The Event of Church (3)

and greet the church at their house, and my beloved Epenetus   Romans 16:5

Church – One more pointer, and then I promise to let this go.  L. Coenen says, “If one compares the two Hebrew words, it becomes clear . . . that ‘edah is the unambiguous and permanent term for the covenant community as a whole.  On the other hand, qahal is the ceremonial expression for the assembly that results from the covenant .  .” 

Only one of these ideas is captured in the word ekklesia, that is, the ceremonial expression of the assembly.  If that is true, then “church” is not only event oriented, it is also a formal occasion built on ritual.  So, God calls His people.  They gather (the event) under certain, prescribed ordinances (the ritual) for a particular purpose (the reason for the gathering).  This is qahal.

But there is also ‘edah.  In order for the church to also be ‘edah, it must belong, not as individuals, but as a whole unit, to God’s permanent, covenant family.  Let this sink in a bit.  The conclusion is shocking.  The covenant is not about individuals.  I do not have a personal covenant relationship with God.  My covenant relationship with God is based in the community as a whole.  Furthermore, church as ‘edah is not for the non-believer.  If you are not part of the covenant family, you are not part of this assembly – and you shouldn’t be there!

This is a dagger in the heart of the “seeker-friendly” idea of church.  The seeker-friendly church is not a church from the Bible’s point of view.  It is a meeting of mixed minds and motives.  It is equivalent to the crowd who heard Peter preach on the day of Pentecost.  He had only one message – Repent!  All of the rest of the teaching, training and equipping is for the family of the covenant community, not for the outsiders. 

Now we might realize why our churches are so bland and anemic.  We have the wrong audience.  When we mix family and strangers, what kind of signals are we sending?  How can you gather at God’s call for His purposes when half your crowd doesn’t even know Him?  How can you be of single-minded unity when your audience is filled with rebels?  What made you think that God even called those idol-worshippers to His event?  In our efforts to make the “church” relevant, we have destroyed it.  We no longer gather at His request to receive His purposes and act as a single body in the world.  We gather in a meeting, filled with all kinds of agendas, rebellious enemies standing side-by-side with devoted followers.  And we hope to encounter God!?  How crazy is that?

Clean house!  That’s what Peter says.  Start on the inside!  Our churches are filled with the great unwashed, and, as a result, our focus is anything but pure.  Of course, we must reach to the lost, but separate church from meetings and you just might discover that the body is nourished.

End of the pointing.  Beginning of the enabling.  Are you staggering out of sanctuary?