I’m saying this to everyone: pastors, teachers, “prophets,” administrators, attenders, helpers; everyone. The church, the ecclesia, is, of course, the term we use to refer to the “gathering” of believers. It’s an organization with a purpose; that purpose is to learn of, worship and serve our savior God. We often refer to it in much the same way that we refer to our school, or our town, or our team. People gather together and organize themselves into a town for their mutual benefit. Towns provide protection and the means for individual households to secure their well-being. Schools are gathered together for the purpose of providing instruction. Teams are gathered together to perform a task that can’t be accomplished by a single individual: to play a game, to assemble a structure, provide a service. But the church is unique in comparison to other gatherings. I recognize that it does share features that are common with other organizations. All organizations need to have a reason to gather and, based on that reason, determine how, when and where to gather. And it isn’t necessarily the case that the place to gather can be found on a map. These days it’s possible for an organization to gather without having its members ever meet in the flesh. By meeting through electronic media, it’s possible to work with people for years without ever actually having stood in the same room with them. And there are some churches today that gather in this way as well, sometimes by design, sometimes by necessity. Churches also have other traits that are similar to other organizations. Leadership needs to be designated in order to coordinate the activity of the members. The goals of the organization need to be agreed upon—or at least acknowledged—by everyone involved. Based upon the nature and complexity of those goals, it must be determined what contribution each member must make for achieving of those goals.

There are some goals that the church may have in common with other organizations. Generally speaking, the Church isn’t manufacturing a product, engineering a new gizmo, or providing a recreational pursuit as a sole reason for its existence. But it is meeting in order to promote the well-being of its members and visitors, which is a goal it shares in common with other organizations such as townships, schools and recreational clubs. What makes the church unique is who has charge over it. People work to organize it, determining where and in what manner it will meet. People engage in the activities of the church as leaders, organizers or supporters. And a lot of thought and effort is provided by people for the progress of the church. While these activities are similar to those of other organizations, what sets the church apart is that ultimately it is gathered for the purpose of worshipping and serving the one true God. And His oversight is quite distinct from that of other organizations. Our God does not take the role of a chief executive officer, or a chairman of a board of directors. It’s His church, and His ownership exceeds that of an entrepreneur.

Most people in church would agree with that statement, but it’s often the case that God’s superintendence is misunderstood, neglected, or ignored altogether. This is true of the attenders and sometimes the leadership as well. Because we’re familiar with other organizations of various types, like schools, businesses, or societies, we naturally think of church along those same lines. It’s true that features of organization and governance for a church can be derived from other types of enterprises, but we have to guard against losing site of the profound differences, chief of which is its focus and the  manner in which that focus informs our participation.

It’s the Lord’s church! Christians informed by the Bible recognize that fact. Of course it’s God’s church; who else would be the owner, superintendent and principle sponsor of the church? But how does that recognition play out in real life? Or maybe we should ask ourselves if that really is the case? Is God an owner? If He is, does that mean He sponsors the activities of the Church, providing the means for the Church to function? What I’m getting at is that there is a temptation—or tendency—for churches to function with limited input from the Lord. Churches pray together and affirm the teachings of the Bible, but in the course of addressing the everyday affairs of the church they resort to an understanding of the ecclesia as an organization that is like the other organizations that they’re familiar with. Strategies are developed for church growth in a manner akin to a commercial enterprise. People are appointed to various functions based on their background and experience in the wider world. However, the Bible says God is the head of the church. We use that term with regard to other organizations: the head of a company, a school, or the head of a social movement. Is that what the Bible means? In his letter to the Colossians Paul stated that the Christ is head of the church and the church is His body. (Colossians 1:18) Using the same imagery he pointed out that each member of the body needs to hold fast to the head in order to properly function within the body—meaning His church. (Colossians 2:19) The language suggests more than simply holding to the teachings of the Church; it suggests a communion with God that nourishes individual believers enabling them to contribute to the well-being of the entire body. The Apostle Paul employed this imagery of the human body in his letter to the Ephesians stating we are:

to grow up in all aspects into Him who is the head, even Christ, from whom the whole body, being fitted and held together by what every joint supplies according to the proper working of each individual part, causes the growth of the body for the building up of itself in love. (Ephesians 4:15-16)

This indicates that the church is not an organization as we usually use the term; it’s something much more dynamic. And it’s unique because the head of the Church is unique. Knowing this, and accepting it, should help us recognize that the church is an organization that is decidedly different from any other enterprise that we’re familiar with. Our understanding of how the church works effectively and how individuals should function within the body needs to be informed by these criteria. It’s a living thing that the Lord fits together, “supervises” and supplies in order to insure its maintenance. And we need to participate in church accordingly.

How does that happen? What would it look like? In the first place, everyone’s role in the church would be recognized as a contributing part of God’s purpose. We’re all in this together and collectively we function to achieve that purpose. That’s how we need to view ourselves. People have different tasks to fulfill, they bring different capacities to engage those tasks, but fulfilling those tasks results from the same resource, God Himself. Again Paul makes this evident when he stated:

Now you are Christ’s body, and individually members of it. And God has appointed in the church, first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then works of power(miracles), then gifts of healing, helps, administrations, various kinds of tongues. (1 Corinthians 12:27-28)

Without getting into the relevance of charismatic gifts such as tongues and prophecy, the point to be made here is different people have different God-given capacities. Some people are organizers, some people are helpers, some people have insight to evaluate things, and some are leaders. God’s intention is for all of us to recognize the differences and to encourage one another to utilize their capacities. And to recognize that those differences are appointed by the Lord and each contribute to the well-being of the church. And we also need to recognize that our effectiveness in exercising those capacities should always be derived from head of the church which is God. And that means that all of us, regardless of who we are and what function we have in the church, need to cultivate our relationship with the Lord. He needs to be our resource in all that we do. And that really applies to everything we do outside the church as well. It’s not just the pastor who needs to seek the Lord in order to bring a good sermon. We are all part of the Lord’s body, and we all need to be supplied by the head of the body, in order to perform our service within the church, even if it’s just sitting in the pew to say the amen.

Without recognizing this, the church can end up functioning in much the same way as other organizations, promoting a successful experience, or securing a profit of some kind. Leaders are looked upon as heads of the organization rather than as supervisors who derive their mandate for serving from the same source that everyone else does. The success of the church is then gauged by the number of seats that are filled every week; and producing those numbers is derived through the use of tactics that appeal to the self-absorbed tendencies of modern society.

What the Lord is calling us to is participation in a gathering of people who are inspired by and devoted to a God who has called us to “know Him and the power of His resurrection.” (Philippians 3:10) We’re to engage in a relationship with God that results in being “conformed to the image of His Son.” (Romans 8:29), prepared to reside with Him in an eternity in which His presence is undiminished. You don’t get that by just showing up for church every week, or performing a function in the church to fulfill your responsibilities. You get that by getting to know the Lord, by learning to follow His lead, and serving Him in the capacity for which He has equipped you, recognizing that we are part of a gathering of believers who are fitted together to serve His purposes in fellowship with Him.

Halleluiah!