The Ekklesia of Christ
Introduction
Today we hear the word church used in many different ways. Many will say that on Sundays they go “to church,” that is, they go to a building to sing songs, perhaps to tithe, to be led in prayer, and to hear a sermon (or sometimes, they simply call this worship). Other times we might hear of the “church universal,” signifying that the church is really larger than our local gathering, that it is, in fact, made up of all believers in Christ. Then, too, we may hear of the present time that we’re living referred to as “the church age,” which flows out of a dispensational view of the Scriptures, which is founded upon the assumption that God has dealt with people through the ages in different ways based on His revelation to them.
Consider a dictionary definition of the word church:
1. a building for public worship, especially in the Christian religion,
2. all the followers of a religion, especially the Christian religion, considered collectively,
3. a religious service that takes place in a church,
4. the clergy as distinct from lay people,
5. religious authority as opposed to the authority of the state, and
6. a denomination or branch of the Christian religion.1
So we see that when someone goes “to church,” they can be going both to the building and to the service which will take place. However, what we also see within this definition is structure (item #4) and authority (item #5). The definition presented would probably be accepted by most churchgoers today – in essence, it fits with our traditional view of what church is.
Clearly, it is important that we understand what we mean when we use the word church, for it serves many purposes today; however, we must be careful to define our terms so that we are properly understood. The word church appears many times within our King James Bible (KJV), and so we must determine what is meant when it is used. Does it agree with our modern understanding of the term?
The word translated as church in our KJV is the Greek word ekklesia (ek-klay-see’-ah), which is made up of two Greek words: ek, meaning out of, and klesis, a calling – or, more simply, called-out ones.2 It does not specifically apply to a gathering of those redeemed by Christ, but rather to a gathering of people out of the general masses. The same Greek word is used of the mob which gathered in Ephesus when the silversmiths thought they were losing their trade due to Paul’s teaching; here it is translated in the KJV as assembly (Acts 19:32, 39, 41).
On the other hand, if you consider the history of our word church, or its etymology, you find that it comes from the Greek kyrios, which means ruler or lord; and it was about AD 300 that the word began to be applied to the places where Christians worshipped, as in kyriake oikia, the Lord’s house.3 Interestingly, this would be about the time of Constantine, the Roman leader who both softened the attitude of the state toward Christians and introduced many changes into the church of the day. We find the Greek word kuriakos, meaning “belonging to the Lord,” used twice in the Scriptures: in 1 Corinthians 11:20 it speaks of the “Lord’s supper” (kuriakon deipnon) and in Revelation 1:10 John speaks of the “Lord’s day” (kuriakh hmera) – see Appendix C for more on this. What is evident is that the word church has a fundamentally different historical meaning that is exclusive of the Greek word ekklesia, which has been translated as church within the KJV.
At this point we might be tempted to say, “So what?” What difference does all of this make? It sounds like so much semantics, seeking to split the proverbial hair – the discussion is about shades of meaning, but, in reality, does it make any difference? Perhaps there is an element of truth to that query, but, unfortunately, the semantics in this case have made it much easier for our adversary to hoodwink us into believing a skewed version of the truth. The voice of most theologians can be heard loudly proclaiming the traditions to which we have all become accustomed; nevertheless, it is important to hear the Word of God on these matters. We must be Bereans and hold the Scriptures as our Standard so that we may know the truth.
_________________
1 Encarta Dictionary, “church.”
2 Vine’s Expository Dictionary, “assembly.”
3 http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?l=c&p=13, “church.”
Today we hear the word church used in many different ways. Many will say that on Sundays they go “to church,” that is, they go to a building to sing songs, perhaps to tithe, to be led in prayer, and to hear a sermon (or sometimes, they simply call this worship). Other times we might hear of the “church universal,” signifying that the church is really larger than our local gathering, that it is, in fact, made up of all believers in Christ. Then, too, we may hear of the present time that we’re living referred to as “the church age,” which flows out of a dispensational view of the Scriptures, which is founded upon the assumption that God has dealt with people through the ages in different ways based on His revelation to them.
Consider a dictionary definition of the word church:
1. a building for public worship, especially in the Christian religion,
2. all the followers of a religion, especially the Christian religion, considered collectively,
3. a religious service that takes place in a church,
4. the clergy as distinct from lay people,
5. religious authority as opposed to the authority of the state, and
6. a denomination or branch of the Christian religion.1
So we see that when someone goes “to church,” they can be going both to the building and to the service which will take place. However, what we also see within this definition is structure (item #4) and authority (item #5). The definition presented would probably be accepted by most churchgoers today – in essence, it fits with our traditional view of what church is.
Clearly, it is important that we understand what we mean when we use the word church, for it serves many purposes today; however, we must be careful to define our terms so that we are properly understood. The word church appears many times within our King James Bible (KJV), and so we must determine what is meant when it is used. Does it agree with our modern understanding of the term?
The word translated as church in our KJV is the Greek word ekklesia (ek-klay-see’-ah), which is made up of two Greek words: ek, meaning out of, and klesis, a calling – or, more simply, called-out ones.2 It does not specifically apply to a gathering of those redeemed by Christ, but rather to a gathering of people out of the general masses. The same Greek word is used of the mob which gathered in Ephesus when the silversmiths thought they were losing their trade due to Paul’s teaching; here it is translated in the KJV as assembly (Acts 19:32, 39, 41).
On the other hand, if you consider the history of our word church, or its etymology, you find that it comes from the Greek kyrios, which means ruler or lord; and it was about AD 300 that the word began to be applied to the places where Christians worshipped, as in kyriake oikia, the Lord’s house.3 Interestingly, this would be about the time of Constantine, the Roman leader who both softened the attitude of the state toward Christians and introduced many changes into the church of the day. We find the Greek word kuriakos, meaning “belonging to the Lord,” used twice in the Scriptures: in 1 Corinthians 11:20 it speaks of the “Lord’s supper” (kuriakon deipnon) and in Revelation 1:10 John speaks of the “Lord’s day” (kuriakh hmera) – see Appendix C for more on this. What is evident is that the word church has a fundamentally different historical meaning that is exclusive of the Greek word ekklesia, which has been translated as church within the KJV.
At this point we might be tempted to say, “So what?” What difference does all of this make? It sounds like so much semantics, seeking to split the proverbial hair – the discussion is about shades of meaning, but, in reality, does it make any difference? Perhaps there is an element of truth to that query, but, unfortunately, the semantics in this case have made it much easier for our adversary to hoodwink us into believing a skewed version of the truth. The voice of most theologians can be heard loudly proclaiming the traditions to which we have all become accustomed; nevertheless, it is important to hear the Word of God on these matters. We must be Bereans and hold the Scriptures as our Standard so that we may know the truth.
_________________
1 Encarta Dictionary, “church.”
2 Vine’s Expository Dictionary, “assembly.”
3 http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?l=c&p=13, “church.”
