What is the church

The Marks and Mission of the Church

Acts 2:42 · The church, the people of God

From its first days the church has been marked by a handful of things it does together: it devotes itself to the teaching of Scripture, to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the ordinances, and to prayer, gathered in worship around Christ. And it is sent: given the mission to go into all the world and make disciples. Worship, the word, the ordinances, fellowship, and mission are the heartbeat of the church in every age.

And they continued stedfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers.Acts 2:42 (KJV)

The marks of the first church

Right after the church was born at Pentecost, Luke gives us a snapshot of what it did. They continued stedfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers. In that single verse are the enduring marks of the church. It gives itself to the teaching of the apostles, which is our Scripture. It shares a real fellowship. It breaks bread, at common meals and at the Lord's table. And it prays.

These are not add-ons or programs. They are what the church is for. Wherever the church is healthy, in any century and any culture, you will find these same things: the word of God taught and treasured, believers sharing life together, the ordinances kept, and prayer rising. Everything else the church does grows from this simple, ancient core.

It is striking how plain the list is. There is nothing here about impressive buildings, clever programs, or crowds. The first church, which turned the world upside down, was marked by teaching, fellowship, bread, and prayer. A church can have every modern advantage and lack these things, or have almost nothing and possess them all. When you look for a church home, these four marks are worth far more than size or style, because they are the signs of real life.

Worship and the word at the center

Above all, the church gathers to worship. The same passage in Acts shows the early believers praising God, continuing daily with gladness and singleness of heart. Worship is the church turning its whole attention to God, in song and prayer and reverence, giving him what he alone deserves. And near the heart of that worship is the word of God, read, preached, and obeyed, because it is through Scripture that Christ speaks to and shapes his people.

A church that stops worshiping, or stops listening to the word, loses its life, because both point it back to Christ, who is its head. The teaching is not there to fill time but to feed faith. The worship is not there to entertain but to exalt God. When a church keeps Christ and his word at the center, everything else finds its proper place around them.

This is also what keeps a church from drifting into merely being a social club or a cause. Good works and warm fellowship are wonderful, but on their own they are not worship, and a church that forgets God at the center slowly forgets why it exists. The mark of a living church is that God himself is the point: that people come not mainly to be entertained or even helped, but to meet him, and go away having done business with the living God.

The ordinances and true fellowship

Jesus left his church two visible signs of the gospel, which most traditions call the ordinances or sacraments: baptism, the washing that marks entry into his people, and the Lord's supper, the bread and cup that proclaim his death until he comes. In them the gospel is not only heard but seen and tasted. Christians differ on exactly how these signs work and how often to keep them, but all hold that Christ gave them and that they belong to the life of the church.

Alongside the ordinances is fellowship, which is far more than friendliness. The early church shared their lives and even their possessions, breaking bread from house to house. Fellowship means a real sharing of life: burdens carried, needs met, sins confessed and forgiven, joys celebrated. It is the family life of the church, and it is one of the surest signs that Christ is truly among a people.

There is something quietly powerful about the fact that Jesus gave his church a meal. He did not leave mainly a philosophy or a set of rules, but bread and a cup to share, and a table to gather around. It is a picture of the whole thing: people who could never earn a seat, welcomed to eat together because of his broken body and shed blood. Every time the church breaks bread, it preaches the gospel to itself and remembers that it lives entirely on what Christ has given.

Sent into all the world

The church does not exist only for itself. Before he ascended, Jesus gave it a mission: Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, teaching them to observe all he had commanded, with the promise, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. This is the Great Commission, and it turns the gathered church outward toward the world.

So a healthy church is never only a huddle for insiders. It is a people sent, to love their neighbors, care for the poor, speak of Jesus, and carry the good news to those who have never heard. The marks of the church and the mission of the church belong together: gathered around Christ, and scattered for Christ, until every nation has heard that he is Lord. And his promise to be with his church always is what makes the mission possible.

Gathered and scattered, breathing in and out

It helps to see the marks and the mission as one rhythm, like breathing. The church breathes in when it gathers to worship, hear the word, keep the ordinances, and pray, drawing life from Christ its head. Then it breathes out when it scatters into homes and workplaces and neighborhoods, carrying his love and his good news into the week. A church that only gathers grows stale, and a church that only serves runs dry. The two belong together.

This is good news for anyone wondering where they fit. You do not have to choose between loving God and loving your neighbor, between depth and mission, between the gathering and the world. The same Christ who feeds his church on Sunday sends it out on Monday, and promises to be with it the whole way. To belong to a church is to be caught up in that rhythm: fed by Christ, and sent by Christ, as part of a family on mission until he comes.

None of these marks are tests you must pass before you are welcome. They are the life you are invited into. You do not have to arrive already devoted to Scripture, skilled at prayer, or confident in mission. You come as you are, and the ordinary practices of the church, the word, the worship, the bread and cup, the shared life, are the means by which Christ meets you and makes you his own. If you are looking in from the outside, the invitation is simply to come and join the things Jesus gave his people to do, and to find him at the center of them.

Across the traditions: Traditions keep these marks in different orders and forms, and they number and name the ordinances or sacraments differently. We do not press one pattern here. What unites the whole church is that it gathers around Christ in word, worship, the ordinances, fellowship, and prayer, and is sent by him into the world.

An honest word: No church keeps these marks perfectly. Churches grow cold, neglect the poor, argue over secondary things, and forget their mission. The call is not to a flawless church but to a repenting one, always returning to Christ its head and to the simple things his first people did.

Related: What is the church · Church leadership · Find a church near you · What is the church