More than Drywall

In his book Approaching God, Steve Brown wrote, “The reason the church will never die . . . is because the church is the resident place for the God of the universe.”  What he was saying is that you and I are the real “church” of our Lord Jesus.

Last autumn a tornado ripped through a town and left nothing standing in its path. Debris covered the ground, power lines were down, and buildings were leveled. One of the most unrecognizable buildings was the town’s church. The residents were devastated by the damage done to their beloved church’s steeple, its beautiful stained-glass windows, and the pews in which they had sat, cried, and prayed fervently.

Too often, like these people in Oklahoma, we think of the church as a building, and we confine God to that building. The church is more than drywall, carpet, and electrical wires. It is much more than a structure. The church is the body of Christ, and we are all members of it. God resides in each of us and unifies us. We are the church and—ome what may . . .  whether wars, famine, or tornadoes—God resides in the body of His church.

The older I become, the more I appreciate the church for what it really is. As a child and even a teenager, church was a building. It was where Sunday school took place. It was where the worship team made beautiful music. It was where we have youth group and fundraisers. But now I realize that the church isn’t made of drywall; it’s made of people just like me striving toward that end goal of meeting God face to face and hearing the words, “Well done, my good and faithful servant.” The real church is made of the body of Christ, and no building or structure can contain it.

*Photo credit: Image courtesy of Evgeni Dinev / FreeDigitalPhotos.net