Ecclesia

Ecclesia or Ekklesia in Greek is defined as “The gathering of the chosen”. The work Ecclesia is used to define the “Church” in the new testament. The word Ecclesia is first used in the new testament to refer to an assembly of people, or in this case it refers to believers. As we are the gathered chosen, it does not necessarily mean a church as in a physical building but more so that we as the chosen are the church of Christ, the hands and feet of Jesus. In Greek times the Ekklesia was a group of citizens who came together to discuss what was going on in politics, like a congress or a senate. For God’s people it meant those who were a part of the church in the new testament. In Matthew 16:18–19 Jesus tells Peter that on this rock he will build his church, He does not mean a building or a gathering place but that we, as his people will live on his mission. It says this, 18 “And I tell you that you are Peter, [b] and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades[c] will not overcome it. 19 I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be[e] loosed in heaven.” On another occasion Jesus was talking to a Samaritan woman, she asked him where she should worship, we can say she thought of Ekklesia as a physical location, four walls, or a specific zone in where to worship and Jesus responded to her. In John 4:19–24 it says, 19“Sir,” the woman said, “I can see that you are a prophet. 20 Our ancestors worshiped on this mountain, but you Jews claim that the place where we must worship is in Jerusalem.” 21 “Woman,” Jesus replied, “believe me, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. 22 You Samaritans worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews. 23 Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. 24 God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth.”

In historical context people thought this physical place was where people were supposed to worship, we can even think of a place like Bethel where it meant that the specific place was a house of prayer. What Jesus said was he is looking for people to worship him in their hearts, those are the worshippers that the Lord is looking for. In the modern church setting today I believe we now more than ever got to live through a place where we had to make our homes, our cars, our mobile devices, our quarantine spaces, and most importantly our hearts an Ecclesia. Or a place to worship and to be the church outside of the four walls. During the pandemic we all had to maneuver what it meant to be the church, for many of our congregations it meant closing our physical doors and having church outdoors or even online. It meant having church in our parking lots, in parks, in our living rooms. The church has never been the four walls, Jesus preached anywhere and everywhere. It didn’t matter the multitude of people, the spectacle, or how professional the production was. He only cared for having a place to gather, in the modern day church we as worship leaders need to teach our congregations that they are a chosen people, and challenge them to search for the presence of God. As he told the Samaritan woman, a time is coming when true worshipers will worship the father in spirit and in truth. For us to be the church outside the four walls of our buildings, we need to worship in intimacy when we spend time alone with Jesus and let him move in our hearts, we need to gather with the one who called us out of darkness and into his light.