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).
You might also like to read:
What Is Ekklesia
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