The article linked in the op ..this is it.
Warning: This tiny post can mess with your head!
In this blog post I will do three things: Firstly, I will give you a very quick and simple study on two words, the English word “church” and the Greek word “Ekklesia”. Secondly, I share a tiny bit of history. Thirdly, I will tell you why it matters – and what to do about it. In the end, I link to resources for you to see if it’s all true.
Here we go!
Church and Ekklesia
Every word in the New Testament is translated from a Greek word. Behind the word ‘church’ in your English Bible translation, you find the Greek word ‘ekklesia’.
The English word ‘church’ could origin from several different places, for example:
“kyriakon”, used of houses of Christian worship
“kyriake oikia/doma”, meaning the “lord’s house”
“Cirice” referring to a place of worship
The Greek word ‘ekklesia’ is a Greek word meaning “a group of people who come together with a purpose”.
Now you might think: “Wait a minute! Didn’t you just say that ‘ekklesia’ is an assembly of people and ‘church’ is something with places and houses?”
Yes, I did.
Your next thought might be then: “Why then do we translate ‘ekklesia’ with ‘church’ when it’s clearly not the same thing?!“
Let me tell you.
History time
The word ‘church’ wasn’t in the first English Bible translations made from the original Hebrew and Greek (the Tyndale from 1524) . Except in two places where ‘church’ meant a place of idol worship.
Then King James authorised a new Bible translation. He made 15 specific rules for this new translation. Number three was: use the word ‘church’ when translating ‘ekklesia’.
Now, why on earth would anyone make a specific rule about this?!
My guess? Because using ‘church’ meant control of structures and traditions of the institution in a way not possible if ‘ekklesia’ was allowed to be translated into something meaning people gathering anywhere, anytime and in any way with the purpose of serving Jesus, e.g. ‘assembly’ or ‘congregation’.
Does it matter?
Now, some would say: “Oh, but does this really matter? Don’t we all understand what church means?” Yes, it matters, and no, people don’t understand. Today, a majority of people in the West envision a church being the building you go to on Sundays and the activities of listening to the priest preach, sing songs and pray – and maybe pay tithe to support it all.
If we think that Jesus talked about this when saying: “I will build my ekklesia”, we are grossly misinterpreting the Word of God.
Jesus did not talk or care about buildings and programs. See, Jesus talked very little about “ekklesia” – only three times, all in Matthew. And he most certainly never talked about “church” as defined above.
Yet, we are occupied with a church-planting, -planning, -meeting, -structure, -system, -activities and a lot of other church stuff. And every week new books about new ways of planting, growing and multiplying house churches, mega churches, organic churches and other churches are published.
What then?
What does this mean for you then? It means: get rid of the guilt. If you ever felt guilty about not showing up for a church meeting, not financing the church building, worrying about the lack of church growth or other things of the sort – then stop. Jesus never asked you to do this.
Remember, Jesus said that he would grow his assembly of believers. Not us. We are to make disciples – and stop worrying about God doing His job properly. Anytime, anywhere and in any way you fellowship with like-minded believers who obey Jesus, you are “ekklesia”; exactly what Jesus talked about.
Try this small exercise from here on: substitute ‘church’ with ‘fellowship’ or ‘assembly’ every time you read it in your Bible or hear it spoken. It will change your perspective on your Christian life – and makes perfect sense.
If this was interesting or you have something to share and add to it, let me know in the comments below. And please do share this.
Blessings,
André Jao
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i cant contact Andre at present (he is visiting he states at present working on the next lastreformaton movie (the life) but i'm sure he wont mind me posting all this for discussion .
this is his blogsite
http://andrejao.com/ -when i get in touch with him i will remove it if he requires it . but i'm confident he won't mind .
it has a few very good, short articles, on it .challenging dead traditions of differing types . read the "about me ' section for more background .
