Ekklesia: Where is the Church?

Word of the Week

November 2, 2024

Ekklēsia: Where Is the Church?

 

. . .upon this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades will not overpower it.

Matthew 16:18b NASB95

We were driving through Germany and Austria in an aged Opel – on a 1983 missions trip – and we could always tell when we were nearing a town.  Surrounded by rolling countryside, we could see a tall, thin spire jutting upward in the distance.  Topped by a cross, it was the village church, the focal point of the community.  You never had to ask, “Where is the church?”

Most of us today find the church with our GPS, not steeple-chasing. But either way, we are looking for a location, a building.  “Church” means “a place where religious services are held.”

We sometimes use the word to describe a scheduled meeting: “Church is at 10 AM.”  Or we may use it for an entire denomination like “the United Methodist Church.”

All of those are legitimate entries in the dictionary, but none of them match what the New Testament means when it mentions “church.”

Let’s take a closer look at the Greek word for “church” in the New Testament so we can avoid confusion as we read the Scriptures.

The Greek word for “church” is ekklēsia [eck-lay-SEE-ah].  It occurs over 100 times in the New Testament, but it has a history that goes back to ancient Greece.  City-states like Athens gathered all of the qualified citizens of the town to enact laws or make major decisions.  This assembly was called the ekklēsia, a word constructed from two smaller words that meant “to call out.”  The citizens of Athens were called from their private affairs to participate in the assembly, where they elected officials, declared war, and signed civic contracts.  The assembly might act as a court for serious charges like treason.  Although each session opened with prayers and sacrifices to the gods, it was a civic meeting, not a religious one.

The New Testament provides one passage where ekklēsia is used in this secular sense.  Acts 19 chronicles the time when Paul’s ministry touched off a riot.  So many people had turned from idols to Christ that the idol-making business was in a slump.  So a silversmith named Demetrius stirred up the crowds and produced a flash-mob protesting the Christians.  They poured into the local amphitheater, which could hold 25,000, launching a two-hour demonstration.  Eventually the city administrator managed to calm the crowd.

Luke uses ekklēsia for two separate ideas here.

(1) The mob crowded into the amphitheater was an ekklēsia.

. . . the assembly was in confusion, and the majority did not know for what reason they had come together (Acts 19:32).

(2) The city administrator scolded the rioters, reminding them that they could bring up their complaints at the regularly scheduled meeting of the city assembly.

But if you want anything beyond this, it shall be settled in the lawful assembly (Acts 19:39).

That’s what the word meant in secular Greek/Roman society.  But it had a different flavor in the Greek Old Testament.  The Septuagint translation used it often to translate Hebrew words that described the assembled people of Israel.  This usage also appears in the New Testament.

When Stephen was reviewing the history of Israel in his defense before the Sanhedrin, he referred to Moses,

• . . . the one who was in the assembly in the wilderness (Acts 7:38; see also Hebrews 2:12).

Despite the occasional use of secular or Old Testament concepts for ekklēsia, the clear majority of New Testament passages used the word with a fresh meaning.  We consistently express this new idea by translating it with the word “church.”

Church in the New Testament is not a building or a meeting.  It is not a denomination.  It refers to people.

1. Ekklēsia usually means a group of believers in Jesus who are located in a particular place.

               It could be in a city – “the church in Jerusalem” (Acts 8:1)

               It could be in a province – “the churches of Asia” (1 Corinthians 16:19)

It could be in a household – “also greet the church that is in their [Aquila and Priscilla’s] house” (Romans                   16:5).

Used in this sense, it describes a fellowship of Christ-followers who meet for worship and ministry under the guidance of mature leaders, spreading the good news of the gospel to the unsaved.  There could be multiple assemblies in a city or region, each one aptly described as a church. We sometimes describe this as the local church.

2. Ekklēsia can also be used to describe the universal church – the aggregate body of all believers in all places and at all times during this age. When Jesus said that He would “build his church” in Matthew 16:18, we was not talking about a building program for a new sanctuary for your local congregation.

The apostle Paul expanded on this meaning in epistles like Ephesians, where he explained that the church was something new and previously unrevealed, where Jews and Gentiles would come together on an equal footing.

• [The Father] made Him head over all things to the church (Ephesians 1:22).

• . . . so that the multifaceted wisdom of God might now be made known through the church to the rulers and the authorities in the heavenly places (Ephesians 3:10).

How encouraging to know that we are fellow-members of a church that spans the globe.  It is vital to have the face-to-face fellowship of a local congregation, but it is also inspiring to realize that we are also linked to believers in Bangladesh, Belgium, and Zimbabwe.

And the church includes believers of all eras in church history.  People like Augustine and John Wesley may be worshipping God in heaven, but they are also members of the invisible church along with us. The Lord hears our worship just as clearly as the worship around the throne.

The bottom line:  Where is the church?  It is wherever God’s people are found.  Not buildings, not organizational structures, but people following Jesus together.

 

Study Hint:

Here’s a helpful project for you:  The word ekklēsia appears only twice in the Gospels, but it is very common from Acts onwards.  Start reading through the New Testament from Acts to Revelation and mark every time you find the word “church.”  In each verse, try to decide whether it is describing a local church or the universal church.  At times, this can be tricky, because each local church is a manifestation of the invisible church.  However, the study is worthwhile.

 

Coming Up

The founding fathers of the church were the apostles.  Next week we will examine the Greek word for “apostle” to build a clearer picture of this foundational group of leaders.

©Ezra Project 2024