Blog of Mick

In many ways I am annoyed at the way the word church has been used in recent history. Many people use the word to label a building or even a particular congregation, but I think that is a huge understatement of what the word actually means.
The Church (notice the capital ‘C’) is not a building, and it’s not limited to a single congregation. Jesus calls himself the bridegroom in Matthew 9:15, and his bride is the Church.  The entire body of believers is considered to be the Church. This means people worshiping God in Rwanda, Idaho, and Thailand are all part of the same Church.  This also means that Lutherans, Methodists, and Baptists are also part of the same Church.
I know I can’t change the way we use this word as a culture, much like I cannot change the way people use the word worship to signify singing (worship is so much more than that).  But I can try and change the way I use the word.
Instead of calling the building where the Church meets the church, I try to call it the church building or by the name of that congregation, like Crossroads. I have also been trying to avoid telling people, “I am going to church.” Instead I say worship service, or something along those lines.
I’m not trying to be ubber-pious or ‘holier than thou’ by doing these things, but I really think we need to be careful how we use certain words, especially when it is in relationship to the Creator. Too often we can dumb down a word so much that it has little to no significance.