I am often asked, by other Christians, “What church do you go to?” or “Where do you go to church?” This is, with regularity, followed by them saying, “Oh, I go to such-and-such church.” Another common question I get asked usually refers to the quality of the church I just went to, “How was church today?” which often is asking about the preaching, music, etc. Though these are well meaning questions, I think they point a bigger issue that plagues us today.

The bigger issue is one of “mistaken identity”. We see the church as a place we go versus a people who live in the way of Jesus. It is so prevalent that even people who do not go to church know “church” as a place, rather than a people who follow Jesus. But Paul knew better.Paul’s addresses many of his letters (Corinthians, Thessalonians, Ephesians, Revelation) to “the church in…” and names a city or providence. It is to a singular church, not plural churches (though there were many separate gatherings), that he writes to. Imagine Paul writing one letter to the all the various, individual churches in Sacramento and beginning his letter, “To the church in Sacramento”, and you get the picture. Paul used this language because he viewed God’s church as—not a place or a building—a people.

Now, I know we all agree to this in theory or theology, but seldom do we acknowledge it in our Sunday-to-Sunday language or practice. I cannot tell you the number of times that it has been insinuated or I have been directly told that “so-and-so church is better than so-and-so church”, or that “our church is in competition with so-and-so church”, or, “did you hear what happened to so-and-so church?” In Paul’s eyes, the church was in an interdependent relationship with one another as a people of God who followed and claimed the radical name of Jesus. Today, we independently operate separate church buildings and congregations, seldom uniting with or caring what happens to each other. In fact, sometimes we secretly (or not so secretly) applaud the sufferings, losses and mistakes of other congregations. This is because we really do not see them as “the church”––as brothers and sisters, as equals–– but as the other church, as the competition, or even as enemies if their beliefs differ from ours (those Baptists, Charismatics, Catholics).

It seems silly to imagine this self-destructive thinking in Paul’s day considering that the churches met in homes. The church, or the people of Jesus, met in small home gatherings located all through out the Roman Empire (though in Jerusalem they also went to the temple). Though separate, they viewed themselves as and acted like they were one body. I find great encouragement when large, diverse groups of Christians gather by the thousands in large auditoriums to worship and learn together. To me, it is a small slice of heaven. We all agree and act like we are ONE when we gather in such settings. But then something happens that saddens me. We get back to our “Churches” and resume business as usual: independent churches who could care less about each other—especially if the other church belongs to a different denomination. Jesus said that a house that is divided against itself cannot stand. Perhaps this is, in part, what we are seeing today: a divided house that is falling down.

May we reclaim our identity as THE CHURCH. May we stop nodding knowingly about this fact and start behaving how we claim to believe. May we not see ourselves as people who go to a church, but as a people who are the Church of Jesus wherever we go and whatever we do. May we be the church whether we meet in a multimillion-dollar building, or an ancient cathedral, or a living room, or a bar, or a coffee shop, or a park. May we stop competing against, abusing, slandering and destroying the other parts of Jesus’ body just because they are different then we are and because they believe differently then we do. May Jesus be our common head and may we stand in unity.