When you ask a group of people what the church is nowadays, everyone would most likely give a completely different answer. Some will be positive, some will even be negative, but what does God have to say about His church? Jesus was the one who established the universal church here on earth, which means He alone has the authority to define what the church is and what it is destined to be.
Isaiah 28:16 prophesies this when it declares, "Behold, I am the one who has laid as a foundation in Zion, a stone, a tested stone, a precious cornerstone, of a sure foundation." A cornerstone is significant because it becomes the basis and foundation that the whole building is based on.
And what has Jesus said about the church? In Matthew 16:18. "And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it." Jesus meant for the church to be a vibrant and overcoming church that even hell itself could not overcome.
However, today many people have wrong misconceptions about the church. The following are four of the most common misconceptions about the church today.
1. The Church is a proximate place.
Some people hear the word church and the first thing that comes to mind is a building in a specific location. When we think of the church as place, we're stuck in believing that when we leave this center, we leave the church.
The church is not a building. We are the church, and that means as you go, you take the church with you -- to your office, your homes, your schools, your barber, your gym, everywhere you go.
2. The Church is built for dos and don'ts.
Many groups have dubbed the church as a people full of legalism. When homosexuals, atheists, men who wear long hair, women with tattoos think of the word church, they slither away in unbelief.
The church was not meant to be a place of judgment, but a place of acceptance and love, which would lead to transformed lives.
3. Church is a once-a-week event.
Still most people will think that church is just an event we attend once a week to fulfill a cultural duty. Church is more than just a one- or two-hour service where we sit down and listen to a person preach. It is a community that exists 24 hours a day and seven days in a week.
Church is built on Spirit-empowered and grace-filled relationships that are entered on Christ. Not on organizations and events.
4. Church is a scattered body.
People often see the church as separate and different religious sects. The Creed, however, refers to a catholic church. The word "catholic" means universal, all-embracing, or including all Christians. The church is the communion or fellowship of all the saints, all of God's people.
