This question really comes down to ecclesiology.  Most of us would agree that the church is not a worship service.  But do we live it?  Here’s a quick rundown of what most of us agree on.  The word church comes from the Greek word ekklesia commonly understood as an assembly (that word brings back haunting memories of high school).  There are a few common biblical analogies we quote.

1. The People of God. 2 Corinthians 6:16, Exodus 15:13, Numbers 14:8
2. The Body of Christ. Ephesians 1:22-23, 1 Corinthians 12:27
3. The Temple of the Holy Spirit. 1 Corinthians 3:16-17, Ephesians 2:21-22
4. The Bride of Christ. Ephesians 5:22-33, Revelation 21:9-10

The thing is our doctrine doesn’t match our practice.  For about 17 centuries the church in the West has largely been an institution centered around a worship service.  The worship service is the primary paradigm for church rather than any of the analogies from Scripture.  Brought to its logical conclusion, when the church is a worship service, discipleship is measured in attendance and offering (to perpetuate the institution).  Placed in the American consumer culture, tithes and offerings become a way to pay for the services.  It’s a consumer transaction.  Don’t believe me?  Next, Sunday announce that you won’t be having a worship service anymore and see what happens to offerings.  Take a look at the primary activities of a church: worship service, bible study group, youth/children’s programs.  All three of these are consumer environments where Christians are encouraged by the nature of the activities to be passive participants.  This again is feeding into the consumer driven culture.  So is “church” transforming culture or has culture transformed “church”?

Many church planters struggle during the pre-launch phase of church planting because they aren’t yet holding worship services.  Some of them honestly don’t know what to do.  I see church planters being hesitant to engage people, because they don’t have a worship service to invite them to.  Somewhere along the way our doctrine stopped influencing our actions.  Every church planter needs to wrestle with this and ask the question how will we be the church without a worship service.  Even if you figure it out, your work isn’t done.  As you connect with people in the community, they will think of church as a worship service or an institution.  How are you going to break them of that?

I think the key lies in discipleship.  Spend some time reading the Bible and jot down what a disciple of Jesus does, how are they transformed, and how do they interact with those who don’t know Jesus?  Discipleship is way more than properly educating people, so as you discover what a disciple is, begin to center on a pattern of rhythms or a way of life.  Encourage people to begin living that way.  Hold each other accountable in love.

Alan Hirsch described the church in the West with this analogy.  He said that when a master chess player teaches a novice to play chess, they remove the queen from the board.  The novice learns to play chess without the queen.  Once the novice understands how to use all the pieces on the board, the master puts the queen back in the game.  Alan said that church planters need to first learn how to be the church without the worship service (the queen for the church in the West).  Note that this analogy doesn’t imply the queen is bad.  In fact, its the most important piece.  But it becomes much more effective when all the other pieces are used.  This post is in no way a bash on the worship service.

I remember a couple of years ago at Exponential someone asked Andy Stanley about what would happen if persecution came to the Church in the US.  Andy comment stood out to me.  He said our church wouldn’t miss a beat.  It would continue to exist and thrive through small groups.  He said that North Point is persecution resistant because every element of church exists in their small groups.  Through the Future Travelers, I’m seeing many mega-churches leading the way in re-imagining the Church.  They are awakening to what we have known all along that church is not a worship service.  So don’t plant a worship service; plant a church.  If you’re not sure of the difference, make sure to learn how to use all the other pieces before you use the worship service.