08/29/2026
Long read but I’ve been pondering a while.
1. What did Jesus mean by “church”?
Jesus uses the word ekklesia—usually translated church—in Matthew 16:18:
“I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.”
Notice what Jesus doesn’t say.
He doesn’t say:
* “I will build my denomination.”
* “I will build my organization.”
* “I will build my Sunday service.”
* “I will build my building.”
He says “my church.”
And ekklesia essentially refers to an assembly/gathering of people. The New Testament subsequently uses “church” for the people belonging to Christ, including local gatherings of believers.
Then Jesus gives us something even more concrete.
Matthew 18:20
“For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.”
That’s an extraordinarily simple picture.
Two or three believers gathered in His name.
Jesus doesn’t establish a requirement for:
* a building
* a pulpit
* a paid pastor
* a Sunday morning service
* a worship band
* a denomination
* a seminary-trained preacher
None of those things are inherently wrong. But none is what makes something “church.”
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2. Then look at Acts
After Pentecost, we get our first substantial picture of what the early believers actually did.
Acts 2:42
“And they continued stedfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers.”
Four things jump out:
Teaching.
Fellowship.
Eating together.
Prayer.
Then:
Acts 2:46
“And they, continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house…”
House to house.
That’s important.
The earliest Christians weren’t primarily thinking:
“Let’s go attend church.”
They were the church, and they lived their lives together.
And notice something else:
Acts 2:44
“And all that believed were together, and had all things common.”
This was a community, not simply an audience.
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3. Paul makes the metaphor explicit
This is where it gets really interesting.
Paul says in 1 Corinthians 12:27:
“Now ye are the body of Christ, and members in particular.”
Think about that.
The church isn’t merely like a body.
Paul says you are the body of Christ.
And every believer has a place in it.
He continues:
“For the body is not one member, but many.”
—1 Corinthians 12:14
Then Paul spends the entire chapter explaining that different members have different functions.
And this leads directly into chapter 14.
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4. Now we get to the passage that really challenges the modern service
1 Corinthians 14:26.
“How is it then, brethren, when ye come together, every one of you hath a psalm, hath a doctrine, hath a tongue, hath a revelation, hath an interpretation.”
Stop right there.
“Every one of you hath…”
Paul describes a gathering where multiple members contribute.
Someone has a song.
Someone has teaching.
Someone has a revelation.
Someone has another spiritual contribution.
And Paul doesn’t respond:
“That’s inappropriate. Only the pastor should participate.”
Instead, he tells them how to do it properly and orderly.
Verse 40:
“Let all things be done decently and in order.”
That’s a very different principle from:
“Only one person speaks while everybody else listens.”
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5. But what about pastors?
They’re absolutely biblical.
This is important because I don’t want us to swing from one extreme to another.
The New Testament absolutely recognizes elders/overseers, shepherds, teachers, evangelists, etc.
Ephesians 4:11 says:
“And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers.”
So leadership isn’t the problem.
The question is:
What was the purpose of leadership?
Look at the next verse.
Ephesians 4:12
“For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ.”
That’s fascinating.
The job isn’t primarily:
“Do the ministry while everybody else watches.”
It’s:
Equip the saints to do the work of ministry.
That’s a significant difference.
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6. And look at what Peter says
Peter describes believers as:
“a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people”
—1 Peter 2:9.
A royal priesthood.
Under the Old Covenant there was a distinct priesthood standing between God and the people.
But something changed through Christ.
Hebrews says:
“Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus…”
—Hebrews 10:19.
The believer has direct access to God through Christ.
That’s one reason the New Testament doesn’t present Christianity as:
ordinary Christians + professional religious class + God.
The entire body belongs to Christ.
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7. So what happened?
This is where history becomes fascinating.
The church didn’t suddenly become what it is today.
It evolved.
You can actually watch the institutional structure develop over the first few centuries:
Household gatherings → local elders → increasingly centralized leadership → bishops → formal clergy → dedicated church buildings → established liturgies → Christendom → denominations → modern congregational church.
None of those developments automatically means “false Christianity.”
But it does mean we shouldn’t confuse Christian tradition with New Testament command.
And that’s the distinction I think you’ve been sensing.
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Here’s the question I’d like us to tackle next
Rather than getting lost in 2,000 years of church history, we can do something much more useful:
Take an actual New Testament gathering and reconstruct it.
We’ll look at:
* Who could speak?
* Who led?
* How was teaching done?
* How did they pray?
* What role did spiritual gifts have?
* Did they have a sermon?
* Did they take communion every week?
* Did they meet in homes?
* What did “breaking bread” actually mean?
* What did the pastor/elder actually do?
* And perhaps most importantly: What does the Bible actually require—and what did later Christians simply add?
8. Did the early church have a sermon?
Yes—but probably not in the way we commonly think of a sermon today.
Jesus preached. Peter preached. Paul preached. Teaching God’s Word was unquestionably part of Christian life.
For example, Acts 20:7 says Paul spoke to the believers at Troas:
“Paul preached unto them, ready to depart on the morrow; and continued his speech until midnight.”
So nobody can honestly say, “The early church never had preaching.”
They did.
But here’s the important distinction:
The New Testament never establishes a universal format where one man delivers the weekly sermon while everyone else sits silently and listens.
In fact, we already saw the opposite in 1 Corinthians 14:26.
The gathering could involve multiple people contributing.
And Paul’s instructions assume that believers actually knew how to participate.
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9. What about the pastor?
Here’s another place where modern terminology can confuse us.
The New Testament uses several terms for leadership, including elder, overseer, shepherd/pastor, and others.
But there’s something striking:
Philippians 1:1
Paul addresses:
“all the saints in Christ Jesus which are at Philippi, with the bishops and deacons”
Notice the plural:
bishops
deacons
Not:
“the pastor.”
Likewise, Acts 14:23 says Paul and Barnabas:
“ordained them elders in every church”
Again:
elders — plural.
And Titus 1:5:
“ordain elders in every city”
The normal New Testament pattern appears to be multiple recognized leaders within a local congregation, rather than one man functioning as the entire congregation’s spiritual authority.
That’s worth sitting with.
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10. And leadership wasn’t supposed to dominate people
Peter gives instructions specifically to elders.
1 Peter 5:2–3
“Feed the flock of God which is among you, taking the oversight thereof…
Neither as being lords over God’s heritage, but being ensamples to the flock.”
That’s a pretty strong warning.
Don’t lord it over the people.
Leadership is supposed to look like servanthood and example, not control.
Jesus Himself said:
Matthew 20:25–28
The rulers of the Gentiles exercise authority over people, but:
“It shall not be so among you.”
Then Jesus describes greatness as serving.
That’s a radically different model of authority.
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11. What happened when Christians gathered?
Here’s one of the most revealing passages:
Colossians 3:16
“Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another…”
One another.
Not simply:
Pastor teaches everybody.
The members teach and admonish one another.
Then:
“in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs…”
Again, participation.
And notice how frequently the New Testament uses the phrase “one another.”
Love one another.
Serve one another.
Encourage one another.
Bear one another’s burdens.
Confess your faults to one another.
Pray for one another.
Teach one another.
Admonish one another.
Submit to one another.
That is difficult to accomplish when your primary interaction with other Christians consists of sitting in rows looking at the back of their heads for an hour and then saying hello in the parking lot.
😂
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12. Communion is interesting too
Most American Christians think of communion as something that happens during a church service.
But look at Acts 2:46:
“breaking bread from house to house, did eat their meat with gladness and singleness of heart.”
And Acts 20:7:
“And upon the first day of the week, when the disciples came together to break bread…”
So the Lord’s Supper was connected with the gathering and fellowship of believers.
And in Corinth, it apparently became part of an actual communal meal.
Paul says:
1 Corinthians 11:20–21
“When ye come together therefore into one place, this is not to eat the Lord’s supper.
For in eating every one taketh before other his own supper…”
The Corinthians had managed to turn their communal meal into a selfish mess.
😂
Paul doesn’t tell them:
“Forget eating together. I’ll institute a five-minute communion ceremony.”
He corrects their behavior and reminds them what the meal represents.
That gives us a very different picture of the Lord’s Supper than a tiny cracker and thimble of juice handed out while everyone sits silently in a pew.
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13. Where did the building come from?
This is another big one.
The New Testament certainly doesn’t forbid Christians from owning buildings.
But the earliest Christians didn’t need one to be the church.
Acts repeatedly shows believers meeting in homes.
Romans 16:5:
“Likewise greet the church that is in their house.”
1 Corinthians 16:19:
“Aquila and Priscilla salute you much in the Lord, with the church that is in their house.”
Philemon 2:
“the church in thy house.”
That’s not an occasional exception.
It’s a recurring feature of the early Christian world.
And there’s a theological reason for this.
Paul says:
1 Corinthians 3:16
“Know ye not that ye are the temple of God…”
And again:
1 Corinthians 6:19
“your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost…”
The physical building isn’t where God’s presence resides.
His people are.
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14. So what would a New Testament gathering actually look like?
If we stripped away everything that isn’t specifically required and started with what Scripture actually shows us, I suspect you’d see something more like this:
People gather together.
They pray.
They worship.
They eat together.
They remember Jesus through the Lord’s Supper.
Someone teaches Scripture.
Others contribute.
People encourage one another.
Spiritual gifts may operate.
People ask questions.
Needs are identified.
People help each other.
Leaders provide guidance and protection.
And the entire thing is directed toward:
Christ being formed in His people.
Not toward putting on a polished religious production.
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And here’s where I think this gets particularly relevant to us.
It may be that we’re looking for something that is relatively uncommon in modern American Christianity.
You’re not necessarily looking for another denomination.
You may actually be looking for a community of believers who understand that they themselves are the church.
And there’s a huge difference.
I wouldn’t tell you to abandon gathering with Christians. Hebrews 10:25 specifically warns believers not to forsake assembling together.
But I also wouldn’t tell you that “church” automatically means Sunday morning in a building listening to one man preach.
The New Testament gives us considerably more freedom—and considerably more responsibility—than that.
And perhaps the most challenging part is this:
You don’t necessarily need to find the perfect church.
You may need to find two or three—or five or ten—people who genuinely want to follow Jesus and live this out together.
Jesus said:
“Where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.”
That might be a much smaller beginning than the American church has taught us to expect.
And it might actually be much closer to what we’ve been looking for.
Thoughts?
