{"id":37256,"date":"2021-05-29T16:25:00","date_gmt":"2021-05-29T20:25:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/?p=37256"},"modified":"2021-06-02T14:21:31","modified_gmt":"2021-06-02T18:21:31","slug":"the-church-of-god","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/the-church-of-god\/","title":{"rendered":"The Church of God: More Than Just a Building"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>What should a true church of God be like? What is the one and only true rule of church?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Author Bob Goff believes that a church is a place for all people to come together to do God&#8217;s work, despite their differences. He says that the only rule is to treat everyone with love, no exceptions. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Continue reading to hear Bob Goff&#8217;s idea of the church of God.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<!--more-->\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>A Church of God Is More Than a Building<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Jesus&#8217;s prayer was for us to come together as one, the way He did with God. There are many religious denominations that all aim to serve God. This common goal makes all denominations one church of God. <strong>You can be <em>with<\/em> others without needing to be the <em>same<\/em> as them.&nbsp;<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In the grand church of Jesus, no one is turned away because of differences or mistakes. There are no rules to follow beyond treating everyone with love, and no one is excluded. But some have taken God\u2019s love to be different for different people. Buildings were constructed in His honor, and separation of His worshippers became the standard practice. But God told you that He doesn\u2019t exist in buildings. He is inside of every person He made in His image.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Excluding people or admonishing them for their lives is not <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/fulfill-gods-purpose-for-your-life\/\">fulfilling God\u2019s purpose<\/a>. When you shun people who are not like you, you betray Jesus. Jesus doesn\u2019t want you to fight in His name. He wants you to love in a way that makes others feel as though they are in God\u2019s presence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The true nature of a church is coming together with God and each other. There is no specific location required. Where there is a group gathered to do God\u2019s work, there is a church. <strong>Even if you don\u2019t literally attend church, if you seek to become love and live as Jesus did, you are part of the church of God.<\/strong>&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>God refers to His church as his bride. The symbolism is one of an intimate relationship that exists forever. He loves you unconditionally, even your flaws, and accepts you for <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/your-genius\/\">who you are<\/a>. A bride is beautiful and enchanting. No one criticizes a bride; they stand in awe of her. To truly be part of God\u2019s church, put away your differences, and recognize one another as the brides you are.&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>What should a true church of God be like? What is the one and only true rule of church? Author Bob Goff believes that a church is a place for all people to come together to do God&#8217;s work, despite their differences. He says that the only rule is to treat everyone with love, no exceptions. Continue reading to hear Bob Goff&#8217;s idea of the church of God.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":37287,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[43,6],"tags":[299],"class_list":["post-37256","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-self-improvement","category-spiritual","tag-everybody-always","","tg-column-two"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v24.3 (Yoast SEO v24.3) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>The Church of God: More Than Just a Building - Shortform Books<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Everybody, Always author Bob Goff says that a church should be a place where all are welcome who serve God, despite their differences.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/the-church-of-god\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Church of God: More Than Just a Building\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Everybody, Always author Bob Goff says that a church should be a place where all are welcome who serve God, despite their differences.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/the-church-of-god\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Shortform Books\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2021-05-29T20:25:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2021-06-02T18:21:31+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/wordpress.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/church.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"941\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"550\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Hannah Aster\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Hannah Aster\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/the-church-of-god\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/the-church-of-god\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Hannah Aster\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/f39f52830e4f7039a16e45d12354542f\"},\"headline\":\"The Church of God: More Than Just a Building\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-05-29T20:25:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-06-02T18:21:31+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/the-church-of-god\/\"},\"wordCount\":414,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/the-church-of-god\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/church.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Everybody Always\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Self-Improvement\",\"Spiritual\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/the-church-of-god\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/the-church-of-god\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/the-church-of-god\/\",\"name\":\"The Church of God: More Than Just a Building - 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