DON'T GO TO CHURCH TODAY!

It's Sunday.  Christians around the world will get up and go to church.  It's a good thing! 

However, in doing so we are missing a primary concept taught in the New Testament.  That concept:   Church is not something we go to, it is something we are!

The Greek word translated "church" by the King James scholars was ecclesia.  It came from two ancient Greek words:  ecc meaning "out", and kaleo meaning "call".  Ecclesia was used in early Greek communities to refer to a group of people called out to make decisions regarding their government - particularly in Athens. 

New Testament writers - under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit - chose this word to refer to gatherings of believers.  These "called out ones" were to serve His purposes in the world!

CONSIDER:

• They were not just called ecclesia on the first day of the week!  They were ALWAYS the "called out ones." 
• Since the New Testament Church had no buildings until the end of the fourth century, it wasn't possible for these believers to confuse who they were with their building!
• Because there was constant persecution during those four centuries, gathering together strengthened the believers as they faced unimaginable threats of violence!
• These gatherings were times for strengthening one another, teaching one another, and encouraging one another in the midst of desperate times!

A sense of obligation was the farthest thing from the minds of these New Testament believers!  They were not fulfilling a ritual - they were struggling to survive!  The gospels and letters that would later be formed into our New Testament were the core of their teaching.  They passed hand-written copies of these from group-to-group to strengthen and unify the body of believers!

Do you begin to see how we have cheapened the original concept by morphing it from a called-out-people to a building?  In addition, we've allowed ourselves to think of the church as something we do one day a week. 

Add to this the reality that the greatest revivals in history have taken place without the benefit of buildings.  We've already cited the New Testament growth during the first four centuries.  The explosive growth of the church in China since 1950 is another example.

Perhaps the best thing that could happen in America would be for the government to close all of our churches and forbid us to meet?  Then, perhaps, the church would become more than a ritual or obligation to us!

So, don't go to church today!  Instead, BE THE CHURCH!  And then BE THE CHURCH again tomorrow and the next day and the next...