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When we can properly define “The Church,” then we can separate the criticism of the institution from the saints. One deserves the criticism the other deserves encouragement. I believe that a great part of the problem lies in the fact that after countless centuries of indoctrination by the traditions of men, we have come to identify ” The Church,” as an inanimate object. We call the building church, but can we find that anywhere in the Scriptures? In every single instance in the New Testament when the word ” church,” was mentioned it was referring to people. Yet most often the very first question we want to know when we talk to someone is ” what church do you belong to?” The very nature of that question underlies the problem. Don’t you belong to Christ? The actual Church, whether universal or local, is the Body of Christ. Being part of that, having our commonality in Christ and by the indwelling Spirit of God is something that joins us and unites us. The very first thing the aforementioned question does is divide us.
When you closely study every mention of ” church,” in the new Testament it is, in every single instance, singular. It is never mentioned in plural in regard to towns and cities, only in regard to regions. And so there would be the church at Ephesus or Corinth or Rome or Thessalonica or Philippi and so on. Here are some examples of the language of the Apostle……………….
A Call To The Remnant 