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Ekklēsia
ekklēsia (Ek-lay-see-a)- meaning an assembly of people.
Ekklēsia (Strong's G1577 ) is the transliteration of the Greek word ἐκκλησία which is translated almost exclusively to the word "church". In the simplest sense of the word, church means "called out". In context it is a gathering of citizens "called out" from their homes to meet and commune in the name of Jesus Christ.
For what ever reason God has given me a passion for the church, and more specifically the church in North America. I suppose it is because that is where I live, and so I have come to know more and more its beauty and its flaws.
Recently, after spending time working in ministry within the local church I have been thinking a lot about the church, asking myself a whole lot of questions that I have been wrestling with. Like...
- What is the Church really?
- Why the Church?
- Why would God use the very people that have rebelled against him over and over again to embody him and his kingdom on earth? Why use us to bring about his kingdom purposes?
- What is the Church's purpose and it's mission?
- What does it look like to be the Church?
- What is the role of the Church in culture?
- Has our culture shaped how we "do church" in a negative way?
- What does it mean to be the body of Christ?
- What does true Christian community look like in such an individualistic culture?
- Is the Church producing transformed, kingdom-minded, disciples or just converts to a religious thought?
Although I can answer most of these questions with short and maybe sufficient answers, I want to dig much deeper into the implications of each of these questions and other aspects of Church thought. I want to address the tensions and short-comings I see from the local church and I want to better understand God's desires for his people. The majority of my coming blog posts will be reflections on God's Church. I hope the blog can become a space where constructive dialogue can exist in how we can best be the Church in our current cultural context. I pray my questions and reflections are guided by the Holy Spirit and cause a stirring of your heart to pursue a deeper understanding of the church's purpose and mission (and your role inside it) within the whole of God's redemptive mission for world.
