Body of Christ, Bride of Christ, Household of Faith, Salt of the earth, Light of the world, Temple of God. These are some of the names mentioned in the scriptures for the people of God, the church. These terms innately reflect the diverse imagery that God chose to define His people. These terms clearly depict expressions of who God’s people truly are and how they represent Him in the earth. Moreover, throughout the scriptural narrative, born again believers are called to reflect the character of God and to relate to each other spontaneously as members of His body, the church.
Christians, or followers of Christ are truly a distinctive people as declared in the scriptures, 1Pet. 2:9, distinctive in ways that can often counter the very grain of the popular culture. Throughout biblical history, even prior to the first century and up to this present time, the people of God have been and still are summoned to bear some form of semblance of the character of God.
The most traditional usage of the word “church” universally has always been in reference to a specific assembly. However, the word “church” in its simplest original form translates “called out,” or “the called out ones” with an accent on being called out to an important or popular meeting. All of the scriptures, both in the Old and New Testaments speak to this definition of the church in three well-defined dimensions:
- The individual follower of Jesus
- The local assembly of believers, or the local church
- The universal body of believers, or followers of Christ from every corner of the globe.
The most common usage of the word “church,” universally has always been in reference to a specific local assembly. However, the word “church” in its simplest original form translates “called out,” or “the called out ones” with an accent on being called out to an important or popular meeting. The scriptures, in both old and new testaments speak to this definition of the church in three distinct dimensions: The individual follower of Jesus, the local assembly of believers, or the local church, and thirdly, the universal body of believers, or followers of Christ from every corner of the globe. Let us start by looking at the church as the individual follower of Jesus, the individual believer. If you are a follower of Christ, a born again believer, this is you, the called out one, the church.
In our everyday vernacular, we commonly speak of going to church, as if the address or the building where we congregate is the actual church. In reality, we should be saying, “we, the church are congregating at that particular meeting place or building.” In other words, I am not going to church, I, (the church) am going to meet with other individuals, who are also the church in that particular place, or building. “The church is congregating.” It does not have to be twenty, or fifty, or over a hundred of us to be considered a church, it could be one, or two, or three of us. We are the church, you and you, and you, each of us is actually the church.
To put this into perspective let us look at Mat. 5:13-16, Jesus was speaking to any and everyone who dared to follow Him. He addressed these followers as the Salt of the earth, the Light of the world, a City on a hill. Jesus carefully emphasized that every believer is called to salt his or her world, and to shine as a light to bring clarity and truth to a dark troubled world. In 1Cor. 3:16,17, 6:16, 2Cor. 6:16 the Apostle Paul, inspired by the Holy Spirit stressed that individually we are God’s dwelling place because He lives on the inside of us. The moment we are converted God’s Holy Spirit takes up residence on the inside of us to establish His divine will and purpose for our lives, as well as equip and outfit us for our individual function to fulfill His greater divine purpose right here on this earth. There is also the account of the apostle Stephen in Acts 7:48 as he explained the historical details of God’s people to a belligerent Jewish council in Jerusalem . In his determination to point these Jewish officials to the only true and living God, he further explained the fact that God does not dwell in man-made temples, but in the hearts of His people.