Give my greetings to the brothers and sisters at Laodicea, and to Nympha and the church in her house.
Colossians 4:15
Growing up in Baltimore, it seemed like there were church buildings everywhere. While they weren’t on every corner, there were bunches of them. When you gave directions, it was easy to use churches as landmarks. They were all over the place. They were big and you couldn’t miss them. I wasn’t alone in my observations.
When Billy Graham visited Baltimore for his crusade, he was asked about his impressions of the area. The first words out of his mouth spoke volumes. “It seems like everywhere you look, there’s a church.” Funny isn’t it. When we say “the church” it’s assumed that we’re talking about a separate building. Something that’s been built specifically for people to go to. To meet together with. To worship. To receive instruction.
As a kid, Baltimore seemed to have a lot of churches. But when you look at the numbers, Baltimore hasn’t got anything in comparison to Indianapolis, Indiana. Indianapolis has almost 3,000 churches for over 830,000 residences. When you do the math, there’s a church for every 289 people.
Now in the early days of Christianity, there weren’t all that many believers in any one place. And they certainly didn’t have the money to build a separate place to get together. So, they did the next best thing, they met in houses. When you dig through the ancient writings and historical sites, there’s no church building before the third century. That means during its
This is what the Christians did in Colossae. They met in houses. And at least one of those churches met in a house owned by Nympha. We don’t know anything else about Nympha or their house. Was Nympha rich? Was it a big house? And just in case you think this is some ancient idea that went out of fashion hundreds of years ago, think again. While the exact number of house churches in China is unknown, there is no doubt about their growth in spite of governmental oppression and imprisonment[1].
When most people say “the church” today, it almost always means the building. The walls. The roof. The parking lot. The place where you get a cup of coffee on Sunday mornings. But in the first century, the idea behind the church had little to do with the what and everything to do with the who. It’s not about the place, but about something much more important and bigger than any building ever could be.
Now I tell you that you are Peter the rock, and it is on this rock that I am going to found my Church, and the powers of death will never prevail against it.
Matthew 16:18 Phillips
Why did Jesus say these words? Because Peter had just explained his belief in Jesus as the one who’s from God. The one who’s going to die for the sins of the world. The one who’s going to change everything about worshiping God. And being absolutely certain that we’re going to heaven to be with him forever.
When Jesus talks about his church, he’s talking about his people who agree with what Peter said. According to Jesus, the church is made up of the ones that believe that he’s God almighty from eternity past. The one who came to die for our sin. And when we believe, we move from death to life[2].
Being one of Jesus’ followers and believers has nothing to do with a building. Or even church membership. There’s nothing secret about it. There’s no advantage to having a famous relative or being born into a certain kind of family. Even having lots of money doesn’t do you any good. It doesn’t take a building to believe in his name[3].
And when we believe that Jesus takes care of all our sins once and for all, we can drop our guard in front of God and people. No more needing to hide our mistakes. Our failures. Our mistakes.
I have a handful of friends who are not afraid to tell me the truth. The unvarnished truth. The dirty truth. The ugly truth. The hidden truth inside their hearts. About their mistakes. Their fears. The worries that just about overpower them like a giant wave at the ocean.
And you know what? I’m not afraid to talk about my problems with them either. When we get together in person or on the phone, there’s a freedom to openly and honestly show that dark side without judgement.
Sometimes, when we’re talking and sharing, I’ll do a really unusual thing. I’ll take off my shoes. Why? Because that place and time where we’re talking about how we need Jesus more than anything else is holy ground[4]. That’s the place where we meet with God. We can bring church back to what it’s supposed to be, but it’s going to take bravery and transparency. We need to break down the walls that separate us, not build a building with them.
Noodling Questions
Describe the church in a single word. Explain.
How has the church encouraged you? Disappointed you? Hurt you? Healed you?
What’s stopping us from being more transparent within the church?
[2] John 5:24
[3] John 1:12
[4] Exodus 3:5
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