We need to remember the church is more than just a building. Andy Stanley shares the truth about this in a most complete fashion. He says:
"The word “church” should’ve never appeared in our Bibles. It shouldn’t have become part of Christian culture, either. It’s more than a mistranslation. It represents a misdirection.
While the majority of your English Bible is a word-for-word translation from Greek, the term “church” is an exception. The term “church” is not a translation. It’s a substitution. And a misleading one at that.
The term “church” is a derivative of the German term kirche meaning: house of the Lord or temple. This term of German origin was used to interpret, rather than translate, the Greek term ekklesia throughout most of the New Testament.
The Greek term ekklesia is translated as “church” over one hundred times in your English New Testament, but in Acts 19:32 – a passage describing a city in uproar – it’s translated differently.
“The assembly was in confusion: Some were shouting one thing, some another. Most of the people did not even know why they were there.”
Ekklesia was not, and is not, a religious term. It does not mean church or house of the Lord. It certainly shouldn’t be associated with a temple. The term was used widely to describe a gathering, assembly, civic gatherings, or an assembly of soldiers. Or as was the case in Acts 19, an assembly of rioting idol manufacturers.
An ekklesia was a gathering of people for a specific purpose. Any specific purpose. It’s not a building. It’s not a physical location. It’s a group of people.
It’s a lot easier to stop showing up at a place than it is to disconnect from a group of people who intimately know, love, and support each other.
If we want people to stop leaving the church – if we want Christianity to be irresistible again to the world – then maybe it’s time to take another look at the movement Jesus started 2,000 years ago."
All I can say is "AMEN!"
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