50% Church
And Moses assembled all the congregation of the sons of Israel and said to them, “These are the words which the Lord has commanded, to do them.” Exodus 35:1
Congregation – It’s quite common for us to refer to the church as the ekklesia. That’s Greek for “called out ones.” That is an apt description. The church is called out. But unless we understand the Hebrew background behind this Greek word, we will only be a half-church. You see, there are two words in Hebrew that describe the assembly of the children of God, and ekklesia is only one of them.
Some time ago (December 21, 2007) we looked at qehillah (Hebrew for “assembly”) and ‘edah (Hebrew for “congregation”). Qehillah is translated ekklesia because this word focuses on the two aspects of assembly. First, it focuses on the fact that someone calls the individuals together. Secondly, it focuses on the purpose of that call. In other words, an ekklesia is an assembly called by someone for a purpose. That’s precisely why the church is an ekklesia. It is called by Jesus the Christ for the purpose of accomplishing His will on earth. That’s pretty clear.
But there is another aspect to the Hebrew idea of the church. That word is ‘edah. It is the word for congregation. It focuses on the singularity of the group. It emphasizes that fact that the assembly of the children of God is not a collection of individuals but rather a single unit, undifferentiated before God. Here’s the critical point: ‘edah is never translated ekklesia. If the church is only an ekklesia, then it is only half of what God intended. If the church is only about its called-out purpose, then it is only a fifty percent operation.
Think of it like this: The outward function of the church is to complete the mission of the Lord on earth. We are called to that task. That’s what the ekklesia is all about. If your chosen assembly of worship is not fulfilling the mission of the Lord, then you are not an ekklesia. But, there is another part. There is something more than just proclaiming the good news. There is ‘edah, a word that describes the homogenization of the church, the undifferentiated unity of all the pieces. Paul does have a word for this in Greek. That word is “body”. A church is not just the called-out ones with a purpose. A church is also the unity of all the individuals in a single body.
Paul’s thought is very much like the new clothes of the new man. The clothing is the outside purpose-driven view. The “body” is the inside unity of every member that gives shape to the clothes. If you (plural) are an assembly, an ekklesia, without a body, an ‘edah, then you have only half of God’s design in place. You will know that it is only half the story because you will know that there is something missing in spite of the purpose-driven activity. You will know that the inside is empty. There is no body under the clothing.
This is the biggest problem in the Western church. The body has shriveled and died. The clothes are draped on a mannequin. There is no unified, singular, Spirit-filled manifestation of God underneath the activity. It’s just outward, glorious emptiness.
Topical Index: church, ekklesia, ‘edah, qehillah, Exodus 35:1
