The Ekklesia: the assembling of those in Christ
I enjoy reading John’s blog. His posts are always encouraging and usually stretch me in thinking about Jesus Christ. His latest post is no different: “Getting Reacquainted with the Ekklesia.”
At the beginning of the post, John explains why he has decided not to use the English term “church,” and instead to use the transliteration “ekklesia.” While I do continue to use the word “church,” I can certainly understand and appreciate his reasoning and decision.
The remainder of the post is a “fleshing” out, if you will, of the ekklesia, primarily as it refers to the body of Christ. For example, consider this excellent paragraph:
Another wonderful picture is given to us of this assembling of those in Christ, a picture of a body with a Head. The brothers and sisters have the living God by the Spirit dwelling in them and are “hidden with Christ in God” and not only that but Christ is now our life! (Col. 3:3-4) This body, when it gathers together with Christ as Head, is in truth assembling our Lord together. “Christ is the head of the ekklesia, his body, of which he is the Savior.” (Eph. 5:23) Every brother and sister must live by the life of Christ in the gathering, the ekklesia, in order for the fullness of the Lord to be assembled, for Christ to be made manifest in glory. He must be the Head, the Source, the King in her midst. The brothers and sisters “gather to eat” (1 Cor. 11:33) to feed on Christ, who is life. For “the Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing.” (John 6:57,63) When “the whole ekklesia comes together” it is for the purpose of being “built up” to “be mutually encouraged by each other’s faith.” (1 Cor. 14:23,26; Rom. 1:12). This is following “the way of love.” (1 Cor. 14:1) It is loving one another by the life of Christ, according to the measure of the gift given to each. Each brother and sister freely functioning by the Spirit in them to one another, through one another; that is to say through Christ in them, to Christ in them, and for Christ in them. “In all of them and in everyone it is the same God at work.” (1 Cor. 12:6) So like a body which is assembled and works organically, hidden as it were, by the source of its head so to the body of Christ when it assembles functions organically by the spiritual life of Christ, its Source, its Head. And what is amazing is that the Father already sees the ekklesia already assembled with the Son as Head! The Father has already “placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the ekklesia, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way.” (Eph. 1:22-23) So as the body assembles together we are in reality manifesting what the Father already sees assembled in His Son. As we assemble together may “we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.” (Eph. 4:13) Brothers and sisters the Lord has an assembled body in view not a disassembled body of believers. May we have such a view of the ekkelsia, His body.
I would echo John’s wish/prayer, “May we have such a view of the ekklesia, His body,” and then add, “And may we live among one another and the world as the ekklesia, His body.”
Thanks, John!
If I believed in the resurrection…
My friend Lionel from “A View from the Woods” has been away for a while. But, he came back into the blogging world yesterday with a huge post called “10 Reasons I Don’t Believe in the Resurrection!!!!”
Before you start throwing around the term “heresy,” you should definitely read his post. You may even find that, like Lionel, you don’t live as if you believe in the resurrection either.
What is he talking about? Well, here are four of Lionel’s reasons:
1. If I believed in the resurrection, the American dream would be appalling.
2. If I believed in the resurrection I would support missions wrecklessly.
3. If I believed in the resurrection I wouldn’t be embarrassed about Jesus.
4. If I believed in the resurrection I would forgive as I have been forgiven.
So, I have to admit, sometimes I live as if I don’t believe the resurrection of Jesus Christ actually happened…
Excerpts from The Subversion of Christianity
I’ve published my first “real” post for “Under Christ’s Archy” called “Excerpts from The Subversion of Christianity – The Contradictions.”
The purpose of the post is to promote discussion based on some excerpts from the first chapter (“The Contradictions”) of Jacques Ellul’s book The Subversion of Christianity (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1986).
Here are a couple of the excerpts:
How has it come about that the development of Christianity and the church has given birth to a society, a civilization, a culture that are completely opposite to what we read in the Bible, to what is indisputably the text of the law, the prophets, Jesus and Paul? (p 3)
What Jesus says is that those who hear his words and do them are like the one who builds on the rock. In other words, the rock is hearing and doing. The second part, however, is more restrictive. Those who hear the words he speaks and do not do them are like the one who builds on the sand. Here undoubtedly practice alone is the issue. We can thus say that it is the decisive criterion of life and truth. (p 5)
Jump over to the post, read the other excerpts, and interact with the question that I ask there.
Under Christ’s Archy
I’ve been invited to participate in another web project. This one is called “Under Christ’s Archy,” and it’s coordinated by Henry Neufeld of Energion Publications.
Several people who read / comment on my blog are part of this project also, including Arthur and Eric. You can read about all the contributors here. I think you’ll find that Henry has invited a very diverse group of people to take part in this project, which promises to create great dialog and discussion on this topic.
So, what does “Under Christ’s Archy” mean? Well, Henry tells us on the home page (responding to something that Geoff, one of the contributors, wrote):
I think that practical application is a real need, and as a result I came up with the idea of a web site dedicated to looking at practical things we can do to live under Christ’s archy. For those who have not read the book [Christian Archy by David Alan Black], living under Christ’s archy means putting the authority of Jesus above all other authorities. It means not giving our allegiance to political systems, but first to the gospel.
Furthermore, Henry tells us about the content we can expect from the site:
What will the site contain?
- Original articles on practical actions to take in the home, church, and society to live under Christ’s rule
- Links to articles and blog posts that are relevant
- Discussion
- Questions answered by the various project participants
- Resource lists
Each contributor (myself included) has agreed to write at least one post per month dealing with the concept of Christ’s rule in our lives, in the church, in politics, in education, in theology, etc.
So far, each contributor has written an “introduction” post. You can find all of those posts and any future posts under the heading “blog and discussion.” Plus, my introduction post is called “Sticking my toes in the waters of ‘Christian Archy’.”
I hope you decide to take part in this new project. Perhaps the best way to follow the conversation (for now) is to bookmark the page or to add the site to your reader.
Please let us know what you think about the project.
The Lord’s Supper in Context
Jeff at “Until All Have Heard” has written a great post about the Lord’s Supper called “Understanding the Lord’s Supper in its Historical Context.”
He steps through several passages in the New Testament to show that what we call “the Lord’s Supper” was a meal shared among the church. In the post, Jeff mentions Jude 1:12, Acts 27:33-36, Matthew 14:19-20, 1 Corinthians 11:29, Acts 20:7, and other passages.
His conclusion is well worth considering – whatever you think about the Lord’s Supper:
My hope and prayer for the church is that we would rediscover our dynamic New Testament roots and once again gather together on the first day of the week to break bread.
– We would share our food with each other and our spiritual gifts.
– We would linger long at the table and celebrate the Lord’s goodness in our lives and together “proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes.” (I Cor 11:26)
Now, I’m not concerned with only how we “gather together on the first day of the week,” but instead, how do we “break bread” together any time we come together?
Still, this is a great exhortation for the church.
What do you think?
The church and our role among the brothers and sisters
Jonathan at “Jon’s Journey” has written many good posts. But, his last two posts are right on the mark.
In the first post, “Recognize Church,” he lists various common misconceptions concerning what defines the church… things like buildings, Sunday morning events, organization… and you could add leadership, or membership, or many other things.
So, what does define the church? What makes a group the church?
This is Jonathan’s answer:
Jesus talks simply of when two or three are gathered in His name. Church (ecclesia) was a word used to refer to an assembly or democratic gathering. We see in other New Testament passages the early believers also used the term church to refer to all the believers in a geographical area. So in my mind church is simply believers and whenever they get together.
The question then becomes: As the church, what do we do when we gather together with other brothers and sisters in Christ?
Jonathan answers this question in his next post “My Role with Church.”
He looks at several different passages of Scripture and concludes with this:
That the whole body works together, to build up the body to become mature and more like Christ. So that we can be Christ’s living body in our world today.
And I think that is the role for each of us as we get together with other believers (the church – whenever and wherever).
I think Jonathan is on to something with both of these posts. Instead of trying to distinguish ourselves from other Christians, what if we sought to help one another grow in maturity in Christ no matter who, when, and where we are meeting together?
Replay: Seeing your community through the “ideal” filter
Three years ago, I wrote a post called “Seeing your community through the ‘ideal’ filter.” The point of the post is that no group of believers – no church – is perfect. We can all learn from one another. But, we must be willing to humble ourselves and listen to those who are different from us.
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Seeing your community through the “ideal” filter
Yesterday, I published a post called “Paul’s Vision for the Church“. In that post, I included this description of the church (from Andrew Chester, “The Pauline Communities”, in A Vision for the Church: Studies in Early Christian Ecclesiology. ed. Markus Bockmuehl and Michael B. Thompson, Edinburgh: T&T Clark, 1997):
Paul’s vision for the communities that he wrote to can be summed up quite succinctly. He sees them as being a new creation in Christ, filled with the Spirit, possessing gifts of the Spirit and overflowing with the fruit of the Spirit, controlled above all by love; they are communities that should be pure and holy, mutually supportive and interdependent, completely united, transcending the oppositions and tensions between different groups within the community, and with every kind of barrier that would divide them in normal society broken down. (105)
This is certainly an “ideal” image of the church. But, I suggested that all communities of believers should strive for this ideal – not from their own abilities and methods, but by humbly admitting that they are not perfect and allowing the Holy Spirit to change them as he desires.
But, it is very difficult to “see” ourselves as we really are. It is often of great benefit to see ourselves from the perspectives of someone else – especially if it is someone who cares about us.
I think that Guy Muse, from “The M Blog“, has provided this valuable service for “traditional churches” in a post that he called “Seeing legacy churches through simple church eyes“. Guy observes and offers suggestions concerning 1) the Sunday morning sermon, 2) the offering, 3) Sunday School, 4) singing and praise, and 5) prayer. Notice that Guy is simply critiquing “traditional churches” from an idealistic or academic perspective. He has been part of simple churches in Ecuador for years. He recognizes some benefits of the churches that he’s participated in and would like to see believers in “traditional churches” come to know these same benefits.
Are those of us who are part of “traditional churches” willing to consider the perspective of someone like Guy? Are we willing to admit that we are not perfect and that there are ways that we could – and should – change to better reflect who we are as the people of God both to one another and to the world around us?
Then again, are those of us who are part of “simple churches” willing to be examined by someone who is part of a “traditional church”? Would “simple church” adherents be willing to admit that they could learn from those who are part of “legacy churches” in order to change to better reflect who they are as the people of God both to one another to to the world around us?
We can learn from one another… but only if we are willing to humble ourselves, listen to one another, and change where we need to change. It begins by admitting that we are not perfect. Then, it continues when we admit that we can learn from someone or some community that is different than we are.
Are we that humble yet? Perhaps we can start by seriously considering Guy’s observations and suggestions.
Of pastors and preachers
Eric at “A Pilgrim’s Progress” has written a very good post called “On Equating Pastors and Preachers.”
If you don’t know Eric, you should know that he’s a good friend of mine. We’ve known each other for about 9 years. Until a few months ago, Eric was a paid vocational pastor with a church in Savannah. On his blog, he shared many of his struggles with the discrepancies that he saw between his job/position and his interpretation of Scripture. So, he resigned from his job. Now, he continues to share his struggles as he continues to interpret Scripture and what God is doing in his life.
In this post, Eric is considering the common assumption that “pastor” = “preacher” (at least among the Christian traditions and social contexts that we’re both most familiar with).
As Eric says, when we equate “pastoring” with “preaching” we lose much of the importance and context of each term.
Read Eric’s post, reply to him on his blog, then jump back over to hear to answer these questions:
1) Do you agree that there is a difference in Scripture between “pastoring” and “preaching”? 2) If so, how can we help people understand the difference without coming across as arrogant or condescending?
Japanese Assembling of the Church
I met a sister named Fumie recently through Facebook and Twitter. She is from Japan, although she now lives in the United States.
Yesterday, she asked if she could write about my blog and introduce her readers to it… in Japanese!
Of course, I was honored and said that she could link to my blog and thanked her. Then, I asked her to send me the link when she had written her post, because I had never read anything about myself or my blog in Japanese… not that I could read Japanese even if I had seen it.
So, here is a link to the information about me and my blog in Japanese.
This is what Fumie told me that it says:
While I was looking for some ‘home church’ information on Twitter, I have come across with this particular blog.
The writer of this blog brings very interesting subjects and points in relation to modern churches that I myself often wonder about.
If it was me, 5 years ago, I would not have paid any attention to this blog or read this blog at all due to the differences in denomination and the use of Bible version.
Any questions or uncertainty about church gathering, he searches and bases his belief in the word of God; He has read and studied many different versions of the Bible, yet it is funny to me that I, who only use King James version, often come to the same kind of conclusions as he does. ( you have to understand the fact that I WAS one of those who advertised ‘I am an Independent Fundamental King James Only Bible Believing Christian.)
In short, I think he believes that a place called ‘church’=a place where believers assemble should be the place to encourage and edify one another. As I read his blog, I can tell that he is doing such ‘assembly’.
I become content reading his blog, knowing that someone has spelled out the point much better than I would have. Even though his blog is written in English and I write mine in Japanese, I feel like there is no need for me to restate my point; thus I tend to neglect my own blog.
His blog is easy to read (I think) and I hope you will enjoy reading as much as I do.
Awesome!
Thanks again, Fumie!
Missional Community: Those gathered by God and sent by God
Len at “NextReformation” has written a very good post called “rhythms of community life.”
The post begins with the phrase “Missional Community,” and throughout the post Len describes what it means to be a missional community. In fact, he puts the terms and the people’s identity in the very nature of God: “[I]n God’s very essence he is a loving community on a mission. As redeemed people in His image, we mirror His life together.”
While I don’t like to use buzzwords regularly, I do like the term “missional” (and other terms that I use occasionally). But, I try to make sure that they don’t become buzzwords that I just talk about but actual descriptions of my own way of life.
Here is part of Len’s post:
Neither mission nor community has priority; neither can exist without the other. Mission and community intertwine like the strands of DNA. We are a community because we share a common purpose — a mission that began when God sent Jesus. We are a mission because the reality of the Spirit in our common life generates an overflow of love…
In these times, when the church has been in a settled state for so long, we are more likely to have forgotten our mission and to be inward focused rather than outward focused. “Community” has become an idol for some, even though the rich qualities of community life are quickly lost when we lose our sense of common purpose. Where young leaders may make mission an idol, in too many places God’s mission in the world is taught, but not practiced.
There are many other very good parts of Len’s post. He quotes a book that I need to add to my reading list.
As I read this, I realized how much of what Len was writing paralleled by own concept of the church being those gathered by God and those sent by God. We are both. We become unhealthy when one or the other is neglected. Like Len says, today it seems that mission (sent) is neglected more than community (gathered).
In Christ, we are both: missional (sent) and community (gathered).