The church is not a building…or is it?
Today I want to share something that has been bothering me lately. I have read many times in the Bible how the body of Christ isn’t a building but people who love and serve God and meet together regularly – wherever that may be. However, lately, I have been seeing certain churches defy the government – which God specifically stated in the Bible that unless they are causing us to disobey God, which they are not, then we should obey them because God put them in place -, and out of one side of their mouth say the church isn’t a building and the other side that we should rise up because the government is conspiring to keep the church buildings across America closed. I don’t know about you but this is very confusing to me, and frankly, it sounds hypocritical. So, if you get offended easily, this post is not for you. Please leave now, I will not be upset, but I am also not going to sugar coat anything in today’s article. For those who wish to stay, all I ask is that you keep an open mind, and see where I am coming from. Without further ado, let’s get into it.
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What the Bible says about defying the Govt.
I am not saying this to condemn the churches who are being disrespectful, I pray God opens their eyes and they see the error of their ways. However, I want to address the issue with what the Bible says about the government.
Romans 13:1-2 TPT(The Passion Translation)
“Every person must submit to and support the authorities over them. For there can be no authority in the universe except God’s appointment, which means that every authority that exists has been instituted by God. So to resist authority is to resist the divine order of God, which results in severe consequences.”
Complete Jewish Translation – “Everyone is to obey the governing authorities. For there is no authority that is not from God, and the existing authorities have been placed where they are by God. Therefore, whoever resists the authorities is resisting what God has instituted; and those who resist will bring judgement on themselves.“
I highlighted verse two because I wanted to show that when we defy government – obviously if they are asking you to sin against God, yourself, or others, you shouldn’t do it -, we are disobeying God and cuts off His blessings from us. When I read this and look at what is going on today, the way I understand this is we should respect our government when they ask us to use physical distance with others and just like the churches of Acts we should find ways to meet together in our homes while using common sense.
Does a building define us as believers?
So what happens if we are not able to gather together in a building? Should we just isolate ourselves and watch online at home, alone? Well, if you look at the book of Acts it shows the early believers still met regardless of having a building, and not only did they meet, but God kept bringing more people in to join the various house churches. Check this verse below:
Acts 2:46 Jewish Translation
“Continuing faithfully and with singleness of purpose to meet in the Temple courts daily, and breaking bread in their several homes, they shared their food in joy and simplicity of heart” (emphasis mine)
Yes the believers would meet right outside of the temple, but they also met in homes, and as you continue to read the book of Acts you will see that was the common theme to have church in someone’s home. The Bible also talks about not “forsaking the assembly of the brethren” Obviously this is King James version, but it basically means we shouldn’t ignore coming together. We can use common sense and still meet one another in our homes worst-case scenario. All I’m saying is, we need to use common sense, pray and ask God what we should do and not listen to the opinions of others, and find ways we can still meet while being respectful of our government. Honestly, they haven’t pulled church services off the internet, or made it where we can’t meet within our homes – as long as we are being smart about it -, and they will never do it here in America because people will riot and overthrow the government like other countries have. The idea of mass rioting and chaos scares our government officials and they know they can’t take our right to meet together as long as we are being respectful. Therefore, I believe during this time when people are speaking out of both sides of their mouth saying that we are the body of Christ who doesn’t need a building, yet we deserve to be in a building and we need to ignore the government, we are being both unwise and disobedient to the Lord.
These are just my thoughts on the subject, and something I had to get off my chest. I don’t mean to offend anyone, but I just felt this needed to be said, and that people should start reading the Bible for themselves before spouting off their opinion and saying it is coming straight from the mouth of the Almighty.
What are some creative ways you are meeting in your home and having church? Share your thoughts below! Also, I wanted to mention I will be working on getting articles out every Wednesday from now on, so if you are not subscribed to the blog, make sure you do that so you can receive notifications in your email of each new article that goes up. I hope you ladies have a good week.
Blessings,
Angie
Modern Day Esther 