…on this rock I will build my church… ~Matthew 16:18

What do you think of when you hear the word “church”? Do you think of our stained-glass windows or our tall white steeple? Do you think of majestic gothic buildings with intricate artwork or four walls in the middle of a field? I sure hope not!

The word “church” is one of those words that has been twisted throughout the years to mean something it was never intended to be. The word “church” that we see in scripture, is really coming from the Greek word ecclesia (or ekklesia) means something more like “gathering.” So, when Jesus talks about “church” here in Matthew, he is talking more about a gathering of people than a place. And it is this gathering of people that Jesus is going to build.

Just before this famous line, Peter had declared that Jesus is “the Messiah, the Son of the living God” (Matthew 16:16). This belief is the rock that Jesus is talking about. Jesus is going build his gathering of people on the fact that Jesus is “the Messiah, the Son of the living God,” the one who came to allow us to live a life close to God.

That being said then, when we think of the world church, our minds should go to the group of people who growing in faith, hope, and love together, proclaiming the Gospel of Jesus Christ with their words and actions! This is what Presbyterian Ministers Richard Avery and Donald Marsh were thinking about when they wrote their famous hymn “We Are the Church” (UMH 558).

In their hymn, they define the church as “a people.” More specifically, people from all ages, nations, races, throughout all time and in every place. They say that the church, AKA the people, is active in the world around them, “marching,” “bravely burning,” “riding,” “hiding,” “learning.” The people who are part of the church are defined as people who are “singing,” “praying,” “laughing,” “crying,” but ultimately telling “the Good News through the world to all who [will] hear it.”

I wonder what it would look like if we, as people, were to live into this definition of church; if we were to put aside all our differences, still celebrating them, but all focused on being the Body of Christ, the hands and feet of God in the world.  

Blessings friends,
Pastor Nicole