*Note Subject Change Old Subject: Obesity New Subject: What is church? John wrote: > We (my wife and I ) have our times when we do not > attend ---- but we are always benefitted insome when > we are there. > After all, "church" was God's big idea !!!!!!!!!!
I don't think Terry is against church per se. He simply views church as the community of believers, not as some event that people attend. John brings up an important point here. Church was God's big idea. The point Terry is raising concerns exactly what was this idea of church. Terry contends that what most people call church today is not God's idea. I think Terry has an important point here that should not be glossed over. When God had the idea of church for man, was it the idea of a building with a steeple where people would come together on Sunday, sing a few song, drop some money in the plate that is passed, listen to a short sermon, and then get out of there by lunch? Did God have the idea of people ATTENDING church? At the time when Jesus appeared in the flesh, there already was something like this. It was called synagogue. Problem is, that wasn't God's idea either. The synagogue was something that evolved because of Israel's sin. When they were dispersed because of God's Judgment upon them and the Temple was destroyed, they congregated in the synagogue instead of the Temple. The Temple was something God had instituted, and it had a daily service, both morning and evening as well as during the day. The synagogue was something man had instituted, and it met every Saturday. When the Temple was built again, synagogue continued as well as a place to read and study Torah, but there really was no Biblical mandate for it. That does not make it wrong, per se, but when we are talking about "God's idea" of an assembly, we should keep this perspective in mind. God instituted Temple. He did not institute synagogue. Synagogue was something God allowed to develop, and it was something that God participated in. Jesus spoke of his congregation using a different word from that which was used to talk about synagogue. It was "ekklesia." This was a word used to talk about a smaller group called out of a larger group, and it was called out having a specific purpose in mind. For example, each of the Greek city states had a political body that would assemble to deal with political issues. This group was called "ekklesia" (our word we translate as "church"). The confused mob of Ephesus in Acts 19 that was against the believers also was called "ekklesia." In other words, the word translated as "church" in the Bible did not have a religious connotation when it was used by Jesus or his disciples. When we begin to understand this, we begin to see that the concept of church that God had when he put it forward as something he would build is not the concept of church that most of us have today. The word "assembly" probably is closer to the original word "ekklesia" than the word "church." William Tyndale, often called the father of the English Bible, never used the word church once in his translation of the Scriptures. He always translated "ekklesia" as "congregation" instead of "church." Much more to say, but this post is too long already. Anybody up for talking about what church is? Terry has put forward that church is not something we "attend." John speaks of church as something we attend and seems to have perceived Terry to be someone who forsakes church. My perspective is that while church is something we can attend, Terry has an important point about how we are the church and that we ought not "attend church" in order to passively warm pews, fill the offering plate, listen to someone else sermonize, then go home until the next time church meets. There really is a kind of idolatry in this scenario, isn't there? Peace be with you. David Miller. ---------- "Let your speech be always with grace, seasoned with salt, that you may know how you ought to answer every man." (Colossians 4:6) http://www.InnGlory.org If you do not want to receive posts from this list, send an email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] and you will be unsubscribed. If you have a friend who wants to join, tell him to send an e-mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] and he will be subscribed.
