Friends Don’t Let Friends Attend Church

What is church? For those who are Christian, you know that a huge part of our life involves adopting Christian culture. Rightly or wrongly, we focus a lot of our energy upon changing our behaviors and our words to align with this new “family” with which we are now joined. One of the words we pick up is church. But what exactly is church?

Well, if you want to consider the context of the origin of church, there is a little confusion surrounding the word. The Greek word which we translate church is ekklesia. But what exactly does that word mean? Etymologically, ekklesia comes from a root word, kaleo which means to call out and the prefix ek which means from. So, literally, ekklesia means to call out from. Some have used this argument to say that Christians are called out from the world and therefore should live lives separated from its evil influences. There have been monastic communities throughout the history of the church that have been build around this notion, that the world is evil and we, if we are to be holy as God is holy (Leviticus 11:44), are to separate ourselves from all chance of contamination. But this misses the way ekklesia was used in Jesus’ day. This calling out was used in the sense of calling villagers out of their homes for a town meeting. The idea was that there were times when life needed to be interrupted in order that clear communication from governing officials could be made to the people so that they would understand what was expected of them and how to live. In practice, the word ekklesia carried more the meaning gathering or meeting. Ironically, this is very close to the meaning of the word synagoge, the word we transliterate synagogue which means place of meeting.

So, what does this mean for us? Well, for starters, we need to consider what happens when we “go to church.” The event that we call church which happens on Sunday morning is a sacred time more than it is a sacred place. The building at 501 W. Lincoln is just that, a building. There is nothing special about it until it serves as the place for God’s people to gather. And it becomes sacred because of the gathering. On Sunday morning, God’s people come together for a sacred purpose. They come together as those with a common identity due to God’s calling, redemption, adoption of them. They come to be together, to come out of their day-in day-out life and to prepare to hear from their King. And they acknowledge the message by proclaiming it back to Him in song and confirm their understanding by allowing it to produce Kingdom living as they are sent forth into the world.

So, tell me: Can you be a Christian without church? Please, I’m not talking about a works-based righteousness, that you will somehow be saved by attending church on Sunday. In fact, I’m suggesting exactly the opposite. Shouldn’t a vibrant relationship with our Living God produce love for Him and love for others, beginning with His people? Shouldn’t there be a “holy expectancy” as His children gather weekly to be with each other and to open themselves to communion with Him through the preaching of His Word and the work of the Holy Spirit? Shouldn’t His people continually look for opportunities to be poured out in the service of others, starting with the weekly gathering but spilling out into our daily lives? Shouldn’t there be something sacred about these times together? Or, is church a building and a show, a space where you hope to fulfill an obligation and maybe hear something new and interesting, if not in the sermon then maybe in a morsel of gossip? What do you and I expect on Sunday morning? And a tougher question, what do we do to help create a sacred ekklesia?