Why Do You Say The Church Is Invisible?

Q

In your About Our Beliefs page, you say that the only true church is that invisible body of believers from all walks of life and every denomination and faith who have trusted Him and only Him for their redemption. Why do you say “invisible”? As Christians, we should be as visible as the Holy Spirit leads, shouldn’t we?

A

I say the true Church is invisible because there’s no way for us to tell whether another person is born again or not. It’s a matter of their heart which only the Lord can discern.

Some people think they can tell another person’s spiritual condition by observing their behavior but that doesn’t work because we can only see external actions. We can’t see the internal motives behind those actions. They could be following the Lord’s direction with pure motives or they could be acting on their own initiative with impure motives and there’s no way for us to tell which is which.

To us a person’s life could look like the finest gold, silver, and precious stones whereas the Lord could see it as wood hay and straw (1 Cor 3:10-15). Or the opposite could be true. We could think a person’s Christian life has mostly been a waste, but to the Lord it could be worth the highest commendation.

This is why Paul warned us not to judge anything before the appointed time, but to wait until the Lord comes. He will bring to light what is hidden in darkness and expose the motives of men’s hearts (1 Cor. 4:5).