We Are The Church
Reflection by Matt King
There are so many different ways of being, doing, and talking about church these days. Just take a short drive around our city and you will find every possible denomination and tradition of the Christian faith. There are churches with historic buildings that have been in existence for almost as long as the city itself. There are some churches that have no building at all, but set up camp in theaters, schools, and strip malls to worship together each week. There are even groups that would never identify as churches, but that meet regularly in individual homes to sit around the table, share in a common meal, study the Christian scriptures, pray together, and support one another in good times and bad (perhaps one of the closest reflections we have of the early church today).
Still, when we talk about church these days it seems like we spend an awful lot of time talking about what the church does. Some of that is wrapped in our history. Even Martin Luther once said that the church is the place where “the word is preached, and the sacraments are rightly administered,” focusing, at least for a moment, more on practical function than spiritual identity. “Did you hear about what they are doing at the church down the street?” I’m often asked. Even the Greek word ecclesia, from which we get our most clear understanding of church today, gives as its first definition a sense of an assembly or gathering of people for a certain purpose, like Christ-followers who were and are drawn together for certain activities like worship, study, and prayer.
If we aren’t talking about function, it seems like we are talking about location. “Did you go to church this week?” someone might ask. “How was it?” “I hated that I missed church this week,” someone might respond, as if church only happens when people are gathered at set times and on set days. “Where is the coffee house where’re supposed to meet?” “It’s just down the street. Go past the church, and it’s immediately on the right.”
The problem is that the deepest understanding of the church is not about where it is, or what happens in a certain location, but who it is. The Apostle Paul spoke of a body, a collective whole made up of individual people who have found faith in Christ as Lord. Each member of the body plays a special role, and the collective system functions most according to God’s design when each individual understands their part in it, bringing their God-given gifts to the table to contribute to the good of the whole and the advancement of Christ’s kingdom. When you read the description of the early church in Acts 2, and when you hear of them coming together for worship, study, and prayer, but when you also hear about them combining resources to care for one another and ensure that everyone’s needs were met, it may talk of what they did, but it starts to sound less like an organization to which people belong or a place people go, and more like a family that shapes their central identity.
In his book Shift: Three Big Moves for the 21st Century Church, Mark Tidsworth says that one of the moves churches of today are going to have to make if they are going to understand who God is calling them to be and what God is calling them to do, is a shift away from the perspective of “I go to church,” and toward the perspective of “I am the church.” Ultimately this shift in perspective moves the idea of the church from one of location and function to one of identity. I am the church. I don’t just go to church, but wherever I am there the church is because I am part of a group of people who are gathered by, empowered by, and sent on mission to bear witness to Jesus Christ by the Holy Spirit. As a result, any function of the church is merely a reflection of its identity as a community or family bound together by common faith in Christ.
At Augusta Road Baptist Church we say that we are a “loving, inclusive Christian community that seeks to live out its faith in Jesus Christ though worship, spiritual growth, ministry, and missions.” Notice that when that mission statement was written those involved in the process purposely placed the identity of the church ahead of its function. We talk about who we are before we talk about what we do. We are community bound and formed by the inclusive love of Christ, and only because of that are we able to adequately worship, grow spiritually, and engage in ministry and missions for the sake of God’s world. So when we talk about our plans for Wednesday nights during the winter and spring months, and when we talk about ARBC At Play, On Mission, Around the Table, and In Formation, while we may sound like we are focusing on what we are going to do when we gather together, we are actually taking a season to ensure that what we do adequately reflects who we are as a community of Christ-followers, and a family of faith.
Our family loves and cares for one another well, and the heartbeat of who we are comes from engaging worship and deep and relevant study of the scriptures. But we also build relationships with one another through fun and laughter. We build relationships by playing together. So one Wednesday a month we will gather for a meal and common prayer, but we will also play games, share stories, and grow together in joyful fellowship.
We recognize that our community of faith is one that is part of the larger mission of the kingdom of God, and while our natural instincts are to focus on ourselves, or at least those we see most often on the church campus, we also recognize that God is calling us to something greater. Missions is not part of what the church does, but the church is sent on mission wherever its people are in order to bear witness to Jesus Christ. So once a month we will focus less on ourselves, and more on those who need encouragement and care who aren’t part of our church family. We will find ways to show the love of Christ to individuals we may not even know in word and deed so that it may impact their lives and make us all better disciples in the process.
We also recognize that if the church isn’t merely found in one location, then there are times we need to move off of 1823 Augusta Street and build community within the community around us. We are going to start that not only through the Wednesdays when we are On Mission, but also when we are Around the Table. Instead of having our mid-week dinners in our Fellowship Hall, we will take one Wednesday a month and find a restaurant in the neighborhood and gather for a causal meal. Come as you are and when you can. Sit with whomever happens to arrive around the same time you do. Share some kindness with those who serve you and those who dine near you. Remember that our community of faith is set in the context of a larger community of people that we have that we have the chance to impact every day.
Finally, we also know that we will only be the family of faith we are called to be if we are learning as much as we can about the way that Christ is at work in the world around us. One Wednesday per month we will be inviting leaders from our community, who are engaged in important work, to come and share about their passions and drive for the work that they do. Here’s the common thread: each person we will hear from in what I am loosely calling “FaithTalks” does what they do because of their faith. As we learn from them, we will not only her about their work; we will also recognize that each one of us is called to do something because of our faith. We may not be called to a specific career, but in the spiritual sense of the word we are all called to a vocation. We are all called to do something with our God-given gifts and passions for the good of God’s world. Who knows where you might hear God speaking to you, where God might be leading you to go, or what God might be leading you to do.
In all that we do during the winter and spring months, I hope we won’t see it as merely tasks to be completed, or gatherings to come to if it’s convenient to our schedule. I hope we won’t ask if the church is doing something that helps us meet our perceived spiritual needs. I hope will see these gatherings as opportunities to live more fully into our identity as a church. I hope we will see opportunities to become more balanced and impactful disciples because we are disciples together. After all, we don’t just go to church. We are the church. What might we discover about the church God is calling us to be?