Texting with a friend, (an international friend who lives far away), and the topic came up of the definition of church, where it is, how it occurs, and when it happens.

A little background. My brother volunteers at a coffee shop in his home town that is a ministry for those that are down on their luck. He has recently been chatting with a fellow who is struggling over trials in his life, and of course he invited his friend to church on Sunday.

For some reason, he never attended the church. Eventually the questions of where church happens, when a church starts to exist and how church occurs lifted its head in my mind. A few verses came to mind in the middle of last night and I would like to offer them to the reader for their consideration.

Where church happens?

As you may know through reading previous posts on this blog, I personally favor a home church, or at least a home based fellowship. Can this be properly called a church according to the Word?

Throughout the New Testament, churches were always referred to as being in a home.

Romans 16:5 Greet also the church in their house. Greet my beloved Epaenetus, who was the first convert to Christ in Asia.

1 Corinthians 16:19 The churches of Asia send you greetings. Aquila and Prisca, together with the church in their house, send you hearty greetings in the Lord.

Colossians 4:15 Give my greetings to the brothers at Laodicea, and to Nympha and the church in her house.

Philemon 1:2 and Apphia our sister and Archippus our fellow soldier, and the church in your house:

Saul, a great enemy of the church, knew exactly where to go to find a church. Homes

Acts 8:3 But Saul was ravaging the church, and entering house after house, he dragged off men and women and committed them to prison.

In my mind, I find little direct support for the creation of a separate building to hold “church in” from the Word. Of course some may consider the hall of Tyrannus to be the seed bed of the modern church edifice.

Acts 19:9 But when some became stubborn and continued in unbelief, speaking evil of the Way before the congregation, he withdrew from them and took the disciples with him, reasoning daily in the hall of Tyrannus.

Would you consider the intent of this verse to be directing believers into halls for the sake of living “churchlife”? I am not convinced. It appears that moving into the hall of Tyrannus was an effort on Paul’s part to provide a teaching area for disciples, since the synagogue had become so poisonous to Paul’s “reasoning and persuading them about the kingdom of God.”

Remember that the city of Ephesus had become a major hub of Christian ministry, a city with an increasing number of believers. Yet this hall of Tyrannus is never described as a church, for it seems that the idea of church was firmly lodged in Luke’s mind of not being a building, but a group of people, a group of believers.

Please don’t consider this a call to abandon the modern church life, with the pews, pulpits and professional preachers. It is what it is, but consider the root teaching of where church happens. It is organic, not highly organized, not full of overhead and organizational structure. It was a simple home where believers lived and met together, not a separate edifice.

When church starts to exist?

When does a church begin to exist? Is it with the binding of the church covenant? The filing of existence with the government?

How about when the elders of a church are called into formal existence? Might that be a good point to consider church formally beginning? Maybe, for you see when Paul left the island of Crete, he wrote to Titus and informed him of the need to appoint elders in every town.

Titus 1:5 This is why I left you in Crete, so that you might put what remained into order, and appoint elders in every town as I directed you–

Yes, I know that Paul did not specifically call any of these congregations “church” in his letter to the young preacher. A valid point, and he did mention that it is what remained to be put into order.

A possible answer to our question “When does a church start” may be that spiritual leadership is called into existence.

I wish to make a finer point on this for the sake of clarity. For a man to declare himself a elder, or spiritual leader does not make it so. Flashy signs and expensive advertising makes not an elder, no matter how hard they may proclaim their self importance. Elders are not self proclaimed, but appointed/chosen by other believers who have been appointed/chosen by other believers who have – never mind – you get my point I think.

How church occurs?

Are pews required? A pulpit? Is church to be centered about watching a band perform? Or a prescribed time of listening to a monologue from a professional preacher? Maybe. At least in our culture this is the accepted manner in which church occurs.

Yet to find where those who attend a body that are all integrally linked together emotionally through a living connection with Jesus seems to be, in my mind the end goal.

How church occurs depends on the saints involved. Is their a prescribed plan for church to occur within? Should it be heavy on singing, more of a teaching body, centered around a meal and personal connections? As mentioned above, to be considered a church seems to be associated with the establishment of elders, men who are able and willing to lead a body of believers on the path of following Jesus.

Another reason elders may be the causation of church formation may be for the exercise of church discipline.

Matthew 18:15-17 “If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained your brother.
But if he does not listen, take one or two others along with you, that every charge may be established by the evidence of two or three witnesses.
If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church. And if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector.

Although Jesus does not mention elders, and that the relationship complaint is to be resolved through telling it to the church, representatives of the church – elders – would provide the guidance to the body for the exclusion of this brother from the body.

Now if this body of believers is as I imagine, that of a tight knit group of people congregating in a home, having shared struggles and personal concerns with others, this exclusion from the body may be much more effective than what the modern church provides.

So in conclusion, I want to admit this post wasn’t so much of a story as a brief look into what a church is. That is on me, but I started on a good topic and couldn’t shut up!

My friend has told me that the soul he is trying to reach has returned to the cafe, and is still asking questions. For him, this may be a form of what he considers church. So be it!

If I know my brother, he will exercise patience and care for him, hoping and praying him into the kingdom. And I am looking forward to hearing of how the Spirit of God will draw this soul into a relationship with our Lord.

Church life will occur after that!

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