you’ll quickly discover that we use the word church in a variety of ways. It’s much like the word love…we don’t love pizza, or steak (or whatever) as much as we love God or our friends and family, yet we regularly use the word love for all them. The way we use the word church is much the same. When we say, “We’re going to church,” we tend to mean the church building. In contrast, when we say, “It’s time for church,” we usually mean it’s time for the worship service.
When most people hear the word church they probably think of a building. But the biblical understanding is not that of a building, but of people. The word “church” is a translation of the Greek word ekklesia, which is a general term referring to a gathering or assembly.
The early Christian church had no buildings, at least not in the sense of what we would consider church buildings today. The earliest Christians usually met in people’s homes, often in secret. As Christianity spread, buildings dedicated to worship were established and became what we know today as churches. At its core, church is about people, but in that sense, it is about more than simply an assembly or gathering. The Greek word “koinonia,” is used frequently in the New Testament and it means community, specifically a body of believers with a specific nature and purpose. Church building exist to facilitate what we do, but do not fulfill it.
The Christian church is not a building, but a body of believers united in Christ. Its role is to worship God, nurture and edify and reach out to a suffering world with the saving message of the gospel as well as the practical compassion and mercy exemplified in Christ. make a real difference in the world, not just temporally, but for all eternity.