Posts Tagged ‘kirche’
Will you come to church with me?
Posted on: 2014/07/22
- In: opinion
- 2 Comments
The reality is that, for most people, that’s not a very exciting invitation. (I struggled a little with what adjective to put in front of invitation).
The reason, in my view, is the connotation surrounding “church.” Many theological people are typically quick to point out that the “church” is truly made up of Christians. And I acknowledge that fact.
However, also true is that the word, church, comes from the German word, kirche, which refers to the cathedral, not the people. And in everyday usage, church more often refers to the building or facility, than to the people who gather there. It also often refers to the organization more often than to a generic gathering of people.
So, when you say, “come to church with me”, what does your audience really hear?
It seems to me most likely they are hearing you invite them to an organizational meeting, which you hope they will join.
Perhaps we would be better off, if we invited people to “come worship with me.”
What the “church” is and is not
Posted on: 2014/03/10
- In: analysis | opinion
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I have to start with a little Greek lesson … old news for some, news to others.
The English word, church, comes from the German word, kirche, which is actually the word for cathedral, or the building. The word in the Greek NT is ekklesia, and actually refers to a called assembly. Among it’s earliest uses is a as a reference to gatherings of the citizens of a Greek city, when they gathered to vote on city ordinances.
There is no basis in how ekklesia is used in the NT to understand it as an formally organized group. All of the evidence is that when used, it refers to all of the Christians in a local area or everywhere globally. Even in the earliest days of the ekklesia in Jerusalem, all of the evidence is they met is numerous homes, scattered around town.
Assuming you accept this, so what?
Well, the so what is that many well-known evangelists … from Billy Graham to Francis Chan, often speak about the importance of being a part of a local church. I’m not going to bother to repeat all of the NT citations they use.
But the problem is they infer a modern day understanding of “church” when the inference is not there.
When we give our lives to God, we become part of God’s family. The NT admonitions about the ekklesia do not have to be understood in a modern context. The ekklesia exists because people who share this relationship with God, quite naturally, will want to spend time together and sometimes collaborate to do good things. But that is truth, whether the group is 3 or 30 or 300 or 3,000.
You do not have to meet in a building, you don’t have to have a preacher or a pastor. You don’t even have to have a church checking account! Imagine that!
I’m not saying there is anything wrong with “mega-churches” as they’ve come to be known. But there is also nothing wrong with gathering with a couple of Christian friends at the coffee shop, or your home, or at the beach, or around the camp fire. Such a gathering is as much ekklesia as is a gathering of 10,000 at Saddleback Church in California.
It seems to me Jesus knows us well enough to know we need to be around other Christians. We can encourage each other. Teach each other. Advise each other. Worship with each other. So we should be together.
But there remains a lot of freedom to find the gathering most helpful to each person maturing and remaining faithful to Jesus.
Give Yourself to Others ... 
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