After God delivered the nation of Israel from Egyptian bondage, He gave very specific instructions as to the building of the Ark of the Covenant and tabernacle. He gave exact dimensions, material to be used, and even the colors to be used. "You shall make a veil woven of blue, purple, and scarlet thread, and fine woven linen. It shall be woven with an artistic design of cherubim. You shall hang it upon the four pillars of acacia wood overlaid with gold. Their hooks shall be gold, upon for sockets of silver. And you shall hang the veil from the clasps. Then you shall bring the art of the Testimony in there, behind the veil. The veil shall be a divider for you between the holy place and the Most Holy." (Ex 26:30-34) It was behind the veil, the holy of holies that God’s spirit descended to speak to His children. It was the first ‘church’.
When Jesus died upon the cross, "the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom" (Matt 7:51). Jesus had fulfilled the law and the veil, which heretofore had separated God from man was cast down. It meant that each and every person could have a personal relationship with God through Christ. No longer were priests needed to make the necessary sacrifices; Jesus was the final sacrifice.
After the crucifixion and resurrection, believers gathered as one. They didn’t meet at a certain building at a pre-designated time. They ministered to one another and proclaimed the Good News. Yet, these believers were known as ‘The Church’. In those early days, it wasn’t Baptist or Methodist or Presbyterian: Church was simply a group of believers who carried the spirit within them. The many letters of the New Testament are addressed to ‘The Church’ of different cities. However, it didn’t come to the pastor of any certain church – it was written for all believers – all brothers and sisters in Christ.
The ‘Church’ described in Acts is vastly different from our definition of ‘church’ today. "So continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they ate their food with gladness and simplicity of heart, praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved" (Acts 2:46-47).
We have drifted far from the idea of what ‘Church’ represents. We think if we go to a church on Sunday morning, we have fulfilled our Christian duty. We have compartmentalized God to a certain day at a certain time in specific place. We can go to church on Sunday morning and feel His peace, listen to His word and then go live as we please. That was never Christ’s intention. We forget the most important commandment Christ gave, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind" (Lk 10:27). Too many times we want to compartmentalize God; we want Him put in a box and not allow Him to control our thoughts and lives. Church is not a ‘house of God’ but a meeting place of believers. God is not waiting at a church building for us to come to Him. If we are a child of God, He is always with us – not just on Sunday. We forget the majesty, power and grace of God. We compartmentalize Him in our life when we relegate Him to a building. "Heaven is My throne, and earth is My footstool. Where is the house that you will build Me? And where is the place of My rest? For all those things My hand has made, and all those things exist" (Is 66:1-2).
God is much too large for any building on this earth. In fact, He doesn’t want a building; He wants our hearts and lives. He wants us as Christians to be in one accord as the first believers were; no contentions about manmade covenants and rules or regulations. He wants to be in our homes and work, not in an empty church.
Jesus said in Matthew 18:20 that "where two or three are gathered together in My name, I am there in the midst of them." It doesn’t matter if two believers meet in a field, work, a living room, or walking down the street; WE are THE CHURCH. How can we strengthen ourselves and each other if God is only at church? This Sunday, don’t just ‘go to church’; bring Jesus with you to the ‘Meeting Place’.
