When Christians meet for the first time, the question most often asked is “where do you go to church?” I dread that question more than any other because the people who ask are usually shocked by my uncommon answer.

Since the time of Christ, the question has been asked in many ways. There was the woman at the well who asked Jesus about worship on Jacob’s mountain or in Jerusalem. His reply made it clear that where we worship is no longer relevant, but who and how we worship (John 4:21-23). On another occasion, the disciples stopped a man from working miracles because he was not a member of their church. Clearly angered, Jesus said “don’t stop him – if he’s not an enemy, he’s an ally” (Mark 9:38-40).

So if where is not important and there are only the 2 sides in the conflict between light and darkness, can there be more than one church (Mark 3:25)? The answer to that question would seem to depend on whether we answer from man’s perspective, or God’s. Since we are called to “deny ourselves” (Luke 9:23) and “lean not on our own understanding” (Proverbs 3:5-6), it seems only God’s perspective matters.

What has impressed me concerning the Church, is the Lord’s heart for unity as expressed in His prayer for all believers to be one with each other in the same way that He and the Father are one (John 17:20-23). In keeping with His desire for unity, Jesus commanded us to love each other (John 13:34-35) and when we have disputes to resolve them quickly (Matthew 5:23-24 and 18:15-17). Our oneness and love for each other lets the world see Jesus in us and shows them we are His disciples.

Sadly, division and opposition began cropping up in the church even before the New Testament was complete. To the church in Corinth Paul wrote that their gatherings did more harm than good because of disagreements between opposing groups (1 Corinthians 11:17-18). He also corrected them for boasting about whom they followed, whether Paul, Apollos, or Peter. Paul wrote that such boasts were carnal and sinful, and he admonished them to focus on God (1 Corinthians 1:12 and 3:4-7). Today, divisions are known by the sanitized name “denominations” where people profess religious brand-name loyalty to Calvin, Luther, Wesley, etc., and opposition has turned to competition between churches.

So are division and opposition any less carnal and sinful today than they were then? The question triggers a memory.

My wife and I once sang a number of songs during the morning service at a small town community church. The building fairly glowed with fresh paint and manicured lawn with mulched flower beds leading to the front doors of the church. Inside the narthex and sanctuary were spotless where we overheard members talking about how beautiful everything was on that spring Sunday. Directly across the street was a run down church – a long single story rectangular building with a pitched roof. It needed a paint job and landscaping work to deal with overgrown shrubs and a weed infested lawn. The same members who gushed about their beautiful church, scoffed at the church across the street, some expressing hope that it would close and their remaining members come join the beautiful church.

We sang for about 40 minutes that morning and then turned the service back to the pastor who began by leading the congregation in a hymn. The moment the piano began to play the intro, I cringed at how badly it was out of tune; just like their voices were a mixture of praise for God, tone-deaf pride, and hearts without love for their struggling neighbor. It wasn’t until later that afternoon that the Lord impressed me with a message for the pastor and to use the small honorarium to hire a piano tuner for them. God’s message for the pastor was a simple one – in a show of Christian love and charity, why not assemble a work party to tidy up the landscaping and paint the outside of their neighbor’s building. I figured it could be done in a day, with 20 gallons of paint and 12-15 volunteers with rollers, hedge trimmers, mowers and rakes. Surely that would have been better in the sight of the Lord than to complain about the run down building and hope for the churches demise, while being without charity for the brothers and sisters who meet there but are too elderly or poor to do it themselves.

From God’s perspective, there is just one church, and it is not a building that we “go to” (Acts 7:48 and 17:24). Rather, the church is the Body of Christ (Ephesians 1:22-23) which is people, what Peter calls “living stones”, and God is assembling us into a spiritual temple (1 Corinthians 3:11, 12:18 and 1 Peter 2:5). Instead of asking “which church do you go to”, we ought to recognize one another as temples of God in which His Spirit dwells (1 Corinthians 3:16 and 6:19) and wherever God brings any 2 or more of us together, church happens (Matthew 18:20).

The Biblical example for the church is cities and regions living for Christ in relational fellowship, hence the 9 letters of Paul and the 7 letters from Jesus in Revelation, which are addressed to all believers in a city or region. If Jesus were to write a letter to us, He would likely address it to “the Church in Putnam County” or to “My People on the Olympic Peninsula.” His message is clear; wherever we live, we are God’s children and we are brothers and sisters.

Imagine the kind of relational community described at the end of Acts 2 (42-47) and Acts 4 (32-35) where you live! What would it take from each of us to become a city, or region united in Christ?

As for the original question “where do you go to church”, the answer is EVERYWHERE! Church happens in the aisles of a grocery store, in a café over pie and coffee, in the Laundromat, between gas pumps when you run into a neighbor, in homes and outdoors, because it is Christ who makes us the church whenever and wherever He brings us together.

When a believer begins to stand for the truth and be a doer of the word, God will lead you into any number of eye-opening and downright whacky experiences. This short writing came about when I noticed the county newspaper periodically had no faith based column in the Religion section of the weekend edition. I asked the editor if I could submit one and got the go ahead. A week after it was published, Karen and I sang at the county church on the west side where they hosted a potluck supper before the concert. When the woman seated next to me at supper asked “did you write the article in the newspaper” I said “yes”. She then leaned toward me and whispered “I agree with every word of it”. I leaned toward her and whispered “why are you whispering”. She replied “I’m the pastor’s wife”.

Later I learned that the pastoral council for that area discussed my article and decided among themselves that they couldn’t have lay persons doing that. They made some kind of arrangement with the newspaper to ensure only their voices would be heard. There was never any mention of error; just the threat that Truth posed to their authority. So I set up a web site and self published my music and articles, for free. Like the good book says “all things work together for the good”.

“I’m the pastor’s wife …”. (chuckle)