What does the "Church" mean to us??

There are many profound and penetrating descriptions of what it means to be the Lord's "Church." This week my Willingdon Discovery Bible Study Group engaged in an activity where we drew what the church meant to us. The activity was deeply enriching and revealed a lot about our perceptions of the church and our place in it. What resonated throughout all the pictures was the ideas of unity and dependency, with Jesus Christ as Lord over us all.

Artist: Mauri -- Here the church is represented as a chain with unified and connected links. We all support each other, are built upon each other and contribute to an overall structure connected with Jesus Christ as head (do you see that the hook at the end looks like a J? *wink*)

A literal portrayal of the church is first mentioned in Acts 2. Here we witness the utter devotion, unity, commonality, selflessness, dedication, gratitude, and sincerity of heart that stirred in the souls of the early believers. They were deeply entrenched in the faith and had abandoned themselves to God's word and each other. We truly see through this portrayal that the early believers laid down their lives for their brothers and sisters in the faith, for this is the greatest form of love we can show (John 15:13).

Acts 2: 42-47

42They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. 43 Everyone was filled with awe at the many wonders and signs performed by the apostles. 44 All the believers were together and had everything in common. 45 They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need. 46 Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, 47 praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.  

The Church is described in the Bible through various images. For one, the Church is understood as a structure or building "built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone." (Ephesians 2:19-22). We learn through dictionary.com that a "cornerstone" is a stone that is the starting point in the construction of a monumental building. It is a stone that joins two walls and is the base of a corner of a building. As the Church we must then fix our eyes on the Lord Jesus Christ as the author and perfecter of our faith (Hebrews 12:2). We must look to him for guidance because without him we would crumble.

Artist: Lily  -- The church here is portrayed as a pyramid or structure, built on the foundation of the apostles, prophets and exemplary women and men in the faith (Hebrews 11). The Bible says that only together with us are these faithful followers of God made perfect (Hebrews 11:40) emphasizing the importance of unity and togetherness in the faith. As Ephesians 4:4 states, there is only ONE body and ONE spirit. We are called to ONE faith together.

Artist: Kristina -- In this portrayal, the church is looked at as a school bus on a journey towards a destination. As the journey progresses, more people hop on. The fuel for this bus, what keeps the bus going, is the inspired Word of God. Jesus Christ is in the driver's seat leading us towards that destination.

The Church is also characterized in the Bible, as the Bride of Christ. We are called to submit to Christ (Ephesians 5:22). In Ephesians 5, language is used to represent a self-sacrificing, loving relationship between a husband and wife. This relationship illustrates our position as bride and Christ as the husband, who sacrificially gave himself up for us and unites with us as one body. We must remember that we can only bear fruit if we remain in Christ Jesus (John 15:4).

Artist: Wayne -- Here the church is distinguished as a living body, each having its own separate function and duty. 1 Corinthians 12:12 communicates that the church body has many parts but importantly they all comprise one body. The Bible says that there should therefore be no division in the body and that all its parts should have equal care and concern for each other - "If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honoured, every part rejoices with it" (1 Corinthians 12:25-26)

(Above) Artist: Ken. (Left) Artist: Imogen

In these two pictures the church is depicted as a vast group of people from all different backgrounds (race, ability levels, nationalities, age, sex, etc). In the same way that Jesus Christ united Jew and Gentile, the faith unites people from all corners of the world. We are unified under one God, with Christ as our foremost and center. As we look upwards to Christ for guidance and sanctification, we are able to show love to our brothers and sisters in the faith. In this sense, we are considered Christ's flock with him as shepherd. John 10:14-16 --

"I am the good shepherd, and I know My own and My own know Me, 15 even as the Father knows Me and I know the Father ; and I lay down My life for the sheep. 16 "I have other sheep,which are not of this fold ; I must bring them also, and they will hear My voice ; and they will become one flock with one shepherd."

There are many ways to describe our position as the Church of Christ but it's important that we take our role seriously. May the Lord help us to achieve that vision of unity, oneness, and complete devotion to Christ which is profound to our role.