Friday 22 January 2010

WHAT IS CHURCH?

Church
Our English word 'church' is derived from the Greek 'kuriakon,' meaning 'dedicated to the Lord,' a word commonly used to refer to a holy place or temple, and came to mean a sacred building. The problem is it is never used in Scripture in reference to the Body of Christ, the church'.

The original Greek word that we transalte 'church' is 'ekklesia' which simply refers to an 'assembly,' a group of people gathered together for a purpose. It's therefore not a special building, nor an individual, or two or three people meeting together for coffee in Starbucks, even if it is in 'the name of Jesus.'

Organism
Today it is common to speak of the church as an 'organism' as opposed to an 'organisation,' the idea being that an organism has life and fluidity. There is also the suggestion within it that organisms can function without structure. The reality though is otherwise. All complex life forms have structure, structure and life go together, e.g. the human body.

The church likewise is NOT ‘amorphous,’ that is having no definite form, shapeless, without structure, as some would suggest.

The pictures we have in the Bible tell us otherwise:

• A Body: (Eph. 1;23; Rom 12:5) It's not meant to be taken literally, but rather speaks of connection and function – purpose is to oppose divisions. It’s about love & respect,the importance of all, and their need of each other, and that they are not interchangeable parts.

• Citizens: speaks of a well ordered society (Eph.2:19)

• A Household: speaks of family order and relationship (Eph. 2:19)

• A Temple: speaks of structure and the dwelling place of God (Eph. 2:21)

• A Bride: speaks of a ‘person’, love & loyalty to Christ (Eph. 5: 25-32)

So church then is an assembly gathered and structured for a purpose.

1. To be a people gathered before, under, and for the Lord – we are here first and foremost for God. Eph. 1:3-14; 2:21,22

2. To be a new man, a new society/new community – redeemed lives that are experiencing personal and relational transformation as we come under the authority of the Word and gathered community. Note: Personal growth is directly related to relational growth. Eph. 2:15, 19; 5

3. To be a city set on a hill – a light to the world. The church is not a castle to protect us from the world, but a place from which we go out into the world, to serve the purposes of the King.Matthew 5:14.

Therefore we should "not forake the assembling of ourselves together ...." Heb.10:25

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