No matter how much organization, hierarchy, etc. that a church body might have, this in itself is not a church. Just because we call ourselves a church does not make us a church. Because essentially THE church are those who have counted the cost and decided to live as Christ lived.
THE church is global, universal. The word "catholic" comes from the greek word, "katholikos" which actually means "universal."
My belief and it is renovate's conviction that Jesus didn't come to start a new religion. He came to start a church. To call people together to follow in his steps and make a difference in HIS name, not ours!
Let's look at Jesus' real message to the world:
"This Isaiah-prophesied sermon came to life in Galilee the moment Jesus started preaching. He picked up where John left off: "Change your life. God's kingdom is here."
Walking along the beach of Lake Galilee, Jesus saw two brothers: Simon (later called Peter) and Andrew. They were fishing, throwing their nets into the lake. It was their regular work. Jesus said to them, "Come with me. I'll make a new kind of fisherman out of you. I'll show you how to catch men and women instead of perch and bass." They didn't ask questions, but simply dropped their nets and followed. (Matthew 4:17-20 Message)
They dropped everything and walked away from their lives, their careers…all of it just to follow Jesus! What compels a man to do this? Especially a man of the world! Fishermen are earthy characters, roughened by the trials of fighting between life and death on the seas. Yet these guys just walk away from everything they knew to follow a man??!! It doesn't make sense.
In Jesus' day, the boys were raised with religious training until they were 12 years old (until their bar mitzvah.) They had to memorize the entire first four books of the Old Testament. They had even more training until they were in their mid-teens. After all this training they would be "interviewed" by the rabbi (teacher) to see if they were "rabbi material" and if they could do what the rabbi did. This was the highest honor they could be chosen for.
If the rabbi thought they had the right stuff, he would say to them "Come, follow me." And from that time, they would become his "disciples" and go wherever he went and learned how to do and to teach what he did. If he didn't have what it took to be a rabbi, he would end his training and return home to do learn and follow in the family trade.
Peter and Andrew had been rejected from the highest honor in their day. They had become fishermen because they didn't make the cut. They had been rejected. But now this popular teacher/rabbi named Jesus saw something in them that was worth something. He believed in them. He called them to be his disciples. It changed their self-worth and their status forever.
Have you ever had someone believe in you when you didn't believe in yourself? Have you ever been included in something you didn't feel worthy of? What did that do for you? Did it change you?
This is how Jesus began to build his church...he called out a few good men! They were not perfect. (Have you ever knew some really honest fisherman?? Just kidding!!) They didn't fit the world's ideal or even the religious community's ideal of a leader, but yet, he called them.
