What Is Ekklesia

First of all, ekklesia is the Greek word translated as Church in the English Bible. Ekklesia is a Greek term and in Hebrew it's Qahal (as used in the Old Testament), while Jesus probably used the Aramaic word "Kehala" when he was speaking to Peter in Matthew chapter sixteen. We can't actually be sure of the exact word Jesus used because the new testament was written in Greek not Aramaic. However, ekklesia means the assembly of the called out ones.

In its Greek origin, the word came from the Athens direct democratic system where the adult male were "called out" to form a congress to make decisions for the community, it was a governmental body. In the Hebrew origin, we find the word when the children of Israel were "called out" of Egypt to be a people unto God — a people that governed themselves through a direct democratic and republican system.

In essence, it is a community, called out, assembled together to form a congress, governing themselves. It is a government, a community and an assembly (congress). However, the aim of this article is to look at how the ekklesia is supposed to be expressed. But first we must look at how it is not expressed.

It is not expressed in a building where only a few is allowed to perform on the altar while the rest sit back and watch like in a cinema, or a concert. In such kind of setting everybody is not given the right to speak, and governance does not take place. In a true expression of ekklesia everybody must participate, they must all express their rights to govern. This may bring us to the question, "how does each member express their rights to govern"?

First we must understand that Christ is the only King, and each member is a king only because they are the body which is the expression of the only King. In essence, to exercise our rights as kings (or government) is to express or manifest Christ. Hence, a proper expression of the ekklesia is each member participating in the expression of the one King (Christ).

They meet to express this Christ among themselves, each member participating as Christ build his body and equip them in order to bring into manifestation his reign on earth. Hence, two things happens in the meeting; first is the building or the edification of the body, and the second is the ministry of the King.

"for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ," (Eph 4:12).

Yes the body must be edify, but edifying is not the main purpose of the ekklesia. The ekklesia is a government and the main purpose of the government is to rule, to reign. The ekklesia is meant to bring into manifestation the reign of Christ, that when the world looks they will see Christ reigning as he exercises his authority over death, sickness, sin, poverty, depression and every form of darkness.

So they meet to edify each other and to also arrive at the will of the King — his decision on how he wants to manifest his reign on earth. It is at the ekklesia that Paul and Barnabas received instructions to be separated and go forth, and manifest the reign of Christ in certain ways. It is at the ekklesia decisions are arrived at, it is where the King's will is unveiled.

Jesus goal is not to have a religion, he came to manifest the kingdom of God on earth. And his body should be focuse on this one goal, to see a kingdom, a reign, a government manifest. In scripture we see that immediately Jesus declared, "all authority in heaven and earth is given unto me", the next thing he said to his disciples is, "go". A new King has been enthroned and we, his disciples, are meant to go and manifest the reign of this new King. Our purpose of gathering is not to appease an angry God or carry out any kind of religious rituals. Rather we gather to see how the King wants to manifest his reign on earth, and to bring ourselves to yield and manifest his government.

The ekklesia is not merely for the edification of the saints, it is a governmental body where decisions are made. Believers are supposed to get there and come out with precepts from the Lord, that they each must go and carry out in order to enforce the reign of Christ in this dark world. The meeting is not a religious meeting, but a decision making body, where heaven meets the earth and the will of God is made unveiled to man for the sake of governance.

It is not about religion, but a government. In the ekklesia you do not find a people trying to appease God, rather you find a people pressing into God to bring down heaven on earth. No, you do not find an audience watching a group of people performing on the altar. Rather, they are all participating, for the Lord will express himself through anyone and everyone, because all are kings. It is a fellowship of kings trying to arrive, together, at the decisions on how the Lord will them to reign on earth.

What is the King (Christ) doing?
How is he moving on earth today?
What is his will at this moment?
In what dimension is he wanting to manifest his reign?
What does the King have for his people (the community, the body of Christ)?

These are the questions that the believers are gathering together to find answers to. They are not gathering to hear one man preach, that is not ekklesia, that is probably a preaching center. For too long we have assumed that preaching centers are ekklesia, no. We must now understand the difference, ekklesia is not a preaching center, it is not a workshop, it is not a cinema or a concert. We are eagerly waiting for the reign of Christ, but the ekklesia is the vessel that is anointed to bring down the reign of Christ. The truth is that Christ will not come until we have true ekklesia on earth.

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Separating Ekklesia From Church

Church in it original meaning is a building dedicated to a divine being (a god) for religious activities. While ekklesia means the assembly of the called out once, a governmental body where decisions are made concerning the governing of the community. They are two different things, carrying different meaning. They are not words that should be used interchangeably.

Yes, the Greek word ἐκκλησία (ekklesia ) is normally translated by the English word “church” in the New Testament. What most people do not know is that the English word “church” did not originate from the word ἐκκλησία ( ekklesia) nor from the concept of the ἐκκλησία (ekklesia ) as expressed in the New Testament. The English word “church” originated with the Greek word κυριακός‚ (kuriakos ), which means “belonging to the Lord”. This word doesn't even resemble the Greek word "ekklesia" whose place it has usurped. But somehow, along the line ekklesia was removed from our new testament bible.

I believe, God allowed ekklesia to be replaced with church because the Lord's people do not understand what a Christian meeting is. And this will continue until the time comes when we finally understand what a Christian meeting is. When we finally have this understanding we would stop expressing church but ekklesia, and we would start calling our meetings ekklesia not church.

Looking at the history of Christianity we would realize that at some point we stop expressing ekklesia and started expressing church. We stop seeing our meetings as a congress where government (the reign of Christ) is demonstrated through each and every member. We started perceiving our meetings with the eyes of pagan religion.

We see it as a temple where rituals are performed in order to appease God. Even before Constantine came and gave us a build (temple) to worship, Christians where already going to holy places (the grave of the apostles and persecuted Christians) to worship (perform rituals to appease God). We can blame Constantine for all we want, but the truth is that it started long before Constantine.

It became more pronoun in the late third century when buildings were being erected for Christian worship. At that point, priests was used to replace the elders. Rather than meeting to make decisions or receive instructions from the Lord concerning how his reign should be manifested and expressed on earth, Christians started meeting to carry out rituals to appease an angry God.

As such, masses were held as often as possible. The priest were working tirelessly in the temple (church), performing rituals for all those who would come, seeking to appease God for one reason or the other. The new testament was turned into the old testament, this was the point Christians totally lost it. Till today we are still struggling to understand what we are doing, still mixing up the old testament with the new.

Even after the reformation we still continue to practice church rather than ekklesia. The only difference is that the buildings dedicated to God was less about rituals and more about men ministries. It was not just a temple anymore, it was now a preaching center. This is still not ekklesia but church, whether the building is used for performing rituals or for the ministry of preachers, it is still a church — a building dedicated to the Lord for religious activities.

Church is not for Christians, ekklesia is. Christians are supposed to meet as a governmental body to demonstrate their right as kings reigning together with Christ. We are not a religious people performing rituals to appease God, and we are not students sitting under the ministry of men. We are kings, kings make decisions, rules and reign. They don't sit down and watch a group of people performing on the altar.

While there is a need to sit under these ministries (as they are a gift from Christ, see Eph 4:7-13) and learn, we must also recognize that we need to have ekklesia. Yes, I am saying ekklesia and church can exist simultaneously, that is if church is defined as a building where we sit under the ministries that Christ has given to us to edify us as a people.

If church could take that definition then it can exit in Christianity, but it must do so separately from ekklesia. We can have church at one side and ekklesia at the other side, and Christians can attend both. Church would be a place open for both believers and unbelievers, the evangelist can minister there. It can also allow for the ministry of teachers, worship ministers, prophets and so on, for it is a ministry center (a building for ministry).

However, the ekklesia must exist separately as a meeting for only believers, where each member freely express Christ in all of his riches as deposited in them. Here Christ is seen through each member, apprehended and adored. Here each member are cemented together; coming to know each other and to become one, even as the body is one.

It is time the ekklesia break out of the church and the two existing separately, these is all for the sake of growing in all ways into the fullness of God. We would not grow the way we suppose to if this clean break doesn't take place, we would not be the body, "the fullness of him who fills all in all" (Eph 1:23).

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