Eἐκκλησία {ek-klay-see'-ah}

The other night, I had an interesting chat with some friends on the topic of "church." Not my church, or any church in particular, but on the concept of church. Conclusions on what "should" and "shouldn't" be part of the overarching concept of church, or rather the way we, as Christians, gather, are often scattered and quite unsupported. Many gesticulate and give answers based on their ideologies, when really it's not up to us.

I must briefly pause to make an important comment. When I use the phrase "it's not up to us," I meant to say that God's plan and will should be taken as the ultimate authority. If you don't believe in God, or God as the Bible describes, then you can be completely removed from this discussion. The concept is not to be discussed according to your idea of God. If it were based on the myriad of different finite conceptions of God (or god, for that matter), one could never reach an answer - and I firmly believe that an answer can be reached.

The first step in this discussion involves a careful definition or attachment of meaning to the word "church." The New Testament was written originally in Koine Greek, while Jesus' words are in Aramaic Greek. The word church in Greek, "ekklesia," means "called out." Some would translate this to mean "called out by God," in the context of the Bible. This seems to point at the idea of a group of followers of a particular belief system. By the original definition, one can assert that there seem to be little original parameters attached to the concept of called. According to most sources, ekklesia can have many definitions based on context;

ἐκκλησία {ek-klay-see'-ah}:

1) a gathering of citizens called out from their homes into some public place, an assembly 1a) an assembly of the people convened at the public place of the council for the purpose of deliberating 1b) the assembly of the Israelites 1c) any gathering or throng of men assembled by chance, tumultuously 1d) in a Christian sense 1d1) an assembly of Christians gathered for worship in a religious meeting 1d2) a company of Christian, or of those who, hoping for eternal salvation through Jesus Christ, observe their own religious rites, hold their own religious meetings, and manage their own affairs, according to regulations prescribed for the body for order's sake 1d3) those who anywhere, in a city, village, constitute such a company and are united into one body 1d4) the whole body of Christians scattered throughout the earth 1d5) the assembly of faithful Christians already dead and received into heaven.

Part of our limitation of language is that, often enough, we cannot or do not have the literary devices to express meaning as it was originally intended. But, we do know that the actual parameters that outline ekklesia express it as a group or number of people have been "called out" of a typical cycle of life or belief.

At this point, it is safe to assume that there are some meanings that are taken in English that are not meant by the original word "ekklesia." Ekklesia does not refer to or define; the clergy or a religious body, the building of a congregational meeting, or a denomination.

Moving on, we must examine the word of church as it is used in context. One of the first very clear indications I have spotted occurs in Act 8:3. Here it states, "But Saul began to destroy the church. Going from house to house, he dragged off men and women and put them in prison." It is clear that the author intended the word church to refer to the group of individuals that Saul was persecuting. In Acts 13:1, like in other areas of the Bible, it begins to enumerate the different parts of the church by stating, "In the church at Antioch there were prophets and teachers." Thus, one can assert that the term church, although subdivided into different parts, does not, in itself, assume the existence of particular individuals of note, although these may be part of the overall subdivisions thereof. Romans 16:5 also asserts the range of this term in context of what numbers it may enumerate; "Greet also the church that meets at their house." In this case, it seem that the term church refers to a handful of people. 1 Corinthians 1:2 gives direct reference to the original term of ekklesia in the following manner: "To the church of God in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus and called to be holy, together with all those everywhere who call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ—their Lord and ours."

In various places in the Bible, the intent of the term church seems to be outlined quite specifically. Ephesians 3:10-11 states, "His intent was that now, through the church, the manifold wisdom of God should be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms, according to his eternal purpose which he accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord." Colossians 1:24 states, "Now I rejoice in what was suffered for you, and I fill up in my flesh what is still lacking in regard to Christ's afflictions, for the sake of his body, which is the church." From these passages it seems apparent that the church was created as part of the body of Christ and thus it will reflect and show the wisdom of God.

The next step, I would imagine, is examination. How well does the "church" live up to its meaning? What have we come to believe about the "church" that isn't true? How are we acting as part of this term?