“‘But you,’ he asked them, ‘who do you say that I am?’ Simon Peter answered, ‘You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.’ Jesus responded, ‘Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but my Father in heaven. And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overpower it.'” (CSB – Read the chapter)

I want to come back yet again this week to a passage we have looked at a couple of times recently, including just last week. If the church is the body of Christ, and if, as we talked about last time, the church is to be proclaiming the identity of Jesus to the world in everything we do, then what does it mean to be the church, and what should be the relationship of an individual follower of Jesus to the church? Let’s dig back in today to some more of the implications of what Jesus revealed about the church to His disciples.

The church is a group called out by Jesus specifically for the purpose of revealing His identity and advancing His kingdom in the world around them. If a church or the church isn’t doing that, then it isn’t what Jesus was talking about here. So, does this mean there are a whole lot of “churches” that aren’t really…well…churches? Yes, I would argue that it does. Is that a very judgmental thing of me to say? Perhaps, but it’s also an accurately descriptive one.

Jesus was talking about something very specific here, and it wasn’t merely a religious body. It was a revolutionary one. Jesus used the word ekklesia to describe the institution He was creating to continue to advance His mission in the world. That was a political word in the first century Roman empire. It was a gathering of people called together for a specific and political purpose. It was about advancing the kingdom of the one who called it out. For Jesus, then, His revolutionary body was being called out to continue His work of standing against the various powers and principalities of this world in order to overturn and oppose their plans with the plans of God’s kingdom. If a church gets so caught up in religious exercises, even if it is a very loving and welcoming place, it’s not a Jesus gathering anymore.

In the same way, if a church gets focused on advancing a kingdom other than their own – perhaps the kingdom of the pastor as in some very large churches, or perhaps the kingdom of a member or family as in some very small churches, or maybe a very particular vision of what the United States should be as in some very conservative churches, or maybe a progressive and tolerant kingdom where anything goes as long as someone’s heart desires it as in very liberal churches – then it’s not a Jesus gathering any longer. It may still claim the label “church” for itself, but it isn’t a fair representation of what Jesus was talking about here.

Okay, but does this mean there’s just one way to be a church? What about all the different denominations? Well, I won’t argue very hard against the point that some denominations have formed for selfish and even sinful reasons that were not at all about advancing the kingdom of Jesus. We are a tribal people who easily subdivide ourselves into groups and then go to war against one another. But God is also bigger than our tribalism. He is the God of all the tribes. Because of this, if the people of an individual church, or even a whole denomination of churches earnestly desire to seek Him, to be His church together, He can and will still use their faithfulness to advance His kingdom purposes even if they were founded for reasons that did not align with those kingdom purposes very well. That is, he will make them into totally legitimate purposes who are operating just as He designed and intended them to operate. Redemption is an incredible thing.

Beyond that, advancing God’s kingdom isn’t a homogeneous task. It’s going to look differently in different places and at different times. Different groups of people are going to be able to more effectively proclaim Jesus’ identity with and in some communities than they will in others. The personality of one church may be really attractive to one person or family, but not another. Having multiple and different churches in a given area makes canvassing the area to advance God’s kingdom easier and more effective than it might otherwise be.

Now, I’m pretty partial to my own church, but it isn’t the only church. And thank goodness it isn’t. If every church operated just like mine, there would be a whole lot of kingdom advancing that wouldn’t happen very well or very effectively. That’s a net loss for the kingdom, not a gain.

What matters most, though, is that every follower of Jesus is an active, invested, involved part of a church. The language my particular church uses for that is membership. Different churches may use different language to describe someone who is fully and formally involved and invested in their efforts to advance God’s kingdom, but sticking with our language for the moment, being a church member is a serious and important business for every follower of Jesus. Given what Jesus says here to Peter, it’s really hard to call someone a follower of Jesus without that.

The church is an assembly of Jesus followers who are called out by God specifically for the purposes of advancing His kingdom. His followers are going to be a part of that movement or they’re not going in the same direction He’s going. Now, think carefully with me here for just a second because this next part might get a bit uncomfortable. If someone isn’t going in the same direction Jesus is going, what does that mean they are not doing? They are not following Him. Well, if someone is not following Jesus, is it still accurate to apply the label “Christian” to them?

Now, I am going to be the first person in line to insist that you don’t have to be a member of a church or even to go to church in order to be saved. Salvation is by grace alone through faith alone and not by works. Period. No exceptions. There’s nothing we can do to contribute to our salvation, and that includes going to church.

But…

The idea of a follower of Jesus who is not an active and invested part of His body is not one that would have made the first bit of sense to any of the contributors to the New Testament. Paul probably would have insisted the person suggesting such a thing was a heretic who needed to be subjected to church discipline.

The hard truth here is that if you are not a part of Jesus’ movement, which happens by being an active and invested part of a particular local expression of His body (that is, by being a member of a church), then you’re not following Jesus.

Now, if you’re between bodies for a season because God is calling you from one to another for some reason, that’s okay. There’s grace and understanding for that. But don’t linger in that kind of a situation for long. And I know this is a very Baptist thing of me to say, but I think there’s a difference between being an attender of a church and a member of a church. Being an attender of a church is like living together instead of getting married. There’s no real commitment. It’s like saying, “I’m going to be a part of Jesus’ movement, but I’m going to leave myself an escape clause in case things don’t go the way I want them to go.” Jesus didn’t say, though, to take up your cross unless it gets inconvenient. He just said to take up your cross and follow Him. He also said that if we aren’t willing to go all in for Him, then we aren’t worthy of Him.

Now, maybe you are already a member of a church. This feels to you like a bit of an exercise in preaching to the choir. In that case, you need to hear this both as an affirmation of your membership, but also so that you can positively defend church membership to others. But maybe you’re following Jesus and you are not an active, invested, involved member of a body of Christ. If God’s calling you to this church, great. If He’s calling you to another church, great. Wherever He’s calling you to be a connected, invested, and active part of a group of believers who have been called out to advance God’s kingdom on earth, make a full and formal commitment to that body and get to the work He’s gifted, equipped, and called you to do; work without which the body He’s called you to be fully a part of isn’t going to be operating as well as He intends for it to operate.

In short: if you are going to profess to be a follower of Jesus, then get busy actually following Jesus. That happens personally, of course, but it also happens corporately. These are two sides of the same coin. Neither is complete without the other. If you are pursuing your personal devotions really well, but aren’t an active and invested and serving part of a body of Christ – a church – you’re only following Jesus halfway. Follow Jesus all the way.