The New Testament word for “church” is ekklesia [ejkklhsiva], which means “the called out ones.” In classical Greek, or ‘secular Greek’ (meaning, in the use of the Greek language prior to the term ekklesia being taken up amongst New Testament Christians) the term was used almost exclusively for political gatherings.
In particular, in Athens the word signified the assembling or grouping of the citizens for the purpose of conducting the affairs of the polis. As such, the term ekklesia in ‘secular Greek’ denoted a form of government or authority. Moreover, ekklesia [ejkklhsiva] referred only to the actual meeting, not to the citizens themselves. When the people were not assembled, they were not considered to be the ekklesia [ejkklhsiva]. The New Testament records three instances of this secular usage of the term (Acts 19:32 Acts 19:39 Acts 19:41).
The most important background of the term ekklesia [ejkklhsiva] is the Septuagint, which uses the word in a religious sense about one hundred times, almost always as a translation of the Hebrew word qahal [l;h’q]. While the latter term does indicate a secular gathering (contrasted, say to eda [h’de[], the typical Hebrew word for Israel’s religious gathering, and translated by the Greek, sunagoge [sunagwghv]), it also denotes Israel’s sacred meetings. This is especially the case in Deuteronomy, where qahal [l;h’q] is linked with the covenant.
When we come to the New Testament, we discover that ekklesia [ejkklhsiva] is used of the community of God’s people some 109 times (out of 114 occurrences of the term). Although the word only occurs in two Gospel passages ( Matt 16:18 ; 18:17 ), it is of special importance in Acts (23 times) and the Pauline writings (46 times). It is found twenty times in the book of Revelation and only in isolated instances in James and Hebrews.
We may broach the subject of the biblical teaching on the church by drawing three general conclusions from the data so far. First, predominantly ekklesia [ejkklhsiva] (both in the singular and plural) applies to a local assembly of those who profess faith in and allegiance to Christ. Second, ekklesia [ejkklhsiva] designates the universal church ( Acts 8:3 ; 9:31 ; 1 Cor 12:28 ; 15:9 ; especially in the later Pauline letters, Eph 1:22-23 ; Col 1:18 ). Third, the ekklesia [ejkklhsiva] is God’s congregation ( 1 Cor 1:2 ; 2 Cor 1:1 ; etc.).
The Nature of the Church. The nature of the church is too broad to be exhausted in the meaning of the one word, ekklesia [ejkklhsiva]. To capture its significance the New Testament authors utilize a rich array of metaphorical descriptions. Nevertheless, there are those metaphors that seem to dominate the biblical picture of the church, five of which are known by most: the people of God, the Kingdom of God, the Temple of God, the Bride of Christ, and the Body of Christ.
That being said, did you notice that the term ekklesia in New Testament terms is never used in relation to 1) a place (a ‘building’), 2) a certain naming of the church (a ‘brand name’), and 3) a legal body that cannot function without finances (a ‘bank account’)? Can you see that the Body of Christ does not constitute ‘a building with a brand name and a bank account’?
There is one more very clear message from the meaning of the Church in New Testament terms—decidedly, it does not comprise of anyone who is not part of the Body of Christ, meaning an unbeliever, even an unbeliever who is looking for Christ, and even an unbeliever who has not been born from above. Very clearly, the way we think of “church” today is not have New Testament Christians understood the term to mean. That should make us re-think about what exactly ‘churchgoers’ are doing on Sundays—are they being Church?
