What Is The Church?

My goal here is not to offend people, but to perhaps open some eyes and get the reader to ask some deep questions, so the truth can come out. What I want to delve into is, what is the church, and is our modern concept of the church the same as the one portrayed in the scriptures? The next question is, what if it isn't? Should we do something about it, or should we just continue on with the status quo? Some might say that we shouldn't meddle with such things, but I am hungry for the truth, and not content with, "just let it be". Let's answer this question first... Where does God dwell?

Act 7:48 Howbeit the most High dwelleth not in temples made with hands; as saith the prophet,
Act 7:49 Heaven is my throne, and earth is my footstool: what house will ye build me? saith the Lord: or what is the place of my rest?
Act 7:50 Hath not my hand made all these things?

So we have ascertained that God does not dwell in buildings made with hands. God says, "Heaven is my throne, and earth my footstool". Seems kind of silly, restricting God, who's throne is all of heaven and One who uses earth as a resting place for His feet, to a building. How should we translate this into our modern vocabulary? What about saying, "We are in the house of God". That is scripturally inaccurate. "Let's go to church", is inaccurate. So moving on, what is the church if it is not a building made with hands? What is the temple of the Living God?

1Co 6:19 What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you,

Our body is the temple of God according to that passage. This is the mystery, spoken of by the apostle Paul which is, Christ in you and the hope of glory. God lives in us. We can't go to the house of God, when we are the house of God. What does the bible say is the church?

Eph 1:22 And hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the church,
Eph 1:23 Which is HIS BODY, the fulness of him that filleth all in all.

We see that in the context it is clearly speaking of Christ. Also we see that Christ is the head over all things to the church. Now comes the definition of the church... His body. Now some would say that "His body" is referring to a group or body of people. Every time the word, "body", is used in the new testament it is referring to a literal, physical body. A body of flesh that we would wash and cloth. Let's wrap our minds around that.

1Co 12:12 For as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body: so also is Christ.
1Co 12:13 For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit.

Here we see that a physical body has many members. What are members? Members are fingers, toes, hands, arms, legs, head, sex organs etc.

Eph 2:15 Having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; for to make in himself of twain ONE NEW MAN, so making peace;
Eph 2:16 And that he might reconcile both unto God in ONE BODY by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby:

Just to make sure we all see this, there it is. "One body", is the church, and the body is, "One new Man", which is Christ. The bible is not a tough book to understand if we just read what it says and believe it. It is when we allegorize and spiritualize scripture, that we run into confusion.
This all ties together beautifully when we see it. We are the temple of the living God.

2Co 6:16 And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for YE ARE THE TEMPLE OF THE LIVING GOD; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.

So we have come to this conclusion... We are members of the body of Christ, which is the church. Not only are we members of Christ's body, Christ lives in us! We are the church! It is impossible to, "go to church". We Christians ARE the church. Church is not an institution. It is a living, breathing organism. There is nothing spiritual or holy about a "church building". God dwells in us, not in some brick structure. We, in modern times have this club mentality. We all want to belong to a certain denomination or fellowship. It is not enough to be a member of Christ's body. In fact, Jesus Himself is not enough these days. We need to be a card carrying member of one group or another, and it is entirely unscriptural. There is not one denomination in the bible. In fact, dividing the body of Christ up into groups who have differing beliefs is carnal (read 1Cor 1). Saying, "I belong to this group or that group", is carnal. It is divisive. The church in the bible is only separated by distance or geography. They met in homes wherever and whenever they pleased. Nowhere in scripture does it say that you must meet with the same Christians every week. Nowhere does it say that you should belong to a certain group or not to meet with "less enlightened or more enlightened" Christians. To give some examples... If I were to call some brothers and ask them to meet me at Starbucks for a coffee... The church would be meeting. If some brothers and I decided to go to a restaurant for supper and have communion... the church would be meeting. We Christians are the church.

What we do now a days is... Most "church" goers are casual all week, living their lives, working there jobs... Real life. Then on Sunday, we stop arguing right before, "church", screaming at our kids to get their best holy clothes on, getting into the nicely washed and polished car, put on our best Sunday smile and pretend that we are the perfect Christian family with absolutely no issues. It's fake and hypocritical. It doesn't seem real. We are not ourselves. Just pretending. The whole thing is a performance and I don't see how it is pleasing to God. Maybe I am wrong. I hope so. In the book of Acts, this Christian life was called, "the way". It was and is a way of life. Not performance oriented, like a well choreographed production. "Church" is now an institution structured like a business. You have a sales team (congregation trying to get people to come to their "church"), a budget, a corporate head (pastor), councilors, worship leader, worship teams, pensions, salaries... It just doesn't seem to be biblical.