THERE IS ONLY ONE CHURCH AND IT ISN’T YOURS

By Charles N. Spence, Jr.

I am often asked by those learn that I am a preacher, “Do you have a church?” I understand, of course, that they are asking if I am working with a congregation. But it would cut down on the confusion, if people simply said what they meant. Peter writes in 1 Peter 4:11, “Whoever speaks, let him speak, as it were, the utterances of God . . .” To speak as the utterances of God is to call things as God would call them. As we read the Bible, no man has ever claimed the church to be his own. Therefore, if one is going to speak as God would speak, he would not even suggest that the church belonged to anyone. I am often met by those who say that they have their own church or “I’ve got my church!” As I mentioned earlier, such is usually the result of not sticking with the words and phrases that God chose to refer to things of a spiritual nature. However, I would like to explore a deeper aspect to the reference “I’ve got my own church!”

Often those who say they have their own church are those who I have asked to study the Bible. For some reason they feel that because they have a church or are a part of a church group, that exempts them from the need to study the Bible. The Bible says, “Study to show thyself approved unto God . . . rightly dividing the word of truth” (2 Tim. 2:15). So, God commands that a person study, especially if he wants to know that God approves of him. The only way anyone can be approved in the sight of God is to follow His word (2 John 9). When they say that they have their own church, they simply mean that they have a church that they feel comfortable with. They are a part of a church of their own liking and their own choosing. So, in essence, they really do have a church; one that best fits what THEY believe a church should be for THEM. There are many people of different denominational beliefs and faiths who make this same claim. They believe that their church is okay. When asked to study, they run to the safe haven of their very own idea of the ideal church. They make the leap that when I ask them for a study, I am trying to lure them away from THEIR church. I am only trying to get them to draw near to Christ, the only way I know how, through studying His word. Jesus said in John 6:44-45, "No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day. It is written in the prophets, And they shall be all taught of God. Every man therefore that hath heard, and hath learned of the Father, cometh unto me.” Only those who have been taught the word of God can be drawn to the Lord. Yet, I am afraid that more people are drawn to THEIR churches than they are to Christ. If, after learning the truth of God’s word, they discover that the ought to leave the church that they are at, then so be it. Let God’s will be done.

Now, no one truly has a church that they can speak of except Jesus Christ. He can make such a claim because He said that he was going to build ONE. In Matthew 16:18 Jesus said, “. . . And upon this rock I will build MY church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.” Did you notice that Jesus said that he was going to build HIS church. He did not say churches nor did he say that he was going to build it for someone else. Jesus has a church that He built himself for himself. He did not build a church according to peoples’ liking or specifications. The church belongs to Jesus. Notice Acts 20:28. In his charge to the Ephesian elders, Paul tells them to “Shepherd the church of God which he purchased with his own blood.” The church belongs to Christ because he bought and paid for it with His own blood. Since the church belongs to Christ, no one else has the right to say what the church should be or what the church should do. Of the Christ Paul says that the Father, “put all things under His feet, and gave him to be head over all things to the church, which is his body” (Eph. 1:22-23). Since the church is the body of Christ, there is only one church. Ephesians 4:4 says, “There is ONE body . . .”

So, dear reader, you can say that you have a church. You may even think your church suits you just fine. However, Jesus has ONE church that belongs to Him. Thus since there is only one church it certainly is not yours. The ONE TRUE church belongs to Jesus. You must seek to become a part of it.