28 March, 2024

What Is the Church?

Features

by | 16 January, 2017 | 0 comments

01_scott_jn

By Mark Scott

Ask people on the street, and they”ll come up with many inadequate answers. But what would Christians say? A survey of Bible definitions gives us a clear answer.

In the mid-1990s, a few doctor of ministry students from Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary hit the streets of Boston, Massachusetts, to interview people. One of the 10 questions they asked was, “What does church bring to mind?” Here are some of the answers:

“¢ guilt

“¢ obligation

“¢ uncomfortable

“¢ stuffy

“¢ one and one-half hours of complete boredom.

Does the church need a better press agent? Did the church fail these people? Can the church be redeemed in their eyes?

And what about the church? Is she just a substitute teacher? Was the church “Plan B” in God”s total redemptive plan? Did Jesus” efforts to usher in a kingdom get compromised by its lack of reception (cf. John 1:11)? Was the church just the next best thing God could offer? Or . . . is the church a stroke of God”s genius in the world? Is it a colony of Heaven on earth to make Jesus famous and help move creation toward new creation?

Of course, most church people know the church is not a place but a people.1 Since it is a group of people, what is the best English word to represent those people?

Is it the English word church? That particular word comes from the Greek term kuriakon (Lord”s house). Is the best word assembly? The New Testament Greek word for assembly is ecclesia. Assembly seems a bit bland to us, but in terms of how this word was used in the ancient culture, it actually is an accurate word (cf. Acts 19:32, 39, 41). Is the best word congregation? That word certainly helps us understand local fellowships, but what about the church universal?

I am persuaded that the best English word for church (ecclesia) is community. It reflects the unity and warmth of God”s people.2

The English word church is used roughly 100 times in the English Standard Version of the Bible. It occurs as early as Matthew 16:18 and as late as Revelation 22:16 in the New Testament.3 The word appears only twice in the Gospels, and both references are in Matthew (16:18; 18:17). The word occurs most frequently in the Corinthian letters and then in Acts. The church is both universal (Matthew 16:18; Ephesians 3:10; Colossians 1:18) and local (Acts 9:31; 13:1).

So, what is the church?

Perhaps She Is a New Community

Church is a New Testament term. If Jesus promised to build her (Matthew 16:18) then she must not have existed previous to the fulfillment of that promise (Acts 2:1-4). To have a church you must have the Holy Spirit (Romans 8:9). Since the Holy Spirit could not be given until Jesus had been glorified (John 7:37-39), the church has to be a new thing, right? After all, Israel was a religious state and not exactly like the church, correct?

Somewhat.

It would seem the church was a new entity, as it did not exist on this stained planet until the Day of Pentecost. But just because it started that day does not mean it did not have an antecedent. What about the “congregation of Israel” (kahal)?

As Bill Gaither sang many years ago, “God has always had a people.” Israel (and maybe even sojourners with her) was a gathered assembly that was intended to be a light to the nations (Isaiah 49:6). Essentially the congregation of Israel was the new community (Deuteronomy 9:10; 18:16; 31:30) before the new community existed (2 Corinthians 5:17; Revelation 21:5).

Perhaps She Is a Distinct Community

Most people who work at defining the church certainly emphasize that the English word church translates from a compound word, ecclesia. The first part of the word (ek) means “out.” The second part of the word (kaleo) means “to call.” Many sermons and lessons have taught that the church is the “called out” people of God. They have been transferred (called out) from the domain of darkness to the kingdom of God”s Son (Colossians 1:13).

There certainly is truth here. Believers are peculiar and distinct. Exodus is the story of getting Israel out of Egypt. Leviticus is the story of getting Egypt out of Israel.

Christians are to be intentionally different from the world. They are to be counterculture in a world bent on destruction. Christ followers have much in common with all humanity because all people descend from Adam.

One church has as its mission statement, “To blur the lines between church and culture.” I understand the missional idea of striving to identify ourselves with those we are attempting to reach for Christ. But is that the right strategy?

Far be it from me to criticize a church”s earnest efforts to win people, but my friend J.K. Jones says, “We are best for our communities when we are most unlike our communities.” Redemption, at the core, makes us different than the world. We are a people possessed by God (Titus 2:14; 1 Peter 2:9).

Perhaps She Is a Gathered Community

As noted earlier, the word ecclesia in its secular context had to do with a “duly constituted assembly.” It describes something on the order of town council meetings. Maybe instead of church being “called out,” it actually means something like “coming together.” Add to this emphasis the idea of “synagogue,” and then we see even more of this dimension of a gathered community (James 2:2).

I suppose one reason it is so easy to think of the church as a building is because we do think of church as a “coming together,” and that is done in a building. When the church gathers, she is carving out some sacred space because the Holy Spirit indwells the people (1 Corinthians 6:19, 20) and also interdwells the people (1 Corinthians 3:16, 17). God is among us because he lives in us and because we have gathered in his name.

Perhaps She Is a Metaphoric Community

Metaphoric may not be the best label. The church is not a metaphor. The church is a certain reality. Yet the Bible uses many metaphors to describe the church. These metaphors tell us something about the nature of the church. A metaphor takes two unlike things and puts them together (A and Non-A). The combination creates something of a new reality (e.g., 20/20 hearing).

Kenneth Bailey said, “Jesus was a metaphoric theologian.”â´ If that is true, should it surprise us to learn that many images are used to describe his church?

Not all of the metaphors are created equal, and some of them are more telling than others about the nature of the church. But we call the church the body of Christ (Ephesians 1:22), the temple of God (1 Corinthians 3:16, 17), the flock of God (Acts 20:28), a chosen race, a royal priesthood, and holy nation (1 Peter 2:9), and many others.⁵ This gives a certain rich kaleidoscope of thoughts about what the church is.

Perhaps She Is an Intimate Community

The major metaphor of the church not mentioned above is that of family. Just as the Trinity is a familial community, so the church is as well. God is intimate with his church as his bride. Add to this all the references to “brothers and sisters” and family becomes the driving metaphor of God”s people in the New Testament.

God took the most intimate of all relationships (i.e., marriage) by referring to his church as his bride (2 Corinthians 11:2, 3; Ephesians 5:22-31; Revelation 19:7, 8; 21:2). This intimate relationship has its roots in rich analogies and stories in the Old Testament (Ezekiel 16; Hosea).

In many ways one could argue we are “married to Christ.” We only think that Jesus was a bachelor. Reality is that Jesus was (and is) married. Jesus has a wife.⁶ That means the church is an intimate community.

Perhaps She Is an Inclusive Community

Everyone needs a place. The church is that place where everyone has a place. To be saved means the lost are found, the guilty are forgiven, the sick are made well, the world is set right, creation is healed, and the outsiders are brought in to community. When Jesus healed lepers he sent them home””back into their communities. He does the same thing with spiritual lepers.

I am persuaded that the only thing that will solve the “isms” (racism, sexism, ageism, etc.) of this world is Jesus and the church. The church is God”s ambassador to reconcile the world. The church celebrates the rich diversity of the world by breaking down walls and building bridges to all peoples. A good picture of this is the table fellowship of Jesus⁷ and the worship scene in Revelation 7:9.

God can bring all people who are “far off” and unite them in Christ (Ephesians 2:11-22; 3:14-21). Then all those people can use their giftings of the Spirit (Romans 12:3-8; 1 Corinthians 12:4-11, 27-31; Ephesians 4:11-16; 1 Peter 4:10, 11) to build up the church. This creates an exemplary solidarity (not unlike the Trinity itself) for the world to see.

She Is an Eschatological Community

This, more than anything else, it seems to me, is the best description of the church”s nature. The church is a colony of Heaven on earth.⁸ The church is a preview of coming attractions for God”s glorious future. The church is the best expression of what God”s ultimate kingdom looks like.⁹ The church is a microcosm of what God is trying to do in getting the world back. When church is really church, it feels a bit like Heaven.

When our Restoration forefathers talked about restoring the church of the New Testament, they no doubt had passages like Acts 2:42-47 and 4:32-37 in mind. These summary paragraphs describe the church at its best. So, had I been interviewed by those doctoral students in Boston that day I would have said, “The church is the eschatological community of Heaven on earth that partners with God to move creation to new creation.”

________

¹The oldest church building in the world is evidently the Dura-Europos house church in Syria, which dates from the third century. There is some evidence, though, that an earlier house church was discovered in Jordan that could be dated to just after 70 AD, following the Christians” fleeing from the siege in Jerusalem.

²It may not be much of an improvement on “congregation” when it comes to describing the church universal.

³”Church” does not occur in the Old Testament.

⁴Kenneth E. Bailey, Jesus Through Middle Eastern Eyes (Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 2008), 279.

⁵See Paul S. Minear, Images of the Church in the New Testament (Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 2004; originally printed in 1960). Minear traces more than 90 images of the church and misses a few minor ones.

⁶This idea was developed in a delightful way by David Erickson in his sermon at the 1999 North American Christian Convention in Denver, Colorado.

⁷This theme is especially rich in Luke”s Gospel.

⁸I am indebted to Carl Ketcherside for this insight.

⁹This article has not dealt with the similarities or differences between kingdom and church. It would seem kingdom is the larger term.

Mark Scott serves as professor of preaching and New Testament at Ozark Christian College in Joplin, Missouri.

0 Comments

Submit a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Latest Features

Follow Us