Christianity has been largely defined by church for most of these two thousand years; Christianity has been understood primarily to be what happens inside a religious service. Our language has no other meaning for “church”.
Our English word “church” does not come from the Greek word it translates, but from a Greek phrase, “kyriakon doma”, meaning “the Lord’s house”. The essential thought in the English word “church” is that it is the Lord’s house.
But there is a true Tabernacle in heaven, which the Lord pitched, not man. This is the Lord’s house; this is the place of His throne, and the soles of His feet. For us to call something on earth the Lord’s house is like Aaron fashioning a golden calf, and saying this is the god who brought you out of Egypt.
His house is in heaven; it is there that we must direct our hearts. We must ascend the hill of the Lord; we must draw near to the throne of grace. Like priests we must enter alone into the holy place, to offer up what is acceptable to Him.
The word used in the Greek New Testament is “ekklesia”, meaning “assembly”. This is the word Jesus used; this is the word the apostles used. In Acts 19 this word is also used three times to refer to Greek citizens of Ephesus gathered together because of rumors about the apostle Paul. This is the primary meaning of this word. When the New Testament uses this word, it is using a non-religious word; ekklesia is an assembly of citizens. It does not imply house; it does not imply a religious service.
By turning ekklesia, assembly, into the Lord’s house, we have placed a graven image between believers and the throne of grace. The graven image can keep believers from a secret life. If “church” is the means to the throne of grace, then believers will not learn to seek Him in the wilderness. We will not learn to seek Him alone in the dawn.
Disciples should walk a narrow path. Disciples give in secret, pray in secret, fast in secret; what the Father rewards was not done to be seen. The riches of discipleship cannot be found by those who do not know how to walk with Him alone.
For us to gather as ekklesia on earth, we must first find grace in heaven. We bear fruit out of an abiding relationship with Jesus Christ; this fruit feeds others. Without this abiding relationship, we will have nothing significant to give others.
Ekklesia is a gathering of the citizens of the kingdom of God, who have walked in the City of God.
-Greg Whitten
