The Church

I have been thinking a lot about the word "church" lately. Ekklesia is the word you see every time you read the word "church" in the New Testament. The word "church" itself is not so much the issue, but rather it is its modern connotation. Most people think of the church as a building or a place, but the word Ekklesia technically means "assembly" or "congregation." So when we refer to the church as a place, we are adding to a misconception. When you go to church, are you going to a place or to a people? Or how about this... does a church need to be a building at all? Can a church be in a warehouse or a mall? (see Mars Hill Grand Rapids). How about an apartment? (See the Fusion Model). I'll take it a step further... why not a bar? Why oh why could a church not be in a bar?

When we can finally BE the church instead of GO to church, that's when we are being Christ-like. There is nothing wrong with having a building to "church" in, but what building did Jesus use? As a matter of fact, I seem to remember him going OUT to people. I believe he often met in peoples houses, public squares, on mountainsides.

This is the church... the church of Christ-followers. We are the assembly of believers. We are the congregation of the renewed. We are sinner and slave, prostitute and thief, Jew and Gentile, American and Ugandan. We are the light of the world and we are the salt of the Earth. We are called to make disciples not play Ekklesia. We are called to more than our pleasures or our demands. We are called to put others before ourselves. We are called by a Christ standing on the shore saying "Come, and I will make you fishers of men."

I pray that I can be the church and not play the church. I pray that I can be a part of a cultural shift that shows those that say they know Jesus, going to people and sharing truth and life with a hurting world. I pray for us as the "church" that we can change the misconceptions.