Church Is Where You Is

Do you realize you can be the church and have church anywhere, anytime?

I spent most of my day Saturday “having church.”

A friend of mine and I met for coffee the other day and had a little church through our conversation about God, His calling on our lives, ministry, and family. It wasn’t planned. It happened organically. Naturally.

After my visit with my friend, I went for a 4 mile walk during which I listened to jazz piano worship instrumentals as I basked in the glory of God’s creation. I soaked in the beauty of my surroundings, in awe of what the Lord has done, is doing, and will do in my life. Once I got home, I spent time in prayer and in God’s Word. That’s what church looks like for me these days.

Granted, I know some of my pastor friends will be up in arms upon reading this because they would say that it’s not really possible to have church outside of the four walls of the House of God.

What if my current sanctuary is the outside and my congregation consists of all the people who, for whatever reason, find themselves outside the church doors?

Listen—as believers, you and I carry Christ with us wherever we go. Church could —and should—break out any moment. It’s not simply reserved for Sundays (or Saturdays for those among you who worship the Lord on that day). Church certainly isn’t relegated to a building.

¹² For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. ¹³ For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and all were made to drink of one Spirit.

¹⁴ For the body does not consist of one member but of many. ¹⁵ If the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body. ¹⁶ And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body. ¹⁷ If the whole body were an eye, where would be the sense of hearing? If the whole body were an ear, where would be the sense of smell? ¹⁸ But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as he chose. ¹⁹ If all were a single member, where would the body be? ²⁰ As it is, there are many parts, yet one body.

1 Corinthians 12:12-27 ESV

For me, I am doing something that comes quite naturally: ministering to people where I find them. While that’s challenging during this particular season, God still provides me opportunities to mentor, disciple, and walk alongside people. So, I step through the doors that are open.

Church is more than gathering together in a common place for Sunday on worship. That’s important, but it can’t be where it ends. Our God isn’t contained to Sundays. He’s an every day God and an every place God.

So do not throw away this confident trust in the Lord. Remember the great reward it brings you! Patient endurance is what you need now, so that you will continue to do God’s will. Then you will receive all that he has promised.

‭‭Hebrews‬ ‭10‬:‭35‬-‭36‬ ‭NLT‬‬

Maybe you’re in a season where a mass gathering isn’t possible at the moment. You can still have church. Maybe it’s just you and your spouse or your immediate family leaving nearby. Perhaps it’s your neighbors or coworkers. You can have church because you are the church. The church is where you are.

Just some food for thought…

Happy Sunday! Go and BE.

Thanks for reading, my friend. Until my next post…

Be salty, stay lit.

Rainer Bantau —The Devotional Guy™

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