The Church Part One by Michael Podhaczky

What’s your understanding of the church? The phrase ‘the church’ has variety uses today. For example, the Oxford Dictionary states that it is, “a building for public [usually Christian] worship; a meeting for public worship.”[1] While two extreme thoughts of what the church is  are the following; firstly, that it is a governmental body, with rules and regulations, creating a closed community, or secondly, that there is no need for a structured church but a loose gathering, based on a passage like, “where two or three are gathered in my name,” Matt 18:20. But, this idea takes the verse out of context. But, are these the real meaning of what the church is?

So, what is the church and what did Jesus Christ and the Bible have to say about the church? Well in answering the second question first Jesus Christ said that, “I will build My Church” (Matt 16:8 ESV). He is good for His word and has been building His own organic living church which is His people. Paul within the context of husbands loving their wives, said, Christ loved the Church and gave His life for it, Eph 5:25. This highlights the passion and devotion that He has for His church.

So, (in answering the first question) what is the church? From a community perspective, it is God’s redeemed and called-out ones who share a relationship with Christ and each other. Theologically, the church is not the Kingdom of God, but is part of the Kingdom of God. Symbolically it is the body of Christ, both local and universal. The universal church is the saints through the ages, including those on earth and those in heaven. As a value to hold to and live by, it has been said that,

“The Church is the body of Christ, an organic whole; those who are chosen from before the foundation of the world constitute its members; they are gathered by the Son of God through His Spirit and Word in all ages and from nations of the world so that the church on earth manifests itself as the gathering of believers and their seed.”[2]

As a local church Peninsula City Church has stated in its constitution that,

“We believe that there is one true universal church, made up of genuine believers, but this one universal church is composed of many local churches in given localities. These churches under the sovereign headship of the Lord Jesus Christ, exercising autonomous government under Him, administering all local affairs and ministry, as well as the propagation of the gospel.”[3]

So, coming back to the opening question “What’s your understanding of the church?”

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[1] Moore, Bruce. The Australian Concise Oxford Dictionary of Current English. (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2002), 230.

[2] Hoeksema, Herman. Reformed Dogmatics. Vol. 2 (Grandville MI: Reformed Free Pub Assoc., 2005), 179

[3] The Constitution of Peninsula City Church Inc. (Frankston, VIC: PenCC, 2005), 5.