What's "church" exactly? And does it usually have carpet and pews?

One of the things I've known or heard all my growing up years was, "You don't HAVE TO go to church, you GET TO go to church."  This was usually said after I was attempting to convince my parents that I was coming down with something so I could stay home and watch the Disney show that was always scheduled during Sunday night church service.

And so, from that and many other experiences where we used the word "church" to refer to a place we went to at certain scheduled times of the week, the idea of church was still a building that was bought by church people that was exclusively for getting together to "have church".  

We used the word in an almost abusive manner - "Since we're the church, let's get ready to go have church at the church with the church." It was simultaneously the people, a building, and a certain kind of gathering.

So there actual word "church" has a lot of roots, but the word we use in English has a some German, Dutch, and Old English roots and came from the idea of the lord's house or master's house.  In other words, a building associated with someone important.

In it's original setting the word "ekklesia" mean a gathering or assembly of people, usually gathered together for a purpose - to listen, to converse, to hear - like a town gathering, meeting to hear some news, talk about it, perhaps vote or express opinions.

It also meant, "the called out ones" - 'nuff said?  Maybe, but let me make sure for my own sake.  Called out to me means your names have been called to be a part of a team.  You're called out by God, you're his group of people - whether or not you're meeting together, you're on the team.

So it's God's people who have heard his invitation and accepted it - "You want to be on the team with me?  Well come on!  Let's go!"  And his invitation is for everyone, not just "Good church people", using the word in our more modern sense.

And *his team* that is made up of people who have said, "God invites ME?  For real?  Then yes, I'm in!!!" - those people get together regularly/occasionally to talk about God, honor him and his invitation, and encourage each other in the life they now live as his team or family members.

That's it.  The main place in the New Testament where we see anyone talk about what happened back then when God's team/family gathered would be roughly from 1 Corinthians chapters 11-14.  

And when reading that, you have to do some cultural filtering as the author, Paul, was addressing some things that were either causing problems in their cross-cultural gathering or that were just missing the point of their getting together.

But basically, they got together to encourage each other, to learn more about this God that invited them, and to affirm their new unity or community that existed because God was/is tearing down barriers between people and making a new thing!

Church, as it's used today, is a word that is kind of twisted around.  It's moved from the basic idea of people who are called to a different way of seeing life through Jesus and who gather to encourage one another and unpack what all that means.

Depending on where you live and which flavor of interpretation your region has latched on to, it can look different.  Where I live in the Southern part of the US, it has different groups that lean into their own make up/vibe, depending on their socioeconomic status/subcultural background.

I've seen a variety of groups, like:

• Those who see or experience church as an upwardly mobile, middle-class, and mainly white group who want to protect a certain slice of life, sometimes hiding or sometimes holding up a political position they feel represents their version of God or Jesus.
• Those who see church as a place for the oppressed in this life and their primary focus is on social justice (or some words to that effect) and calling out anyone who disagrees with their view of injustice and their proposed solutions to injustice.
• Those who see church as wrapped around an emotional experience that is found primarily in a Sunday AM worship service or revival.  They go to "get filled up" so they can go fight the devil and the world during the week.  They might dance around and sing repetitive songs, etc.
• Those who see church as an extension of their Christian college experience and whose primary, but often unspoken goal is to gather together with other Christian college graduates and continue on with that cocoon experience they had in college.

And you could list off many more with a lot of overlap AND contrast in worship service styles, preferred vocabulary, favored sins to talk about, best practices in how to raise a family, spiritual gifts, status of church leaders compared to "average members", and so on.

I'm sure if you've been around long enough in life, you've heard the old stories or version of a stories of how the church is like a group of people who started off as __________ and over time lost their way and vision and instead now are like a __________.

And you can fill in the blanks with hospital and country club, or rescue workers by the ocean and yacht club, or a variety of other pictures that show how there is often a migration or mission drift from where a group starts to where it is now.

And, for all their limitations, they're still good illustrations.  Church in scripture is often one thing and what each generation experiences over time demonstrates that mission drift or change in purpose, usually reflecting how those in leadership/power prefer things to be.

And it's not a bad thing for a church or local group of people to have a "flavor" or vibe, but it's important for them to be upfront about it and be transparent SO THAT new people or outsiders don't assume they represent "the cause of Christ" on a universal scale.

For example: if a church is mainly about being a great place for young families with kids with safety, comfort, and mutual care, that's great!  Just say that so people who aren't that can either say, "I like this anyway and want to stay and join in" or "Guess I'll keep looking".

Or if a church is mainly about being pure, getting all the sin out of their lives, and judging or "encouraging" each other to be pure in their life, clothing style, flavor of worship, etc - that's great!  Just say that so people can make a choice and move on.

It's rare to find a place that knows itself well enough to acknowledge it and honest enough to say it, knowing they may lose people who aren't looking for that flavor - many assume they need to be THE flavor everyone choses because it's the right flavor.  And that's kind of lame.

It's rare to find a place that does what Paul encouraged the Corinthians to do in 1 Cor. 11-14.  Even the Corinthians were struggling with it!  We wouldn't have most of the New Testament if Paul and others weren't trying to help them see "church" in ways that weren't selfish.

For Paul (and maybe James and Peter), church wasn't just a gathering place on a Sunday, it was an identity and a way of life as "citizens of God's kingdom" or as "members of God's family" or other word pictures they gave to remind us of a lifestyle.

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More sometime soon about gathering times and what happened back then versus what happens now.  And why they met on Sunday and not Saturday ('cause most Jewish Christians still practiced the Sabbath as presented under the Old Law), and why they had different opinions about what happened "in church", the idea of "church attendance" or assembly, etc.

Have an excellent rest of your day!