Abraham Heschel on Phenomenology

"knowing what you see rather than seeing what you know."  Abraham Heschel

Local Churches = Para-churches

Thought #45 - Local Churches are actually para-church organizations.

Any community of faith that organizes and formalizes is a distinct manifestation or expression of the entirety of what it means to be church - thereby qualifying themselves as an aspect of what it means to be church.

Therefore, they cannot be what the church is in its entirety. This qualifies them as a para-church, not a church. Church then becomes more of a "way of life" that requires a distinct community of faith, but is not only a distinct community of faith.

All ministries, religious non-profits, development agencies, mission agencies...and local churches are actually all para-churches, but together they comprise the church.