Spring 2009
A letter from the Pastor: Spring 2009
If someone asked you, “What is church?”, how would you respond?
You would perhaps point out the common misconception that a church is not actually the building, but a gathering of people. Perhaps that is why early Baptist’s referred to their buildings as ‘meeting houses’.
But when does a gathering of people become ‘church’? Is it when God’s word is preached? When the Bread and Wine are taken? When believers are Baptised? When we pray?
And how many people does it take? Can you be a church of one?
Seeing as the LORD has spoken to Bromley Common Baptist church recently, through the text of Psalm 127:1, “Unless the LORD builds the house, its builders labour in vain.” And through the testimony of two, who firmly felt impressed that we are to refer to BCBC as God’s church, rather than “my church” or “our church”. It seems good then, that we should ask ourselves these questions.
Interestingly, as a bit of background, the English word ‘Church’, and German equivalent ‘Kirche’ are derived from the Greek word Kuriakon, meaning ‘belonging to the Lord’.
But what makes church, church and why?
Jesus answers all the above questions when he spoke these words, “For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there I am in the midst of them”. Church is created where two or more people gather together in the name of Jesus. The five key words, which turn a group of people from an everyday social-club, into church, are: IN THE NAME OF JESUS.
But what does this simple, yet potentially life-changing phrase actually mean? When people say, (or tag) “in Jesus’ name” at the end of prayers, I hazard a guess that many people, including me, are doing just that. When Jesus said on several occasions, “ask in my name”, He probably did not mean, ‘add my name on the end of a request or when you meet together‘.
Instead, let us now see what Jesus truly means when we read the Amplified Bible’s translation of this phrase: “As presenting all that I am”. So as I reflect on what it means to ‘be church’, perhaps I, and others have been treating church a little bit like our prayers; and that our opinion of church is for people to gather together and add the name of Jesus to it? And perhaps when being church is understood like this, “gathered to present all that Jesus is”, then the true meaning of ‘church’ and being church is starting to dawn.
What does it mean to you, to come together with one or more persons, for the purpose of presenting all that Jesus is? What do you think this should look like?
If you met a stranger who told you they were going to present all that Jesus is, what would you expect?
I think got a better glimpse of this recently after a Sunday morning service, when I stood back and watched two groups of people praying for each other. Even one person, who had come for prayer, found herself praying for someone else!
Our part in the building process, lest we labour in vain, is to step out boldly in faith, and not just on Sunday’s, in activities like, sharing the Word, Baptism, Communion, good deeds and especially prayer, which allow The Father, through the Spirit to present to us and others, all that Jesus is. Expect nothing less.