Do “virtual churches” actually exist?
Certainly, Christians can get online and watch a pastor preach on a live video stream. They can join a group chat. And God will use these things for good.
But that doesn’t mean we should call these activities “churches.”
Just think. Have you ever called a Christian conference, denominational meeting, or youth camp a “church”? No? Why not? There’s preaching, praying, and singing. Nonetheless, we understand they aren’t churches. We could start calling them churches. We could redefine the word “church” to include conferences and camps. But we know that calling them “churches” wouldn’t make them churches, at least by the Bible’s standards.
So it is with the “virtual church” or “internet church.” By biblical standards, these things do not exist. They aren’t churches. When we say those words, we unwittingly redefine the word church. The phrases are sneaky like that.
THE BIBLE’S “HOW TO BUILD A CHURCH” GUIDE
What do we learn when we turn to Jesus and the Bible as our “How to Build a Church” guide?
Step #1 for building a church, we discover in Scripture, is to gather Christians in Jesus’ name. The very etymology of the Greek word for “church”
To continue...read the full-length post originally published on this site.
