The Church is not a Building

In our fast-paced, uber-busy world, it’s far too easy to think that the church is confined to a building. Scripture makes it clear that church is not defined as a physical structure Christians attend every week.

Yet, I’ve heard the fallacy that true church happens only in the confines of a building proclaimed from more than one pulpit in recent months.

For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them.

Matthew 18:20 (NIV)

This view catapulted to the forefront after the lockdowns that occurred as a result of the COVID-19 virus. The pandemic caused churches everywhere to flip the script on how they were conducting church.

Overnight, pastors everywhere became modern televangelists leveraging streaming platforms to reach their housebound congregations.

Personally, I witnessed this firsthand as the church Terri and I had been attending took advantage of the YouTube channel and livestream video ministry I helped launch 7 years before the onset of the global pandemic.

While numerous churches kept their doors closed during their congregations time of greatest need, they recognized the necessity of providing a way for their members to stay connected and to financially support their budgets and on-going ministries.

Meeting in a building was suddenly no longer vital to being a church.

Now, as churches continue to yearn for their abandoned congregants to return in hopes of getting back to normal and pre-pandemic attendance numbers, I am frequently hearing how church can only happen inside a building and that all other means of ministry—especially online and other virtual services—don’t count as “real” church.

In Matthew 18:20, Jesus presents a radically different view of what His Church truly is. Our Lord and Savior reminds us that the essence of the church does not lie in brick and mortar but in the gathering of believers in His name, regardless of location.

In Scripture, we find early Christians meeting in homes, public spaces, and sometimes in secret. Their identity as the Church was not restricted to a physical structure, but rested firmly on their shared love for Jesus and each other. Throughout history, Christians have proved time and time again that the Church is not a place, but a living, breathing community of believers who gather together in a myriad of ways and through a variety of methods.

I understand that this perspective challenges us to rethink what it means to “go to church.” While I don’t want to come across as overly harsh and critical of the Church during what truly was a time of grave concern and uncertainty, claiming that church is confined to a building is a fallacy.

Faced with an unprecedented health scare and massive political upheaval, people of faith had to make difficult choices and hard decisions.

However, church is not a building.

As I stated earlier, purporting that a genuine church experience is restricted to gathering in a building is simply not true. It is a fallacy rooted in division.

Being a believer, is not merely about attending services in a particular location. Living a life of worship is about actively participating in a community of faith that extends beyond walls, reaching out in love and service to one another and the world around us.

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My Prayer for the Church

Heavenly Father, thank You for reminding us that Your Church is not confined to buildings made by human hands. Help us to remember that whether we gather in a physical structure or online, as long as we gather in Your name, You are there among us. Empower us to live as Your Church, bound not by physical spaces but by Your Spirit, united in love and purpose. Teach us to be Your hands and feet in the world, reflecting Your love to all we meet, whenever and wherever we gather. In Jesus’ Name, by the power of the Spirit, Amen and Amen.

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Reflection Question:

How are you living a life of worship and contributing to the life and fellowship of other believers?

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You are the church.

Praying for us.

Rainer Bantau —The Devotional Guy™