I’ve said it, now I regret it.

“We don’t go to church, we are the church.” Of course this is correct. And when people started saying it I am sure they had good intentions. They wanted people to understand that the focus of ministry for christians was not on Sunday morning, but what the body of Christ carried out into the worldBut what has it really accomplished? I am afraid the phrase has made many of us conceited. As in, “we are not those people who believe that the church is a building, but have a correct understanding of what the church really is.” It definitely has the flavor of the Pharisee’s prayer: “I thank thee oh God that I am not like other men...” The focus has not changed to “being the church,” “but being one who knows the correct thing to say.”Is there anything wrong with saying “I’m going to church?” I mean, is it a sin? No.But maybe if it is not a sin, maybe it is dangerous to even imply that the church might be something you go to. If that is the case then maybe the best question to ask is, “are some of the churches problems correlated to people thinking that the focus of ministry happens on Sunday morning in a building?”Depending how you answer that question reveals something about you. If you answer yes to the question than you believe that the church’s flaws are based on methodology.But I don’t think the problems of the church stem mainly from a Sunday-centric view of ministry. In other words the problems of our churches are not mainly methodological. And, therefore, a change in terminology can’t change anything in any deep way, and actually might make us into snobbish people who are self-satisfied that they believe the right things about church.