As Christians we know and understand that the Church is the “Body of Christ” (1 Corinthians 12:27) – that it is a body of individual people who have become spiritually fused in him. Yet we must sometimes remind ourselves of what the Church is not. 

Church is not a building you go to

William “Billy” Sunday’s famous line that “Going to church does not make you a Christian any more than going to a garage makes you an automobile” is still as true now as it was back in the early part of the Twentieth Century, and it is a principle with deep scriptural support.  The Church is not the physical building, but the spiritual one.

The apostle Peter affirmed this in writing: “you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house…” (1 Peter 2:5), and the author of the book of Hebrews likewise tells us: “But Christ is faithful as the Son over God's house. And we are his house, if indeed we hold firmly to our confidence and the hope in which we glory” (Hebrews 3:6).

Confusing the physical building with the spiritual building and its mission can lead to problems when resources and time are focused on the physical place we worship rather than the job the worship calls us to do.  A church building may be a nice structure, with beautiful stained glass windows, but the Spirit of God does not work through buildings.  A way to test our own relationship with that truth is to ask ourselves, rather than saying “Today is the day we go to church,” how natural is it to say “Today is the day the Church goes to our building.”

Church is not a denomination you join

The famous pastor and writer A. W. Tozer was fond of saying that “One hundred religious persons knit into a unity by careful organization do not constitute a church any more than eleven dead men make a football team.”  We can apply this truth to the understanding that the Church of God is not a denomination – no matter how large (or exclusively small).   We must frequently remind ourselves that not all Christians are in any one denomination, and not everyone in any denomination is a Christian.

We have only to read the book of Acts to see that even the earliest Church had “denominations” – we read of factions which required circumcision and those who did not, groups that taught all aspects of the law of Moses and those who did not – yet they are all said to have been part of the Church.   

For most of us this may not be an issue. But many Christians do shy away from fellowship with those who do not agree with them on all points of doctrine.  And sometimes the division is even within denominations.  It is not entirely uncommon for congregations to sometimes focus on their own needs and programs rather than on the bigger picture of what is being done nationally and worldwide.  In either case, it can be helpful for us all to think of the Church more broadly.

Church is not a social activity you participate in

In the famous words of American basketball player and coach John Wooden, we should “Never mistake activity for achievement,” and unless we see the Church as something very distinct from church activities, we can faithfully participate in socials, campouts, sing-alongs, movie nights and all kinds of other activities without ever having fulfilled the purpose of the Church in our lives.  As Christian writer Thom Rainer puts it in an article discussing activity-driven churches: “Many churches are busy, probably too busy. Church calendars fill quickly with a myriad of programs and activities. While no individual activity may be problematic, the presence of so many options can be” (Seven Problems with an Activity-Driven Church).

We all understand that fellowship is an integral part of what the Church is all about, but an endless stream of activities replaces real fellowship with activities having their own focus, and that can be self-defeating for any congregation. Among his seven points Rainer reminds us that activity is not biblical purpose, that busyness can take us away from connecting with other believers and non-believers.  A congregation that is too busy can hurt families, and an activity-driven church often has no real presence in the community.

These are all things we should think about at times. It is vital that every Christian understand that activities are not really church any more than buildings or individual denominations are. We are called to a community that far exceeds any and all of these things. 

Scriptures in Question:   Acts 9:7 and Acts 22:9

“And the men who journeyed with him stood speechless, hearing a voice but seeing no one” (Acts 9:7 NKJV).  “And those who were with me indeed saw the light and were afraid, but they did not hear the voice of Him who spoke to me” (Acts 22:9 NKJV).

These two verses in the Book of Acts are often said to represent a contradiction in the New Testament – with Acts 9:7 stating that Saul’s traveling companions on the road to Damascus heard a voice, while  Acts 22:9 seems to state that they did not hear the voice.

The supposed contradiction  is perhaps unlikely on logical grounds because the two verses occur in the same book by the same author, so we might expect that there is some explanation for the apparent difference in the accounts. Such an explanation is found in an understanding of the way the word “hear” was used in the Greek language.  

Anyone who has ever said “I’m sorry, I didn’t catch what you said” knows it is possible to hear a voice without understanding what it said, and the ancient Greek language adjusted for that fact in its use of the word “hear” (akouō ).  When  a sound was heard as a meaningless or unintelligible noise, the verb “to hear” was used with a noun in the “genitive case.”  On the other hand, when a sound was heard that conveyed meaning or a message, the same verb “to hear” was used with a noun in the “accusative case.”

In Acts 9:7  we are told Saul’s companions “heard” a voice (genitive case noun  – hearing a noise only), whereas in Acts 22.9 Paul, in recounting the event later, tells us the other men did not hear the voice (accusative case noun – hearing something  with meaning).

So there is no real contradiction between the two accounts in Acts.  In fact, unlike the King James Version or its derivative New King James Version from which the verses above are quoted,  most modern English translations understand this fact and translate accordingly.  The NIV, for example, translates the two verses in the following way:

“ The men traveling with Saul stood there speechless; they heard the sound but did not see anyone” (Acts 9:7 NIV). “My companions saw the light, but they did not understand the voice of him who was speaking to me” (Acts 22:9 NIV).

The English Standard Version (ESV) translates the latter verse perfectly in a marginal note: “Acts 22:9 - Or hear with understanding.”

Saul’s companions heard a voice, but did not understand it.  The reason might have been as simple as that the voice was speaking in Hebrew, which Saul (but not all inhabitants of ancient Judea) understood (Acts 22:2).  In any case, there is no contradiction in the fact that Saul’s companions heard but did not understand the voice that spoke to Saul.

“Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, whose trust is the Lord. He is like a tree planted by water,     that sends out its roots by the stream, and does not fear when heat comes, for its leaves remain green, and is not anxious in the year of drought, for it does not cease to bear fruit” (Jeremiah 17:7-8 ESV).

A plant can only grow upward to the extent that its roots grow downward and are established. To a large extent, as Jesus showed in his parable of the sower and the seed, that will depend on the quality of soil the seeds are placed in (Matthew 13:3-8). If the soil is too rocky (vs. 5-6) or already covered with competing weeds (vs. 7), the seed won’t be able to take root or survive.  But even in good soil (vs. 8), plant growth (“a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown” vs.8b) depends on how far the roots can extend.  That  isn’t referring to  the “hard ground” that seeds cannot take root in at all, but to situations where plants get started, and then run into layers of rock or hard clay. If the roots cannot spread far and wide in every direction, the plant will inevitably be stunted in its growth.

Remembering these basic facts of plant growth help us to better understand the words of the apostle Paul:  “… I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ” (Ephesians 3:17-18).

Paul tells us two things here – first of all, what the good “ground” is in which we must be planted. Paul says we have to be rooted in love, but it is clear from what he goes on to say that it is not our own love. The love is instead “the love of Christ” (vs. 18).  Understanding this is a fundamental part of understanding Christian growth.  If we try to grow in the ground of our own human love we will find it is shallow soil indeed. Instead, Paul shows it is the love that God gives that provides deep enough “ground” for real spiritual growth.  How deep is that?  Paul tells us clearly in saying that we need to grasp “how wide and long and high and deep” God’s love is.  In other words, Paul makes it clear that the extent of that ground in which we are to grow – the space in which our “roots” can expand – is virtually infinite.

It’s a principle that Paul stressed more than once. We see it again in his letter to the Colossians:  “So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live your lives in him, rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness”  (Colossians 2:6-7).   Here, we see not only the same analogy of Christian growth like a rooted and growing tree, but also Paul’s stress on the fact that it is as we live our lives in Christ that the rooting and growth occurs.

It’s interesting to compare these words of Paul with the earlier words of the prophet Jeremiah, quoted above – which were doubtless based on the words of David in Psalm 1:3.  All three biblical writers use the same analogy of the rooted tree, but all use it differently. David speaks of being rooted in the law of God (Psalm 1:3), Jeremiah speaks of being rooted in trust or faith in God (Jeremiah 17:7), and Paul speaks of being rooted in the love of Christ.  All are true, yet perhaps we also see a clear growth of understanding based on progressive revelation.  We might say that all three “grounds” provide deep soil for spiritual rooting and growth, but the best ground for the deepest growth is, of course, in God’s love.

Named for the great 14th Century scholar John Wycliffe, who was responsible for the first translation of the complete Bible into English, Wycliffe Associates is a household name among Christians in many parts of the world, and their mission is at the very forefront of Bible translation and dissemination.   Dr. Bruce Smith, Wycliffe Associates’ President and CEO, kindly agreed to answer LivingWithFaith.org’s  questions about the vital work this global organization is accomplishing.  You can read the interview with Wycliffe Associates' Dr. Bruce Smith here.