What if what we thought about church mattered? One thing that the world health crisis has exposed is an inadequate understanding of the church. And I’ll be the first to say that as a seminary graduate, I should be ashamed of how malnourished my Ecclesiology has become. So I’m writing not as an expert, but as a pastor that is reexamining and relearning what God’s design is for His church.
So, where do we begin? The best place to start in any study or discussion is with defining terms. If we skip this step, we fail to proceed in having a coherent discussion, because we can’t logically talk about something if we are on different pages. The Greek word for Church (Gr. Ekklesia), which appears 118 times in the New Testament, means “A called out assembly”. So, here we begin to see our identity. The church consists of those who have been “called out”. Called out of what and by whom? Jesus tells us plainly. John 15:18-19 – “If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you”. We have been called out of the world. Paul refers to it as “the domain of darkness”. A sphere in which sin and Satan rule. The world consists of anything that is antithetical to God and His law. And at one time, every Christian belonged in this domain. But by the grace of God we have been called out. We read: Colossians 1:13 – “He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son”. Christians often say, and rightly so, “We are in the world, but we aren’t to be of the world”. This is 100% true. It’s a reiteration of what Jesus said. Yet, can it be that our perspective doesn’t go far enough? Perhaps our mind needs to shift to a more heavenly one. A more accurate understanding would be this, “We have been called out of the world, and now are citizens of the kingdom of heaven”. This is a game changer. A kingdom has a king. A king demands faithful allegiance. As Christians we are called out of a domain that is antithetical to God and His law, and placed in the kingdom of God’s Son, where now we are called to a life of faithful obedience to Jesus our King. Since that is the case, may I ask a question? Why do we worry about the approval of the world? Why do we elevate what our neighbor thinks over our obedience to God and His law? Let’s go back to the definition. The church is a “called out assembly”. The word was used in the Septuagint to refer to sacred Jewish assemblies that were called out of their homes and into some place, especially for the intent of worship. We are an assembly of called out people in both a universal and local sense. Maybe you have heard the terms, Universal and Local church? The universal church consists of all believers across the world, regardless of denominational ties, that have been called out by God and transferred to the kingdom of His Son. Every person who has trusted in Jesus alone for their salvation is part of this assembly. The local church is the visible representation of the universal church in microcosmic gatherings in geographical locations all throughout the world (Acts 8:1; 1 Cor. 1:2; 2 Cor. 1:1; Gal. 1:2, etc.). These gatherings happen in a certain location that the local believers of a certain community have designated, such as a house (Rom. 16:5; 1 Cor. 16:19; Col. 4:15; Philemon 1:2) or a larger building (Acts 2:46). Now, not everyone who comes to the designated location is part of the universal church. Every Sunday there is a mixed crowd of those who are saved and unsaved. If there are 100 people, and 50 of them are believers, then the church in that geographical location is 50. Ever since the formation of the church, the gatherings have taken place in person (Acts 2:46; 1 Cor. 11:18,20,33). It hasn’t been until recently that there has been a move to virtual reality. This is something to be considered, especially as we embark on looking at the one another commands given to us by God. Can all the one another commands be fulfilled in a virtual setting? One final thing, inherent in the definition of church is the fact that we have been instructed to assemble. We are a “called out assembly”. This is not up to debate. The clearest instruction is found in Hebrews 10:23-25. “Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful. And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near” So what is the church? It is an assembly of believers who have been called out of the world by God and placed into the kingdom of His Son. The visible representation of this assembly is the local church, a gathering of the redeemed in a designated location. Now why are we to gather? This is what I want us to look at next time.
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2/27/2023 10:51:15 pm
Thanks for sharing your ideas and thoughts! In order to create a one-stop digital property for multiple products - current accounts, loans, mortgages etc - to avoid in person visits to physical locations whilst meeting KYC compliance.Implement OCR Labs as their identity verification process and saw application times and abandonment rates drop dramatically.
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AuthorHello! I'm glad you found my blog. My name is David Hanson, and I am a concerned Christian who desires for the church of North America to become aware and begin to think biblically of what is happening around them in society. It's time for the church to awake and speak into the current events of the day. We alone have the truth to navigate life effectively. That truth is the Word of God. Archives
May 2022
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