Christians Without a Church

There is no such thing as a Christian without a church. The bible says, "When two or more are gathered in my name." That clearly means that Christians are the church. Therefore, it is impossible to be without a church.

I assume that the meaning of this is really more about not having a building to worship in. That is something I know about. I was raised Anglican. Most of you know this better as Episcopalian. While my family was middle class, my grandmother aspired to be more. She insisted on us attending church where most of the people were affluent. While this was great for getting Christmas presents, it wasn't a harmonious church family. There were too many arguments over money, and not many of the members actually wanted to help people. They were very happy to just put money in a bank account and let it accrue. When someone came looking for help, they were very often sent somewhere else. After a while, people stopped coming for help, and new potential members stopped visiting. This led to a lot of fighting and a lot of splits. My family has been in six different church buildings and I can tell you quite a bit to shock you.

They spent more time in courts fighting over buildings than they every spent in prayer and meditation. They had friends in the police department drum up charges on one priest, and they went far enough to get the man deported. All of this was just to maintain a building. What would have happened if the church had blown away one day?

To many, the church is not just a building. That is the way that I too believe things should be. I have seen bitter feuds and court battles over who gets the building, who gets the money, who will the priest side with?

It has been my experience that it is better not to be in a building. Whenever we started out again, we would take turns in each others living rooms. That was when there was the most harmony, the most Christianity. It was immediately after a building was purchased that the trouble would begin. Someone always wants control. Now that I am an adult, I refuse to attend any of those "churches." I don't believe it is what Christ wanted. The church, the real church, is made up of the people.