Last week, I wrote about how participating in a local church helps us gain victory over temptation and the enemy. So naturally, the question becomes: what IS “church”?
I’m not talking about the capital-C Church — the global, unseen Kingdom and body of Jesus that is made up of every believer across time and space. I’m talking about the local, visible, perfectly imperfect (read: usually offensive and often messy) Kingdom embassy that represents the global Church.
If you’ve ever wondered whether a group of six people meeting in a living room can really “count” as a church, the answer is yes… kinda. But not if it’s just a couple of Christian friends sitting in a pub watching a game, and one of them happens to yell “Jesus Christ” at the ref.
The New Testament doesn’t define church by stage lighting, programs, or building size. But it does describe a local gathering of believers committed to Jesus and one another, walking in unity, purpose, and power.
In fact, some of the most transformative expressions of the church are small, intimate, and incredibly intentional. When people gather with a shared focus to follow Jesus, to encourage, confront, confess, pray, and grow together — that’s church. It’s not about being casual acquaintances or religious consumers. It’s about living life together empowered by the Holy Spirit.
So whether there are 6,000 people or 6, it’s not the number that makes it a church — it’s the substance, motivation, and structure. If you’re someone who just can’t seem to find the right church, a new parent who hasn’t left the house in weeks, or someone whose schedule keeps you away on Sundays, the goal isn’t to check a box. It’s to actually take part in a biblical, committed body of believers.
So what are the defining characteristics of a New Testament church?
Let me start with the most controversial one:
Qualified Organized Leadership (Titus 1.5)
Church isn’t just a flat group of Christian peers. Paul instructs Titus to “appoint elders in every town” (Titus 1.5) and outlines qualifications in 1 Timothy 3. Biblical leadership isn’t about hierarchy or control — it’s about care, protection, and responsibility. Elders and ministry leaders (“deacons”) help shepherd, teach, correct, and nurture the local body. If your community doesn’t have qualified, Spirit-led, accountable leadership, it’s a small group — not a church.
The Apostles’ Teaching (Acts 2.42)
Second, the early church devoted themselves to the Apostles’ teaching. Yes, these capital-A Apostles are the 13 men who physically saw Jesus. Scripture-centered teaching is not a supplemental option — it’s a critical foundation to the direction and organization of the gathered body. It guards the community from spiritual drift (2 Timothy 4.2), shapes local orthodoxy, and invites real transformation. It doesn’t have to come from a formal pulpit from a guy wearing a costume, but it must come from a group of trustworthy men, anointed to lead, and appointed by an agreed-upon body of people sometimes called overseers (which the Scriptures call lowercase-a “apostles” or those sent out as missionaries to plant churches).
Breaking Bread & Praying (Acts 2.42)
Moving more toward personal application, the early church body “continually devoting themselves… to the breaking of bread and to prayer” (Acts 2.42). This involves participating in corporate communion (i.e., Eucharist, the Lord’s Supper, etc.). This is the symbolic expression of our trust in Jesus’ life, death, burial, and resurrection. No matter what we go through, it refocuses our attention back to our dependence on Jesus. You can learn more about what communion is by clicking this link: https://cultivaterelationships.com/communion/
Along with taking communion, prayer also binds us together, both in intercession and vulnerability. When we regularly confess and pray for one another, healing begins (James 5.16). Prayer turns a group into Spirit-led, Spirit-dependent people. One practical way we live this out in our weekly gatherings is by sharing prayer requests and praying after each request. Our general “rule” is to keep the request focused on ourselves or one’s immediate family. When someone shares a request, another person in the group volunteers to pray — whether it’s to celebrate something or to ask God for help. If the request involves someone outside the person’s immediate family, we ask them to pray for it themselves, since they know the situation best. As they pray, the group joins in agreement by laying hands on them.
Singing (Colossians 3.16)
Along with leadership, another very specific mark of an official church is singing — it is the soul’s response to God’s goodness and presence. Paul instructs us to sing “psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs with thankfulness in your hearts to God” (Colossians 3.16). You don’t need a “worship” band. Several churches we’ve worked with in Ireland sang worship YouTube lyric videos. A person would prayerfully curate the playlist before the service. Regardless of technology, team size, or church budget, singing is not an option for a church. It is a vital soul response to the living God.
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So, whether it’s a group of Christian friends hanging out on a lake, a couple praying or reading the Bible at home, or someone livestreaming from their couch — all those can be spiritually meaningful — but they are not church. They’re missing the covenantal, communal, and corporate characteristics that Jesus and the Apostles defined.
Jesus makes it clear: there’s a distinct manifestation of His presence when we gather in His name (Matthew 18.20). You can pray alone and be heard. But something unique and powerful happens when believers come together. Hebrews 10.25 even warns us not to neglect this corporate meeting, because transformation happens within an intentionally relational, vulnerable, Spirit-led community.
If your life feels spiritually stagnant, overwhelmed, or disconnected, it might be that you are not in a church. Because nothing transforms you faster and more thoroughly than real, vulnerable, honest, difficult, messy, submitted community.
This week, ask the Holy Spirit, “How am I intentionally participating in a local representation of your global Kingdom?”
God bless,
Nathan
