So that brings me to the whole issue of "online" or "virtual" churches. One the one hand, the internet does provide an opportunity for "community" for those who wouldn't otherwise go out of their homes; however, at that point are we spending too much time focusing on finding a "gathering of convenience"? The problems of the internet is that there is no real sense of intimacy. Instead of seeing "real people as they really are", you only get to see that which someone is willing to expose (not unlike the "traditional brick and mortar church" come to think of it). Unfortunately all too many people online create an "online persona" that has nothing to do with who they really are. There also is no sense of permanence. When something new intrudes in life, all of a sudden the "virtual church" takes a back seat (hmmm ... again not unline the "traditional brick and mortar church"! Maybe we're seeing a trend here?).

Third is community. We aren't supposed to be "rugged individualists." This comes back to "being in the world but not of the world." If you watch TV, or look at the "ideal" that the world sets out as being "best", you see a lot of focus on the "lone ranger - the person who can be a success all on his/her own." That is in opposition to who God calls us to be. We were given community; in Genesis we are told that "we were created in Their image." The image of God is not singular, but is plural. Christ re-emphasized this in calling people to be together; "where two or more are gathered" isn't saying that God won't be there for the individual, but instead that He wants us to come together. THAT was the key of the early church of Acts 2-4. A community of people that are there to support each other, and welcoming to others. That gathering is there all the time, not just as a convenience. (continued)

Second is that we are the "Body of Christ." The gathering is not just a bunch of people who come together once a week to sit in a room, sing, listen and then go back to "normal life." We are called to be Christ's hands and feet, eyes and ears, mouths and noses. That implies more action than contemplation. Christ Himself did not put a focus on gathering in a building. Instead, He put the focus on being out with people and serving them. Hmmm ... if we are to be imitators of Christ, that would imply that we are to be out serving people, not putting our focus on sitting in a building. (continued)

To be honest, there are a couple of things here that I think have to be considered: First is "ekklesia" - the greek word from the Bible commonly represented as "church". Ekklesia is translated by the United Bible Societies as "assembly, gathering, congregation, church (of religious, political, or unofficial groups)". However, when you take the roots of the greek word (ekkleio - exclude, shut out), you realize the word itself implies an exclusive gathering which on the surface would seem to be mutually exclusive of what we commonly think of as "church". Yet, when you consider that we are to be "set apart" or "in the world but not of the world" it does make sense. Church, then, should be a "gathering or fellowship that sets itself apart from the common ways of the world, instead being focused to that which He would have us be." The key is that "church" should not be focused on being a "building where we go to see God." Instead, "church" is the gathering of people who mutually support each other in being God's people instead of the worlds. (continued)