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does the church matter

The church tradition I grew up in tended to name their churches after their city or street. While church names matter, what we believe about the church matters even more.

Myth 1: The church is merely a human organization. Though most of us are humans, the church is not merely a human organization. There is something supernatural about the church because Jesus is the head of the church.

Myth 2: The church is a supermarket for spiritual groceries. In a world of supermarkets, we like options and the freedom to choose. We often treat the church as if it were just one of many supermarkets that provide us with spiritual groceries.

This has led to a Christian culture that regards church shopping and hopping as normal. Eventually, this leads to church dropping because there is no relational glue.

Myth 3: The church is optional. Our culture breeds us to be individuals, often to our own detriment. The message of 1 Corinthians has been: we need each other.

Underlying the myth that the church is optional is an even more dangerous myth …

Myth 4: The church doesn’t matter.

Does the church matter? Let me share with you two passages that drive my value for the church …

Acts 20:28 … 28 Keep watch over yourselves and all the flock of which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers. Be shepherds of the church of God, which he bought with his own blood.

Ephesians 5:25-27 … 25 Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, 26 that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, 27 so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish.

Does the church matter? Absolutely! Jesus died for the church. Why would he do that?

Because the church is not an institution or a building. It’s people.