What is the Church?
Rebuilding Trust in a Time of Deep Disillusionment
In recent years, a wave of public failures has shaken the Church's credibility in the eyes of many. The most significant prayer movement in America has been rocked by moral failure. The most prominent Christian university imploded under a leadership scandal—a globally revered apologist left behind a legacy marred by abuse. The most influential worship movement fractured in the face of moral and financial compromise. The biggest megachurches and ministry networks—those shaping Christian culture, discipleship, and even children’s formation—have all in some way faltered under the weight of spiritual authority gone wrong.
For many, these are not distant headlines—they are deeply personal wounds. And they have left Christians and skeptics asking: What even is the Church? Is it just another institution propped up by charisma and crowd dynamics? Or is there something real, eternal, and holy underneath the mess?
This crisis doesn’t just call for better PR or new leadership models—it begs a much deeper, older question:
What is the Church? And how do we rebuild trust in it again?
I. What Is the Church, Theologically?
“What is the Church?” is a question theologians have pondered as long as there has been a Church. Ignatius of Antioch was one of the earliest theologians to ask, “What is the Church?” (c. 35–107 AD). Writing in the early 2nd century, Ignatius offered some of the first reflections on the nature and identity of the Church in his letters to various Christian communities while on his way to martyrdom in Rome. He emphasized: (1) The unity of the Church under leadership, (2) The Church as the body of Christ, (3) The visible, gathered community as essential to being the Church, (4) The Eucharist as central to church identity (Bart D. Ehrman's The Apostolic Fathers, Volume I). He was among the first to clearly articulate the Church as a visible, organized body, famously writing: “Wherever the bishop appears, there let the people be; as wherever Jesus Christ is, there is the Catholic (Universal) Church” (Letter to the Smyrnaeans, 8:2).
Thomas C. Oden opens chapter 7 of Classic Christianity by seeking to answer this same critical question, tying its importance to the earliest baptismal confessions that “included some form of the solemn declaration: ‘I believe in the holy, catholic (universal) church.’” Therefore, the existence of a Church as a universal entity transcending brick and mortar, but spiritually established as a temple of living stones, was invoked in the earliest Church doctrinal statements (like the Nicene Creed). Therefore, We must beg the question “What is the Church?” we confess belief in (Oden, p. 690).
According to Oden, the Church is defined by devotion to 'the apostles’ teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and prayer' (Oden, p. 617, reflecting on Acts 2:42). He argues that all the essential elements of the church are embedded in this classic text. He describes it as a fourfold “précis of the church’s: (1) apostolic doctrine, (2) community life, (3) sacramental communion, (4) common worship” (Oden, p. 617). Oden’s thoughts mirror those of Ignatius. Beth Jones in Practicing Christian Doctrine offers a simpler definition: “The church of Jesus Christ is this joyous community: the community that rejoices in God’s gracious salvation” (Jones, p. 250). She strongly emphasizes the Church’s evangelistic mission, stating that it exists to “proclaim Christ’s peace to those ‘who were far off’ and to ‘those who were near’” (Eph. 2:17; Jones, p. 250).
However, Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s perspective in Life Together is most helpful in understanding the Church's true nature. He writes, “Christianity means community through Jesus Christ and in Jesus Christ. No Christian community is more or less than this” (Bonhoeffer, Life Together, p. 21). For Bonhoeffer, the Church is not something we have the power to create, but is a gracious gift established and given by God. He explains that Christian relationships are mediated through Christ: “A Christian needs others because of Jesus Christ. In Jesus Christ we have been chosen from eternity, accepted in time, and united for eternity” (Bonhoeffer, Life Together, p. 23). He concludes powerfully: “The Church is not a wish dream; it is a reality created by God in Christ in which we may participate” (Bonhoeffer, Life Together, p. 27).
Elements of each answer resonate deeply; they argue that the Church is more than a community bound by shared external values, practices, or even a unifying mission. The true community of the Church consists of those who have been spiritually and mystically born again, as Jesus declares in John 3:5: “Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit.” It is a community of those whose names have been “written in the Lamb’s book of life” (Revelation 21:27), a phrase that speaks to the eternal belonging of believers in God’s redeemed people. This spiritual reality, not merely organizational alignment or doctrinal agreement, ultimately defines the Church. A community composed of such born-again people will, by the inward working of the Holy Spirit, naturally express outward signs of worship, fellowship, spiritual life, and deep commitment to the person of Jesus, who stands as the mediator of our new shared covenant with God and one another.
It was in the upper room, in a foreshadowing of His death and resurrection, that Jesus established this New Covenant community around Himself, saying: “This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you” (Luke 22:20). In this moment, He redefined the basis of belonging—not by ancestry, law, or temple ritual, but by participation in His self-giving love, through His Holy Spirit, and by faith in His atonement as the entrance to new life and relationship with God and one another.
When Peter declares, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God,” Jesus responds, “Upon this rock I will build my Church” (Matthew 16:16-18). This statement is threefold: yes, referring to Peter as the first appointed leader, but also to all who, like Peter, carry that same unshakable revelation that Jesus is the Christ—God incarnate—and who align their lives accordingly. The Church is thus built not on human organizational structure alone, but on faith in the Spirit-given revelation of Christ’s true identity. Paul returns to this idea as the foundation when he writes, “Like a wise master builder, I laid a foundation, and someone else is building on it. But each one should build with care. For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ” (1 Corinthians 3:10–11).
II. What Is Wrong with the Church Today?
So, as we look at the present condition of the Church in which many have grown jaded or cynical regarding participation in the organized side of Western Church expressions, we must ask ourselves the question: Is this because we have not heeded Paul’s admonition and “built” with care around Christ alone?
The Corinthian church was divided, with different factions forming around leaders like Paul, Apollos, and Peter. Some believers were exalting human leaders rather than focusing on Christ, with the understanding that each had a part to play. Paul emphasizes that he and Apollos are merely servants: “I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth” (1 Cor. 3:6).
His warning to build only upon Christ was an admonition to avoid the very pitfall the Western Church and its present bizarre aberrations of celebrity Christianity have fallen headlong into. This critique is about more than taking shots at ‘preachers in sneakers’ and prosperity Christianity, which present a painfully easy target for an unprecedentedly cynical generation. Let it be noted that I know some godly men and women who also have pretty sweet sneakers.
The problem runs deeper than presentation or leadership styles—it’s about careless ecclesiological structure. Too often, even in some cases artfully guised under a veneer of false humility, we see models that exalt a singular person to the place reserved for Christ alone. In contrast, the biblical vision is a well-ordered, mutually submitted body of leadership, where each member plays their part under the lordship of Christ. I am blessed to sit under a positive model of such leadership at GateCity Church, imperfect but biblically rooted and committed to improvement. Simply put: if you put any human being in the position that belongs to Jesus, you will inevitably and repeatedly experience horrible disappointment.
III. How Do We Restore Trust in the Church?
So, how do we restore hope and confidence in the Church as an institution meriting trust? We return to the prescribed foundation. Again, we put Christ at the center in our worship, teaching, processes of discernment, and most importantly, our shared culture of lay and staff leadership. Of course, easier said than done; it isn’t as simple as giving all our leaders WWJD bracelets. We have grown so weary from the seemingly endless parade of sexual scandals, doctrinal compromise, and financial mismanagement. Still, churches that embrace this narrow and difficult apostolic path will offer a compelling alternative to a generation, both within and outside the Church.
Lastly, we must remember that these challenges, though heartwrenching, are not new. They have surfaced in every generation since the Church began. When Paul rebuked the Corinthians for tolerating behavior as grievous as a man marrying his stepmother (cf. 1 Corinthians 5:1), we see an illustration of this. The problem at the root of our contemporary crisis is not “Do we have enough processes to keep us safe from scandal?” or “Do we have clear doctrinal positions on such matters?” The more urgent question is whether we have an ecclesiastical leadership structure that actively weeds out false doctrine and resists the centralization of power in a single personality that allows broken people to perpetuate their brokenness through broken systems.
We must present an alternative that fosters vulnerability, shared authority, mutual accountability, and a Christ-centered, Christ-exalting witness. Scandals will still come—this is a broken world—but the mark of a faithful Church is not its moral perfection (especially as a healthy, holy Church should be regularly welcoming new believers emerging from a sin-saturated world), but its capacity to respond with godly responsibility, transparency, and humility when failure arises.
We must stress this will never be a “perfect” Church, but it can be trustworthy. Structures centered on Christ in spiritual practices, and rooted in shared leadership, will not only prevent some crises but also navigate them in a way that honors God and restores the witness of the Church.
The following blog is adapted from "What is the Church?"—a paper written for my Asbury Seminary Doctrines class.
