Chapter Ten--Church, Citizenship

Lesson Ten CHURCH, CITIZENSHIP

Church No complete agreement exists among Biblical scholars concerning the derivation of the word "church." Most of them believe that it is derived from the Anglo-Saxon circe, which in turn can be traced back to the Greek kuriakon, the Lord's house, from kurios, lord, master; kuros power,supreme authority. Others, however, connect it with the Middle English kirke, from the Latin circus, circulus (Greek kuklos, circle), because the congregations were gathered in circles. Be that as it may, in the New Testament the word "church" is translated from ekklesia, which many authorities believe is from ek, out, and klesis, a calling.

The word ekklesia was first used in Athens to refer to the convened assemblies of the people, of which there were two kinds: the ordinary (kuriai ekklesiai) and the extraordinary. Eventually ekklesia was used to designate the lawful assembly in any free Greek city of all those possessed of the rights of citizenship, for the transaction of public affairs. "That they were summoned is expressed in the latter part of the word; that they were summoned out of the whole population, a select portion of it, including neither the populace, nor strangers, nor yet those who had forfeited their civic rights, this is expressed in the first. Both the calling (the klesis, Php 3:14; 2 Timothy 1:9), and the calling out (the ekloge, Romans 11:7; 2 Peter 1:10) , are moments to be remembered, when the word is assumed into a higher Christian sense, for in them the chief part of its peculiar adaptation to its auguster uses lies" (Richard Trench).

An example of the use of ekklesia during the classical Greek period is found in Herodotus, History 142, where Maeandrius of Samos "called an assembly of all the citizens." Another example is Thucydides, The Pelo-ponnesian War 60, where Pericles of Athens is reported to have said, "If or assembly have the purpose called of an reminding you upon certain points." Cf. Euripides, Orestes 939. Adolph Deismann has emphasized the significance of the fact that the Latin-speaking people of the West, to whom Christianity came, did not translate ekklesia, but simply transliterated it into ecclesia, and used it in the same way. He cites an interesting bilingual inscription of A.D. 103-4, found in the theater at Ephesus, which refers to a gift by a Roman official of a silver image of Artemis and other statues. The inscription orders that these statues are to be set upon their pedestals at every ecclesia, assembly, of the city in the theater. It is obvious that to the Greeks and Romans alike the word meant a convened or summoned assembly. This meaning was not lost in the New Testament. In Acts 19:39 the town-clerk of Ephesus is recorded as saying, "But if ye seek anything about other matters, it shall be settled in the regular assembly (ekklesia)." Cf. Acts 19:32; Acts 19:41.

The word ekklesia was also familiar in the Jewish Greek-speaking world. In the Septuagint it is very common, occuring over seventy times. It refers to the community of Israel, God's called-out people of the Old Testament, whether assembled or not. In some instances it is translated as "congregation" and in others as "assembly." See Deuteronomy 18:16; Judges 20:2; 1 Kings 8:14; Leviticus 10:17; Numbers 1:16. There is one instance in the New Testament where ekklesia is rendered as "church" to designate the entire community of Israel: "the church in the wilder-ness" (Acts 7:38). Who can deny that the Jews were the church of God , even though the term "church" is not found in certain English versions of the Old Testament? The Jews were indeed God's ekklesia, church, under the Old Testament, just as Christians are indeed God's ekklesia, church , under the New Testament.

The followers of Christ, Christians, are those who have been sum-moned by God through Christ to assemble before Him. They are always assembled in His presence when they heed His word and do His will, wherever they are at all times, and not only when they are assembled together for public worship (Hebrews 10:25). Thus in keeping with the original meaning of ekklesia, it is proper to refer to the New Testament church as the New Testament assembly.

Notice three different ways in which ekklesia is used in the New Testament in reference to those whom Christ has summoned from the world to serve God.

1. It means the universal church. Jesus had this concept in mind when He declared, "Upon this rock I will build my church" (Matthew 16:18). He refers here to all men of every age, race, and country who have answered His call through the gospel, to the sum total of His disciples throughout all ages of the Christian dispensation. Other New Testament references to the ekklesia as the universal church are 1 Corinthians 10:32; 1 Corinthians 12:28; Ephesians 1:22; Ephesians 3:10; Ephesians 3:21; Php 3:6.

2. It means a local church or congregation, a company of Christians banded together in a particular locality. An example of this meaning is 1 Corinthians 1:2, ". . . the church of God which is at Corinth." The sum total of the congregations of God's people constitute "the churches of Christ" (Romans 16:16). See Revelation 1:4. Php 1:1 de-scribes a congregation that is organized according to the divine pattern: "Paul and Timothy, servants of Christ Jesus, to all the saints that are at Philippi, with the bishops and deacons." Cf. Acts 14:23. See Romans 16:1; Galatians 1:2.

3. It means the assembly of a congregation in any particular place. The purpose of such an assembly may be to worship God (1 Corinthians 11:18-34; 1 Corinthians 14:19; 1 Corinthians 14:23) or to do anything else that is necessary in obeying the Lord, as is suggested by Matthew 18:17 in connection with 1 Corinthians 5:4-5.

The New Testament portrays the church in three relationships.

1. It is referred to as belonging to Christ. In Matthew 16:18 Jesus said, "Upon this rock I will build my church." It is His church by right of purchase: ". . . the church of the Lord which he purchased with his own blood" (Acts 20:28). See Ephesians 5:25. The church is portrayed as Christ's body (Ephesians 5:23; Colossians 1:18; Colossians 1:24). It is through the faithful members of His body, who subject themselves to the divine head, that Jesus acts. When members of the body, the church, speak and work for Christ, it is Christ Himself who is speaking and working. Cf. Galatians 2:20.

2. It is referred to as belonging to God. ". . . the church of God which is at Corinth" (1 Corinthians 1:2). See 2 Corinthians 1:1; Gala-tians 1:13; 1 Timothy 3:5; 1 Timothy 3:15. The church belongs to the Father as well as to His Son Jesus Christ because it is He who gave to the world the supreme gift of His only begotten Son to make possible the existence of the church. Were it not for His love for mankind there would be no church. See John 3:16; 2 Corinthians 5:18-19. Jesus Himself declared in a prayer to God, "All things that are mine are thine, and thine are mine: and I am glorified in them" (John 17:10). See 1 Thessalonians 2:14.

3. It is. referred to in terms of its human composition. The church is composed of people, human beings. It is not an institution but a living organism, "living stones" (1 Peter 2:5). Thus the church is often portrayed in the New Testament in terms of the people who compose it. In 1 Thessalonians 1:1 Paul speaks of "the church of the Thessalonians," meaning the local congregation composed of inhabitants of Thessalonica. In 1 Corinthians 14:33 he speaks of "all the churches of the saints ," meaning all the local congregations composed of saints. In Romans 16:4 he speaks of "all the churches of the Gentiles," meaning all the congregations composed of Gentiles. Consistency demands that those who insist that the phrase "churches of Christ" (Romans 16:16) is divine authority for giving the church a name must also insist the same concerning such phrases as "church of the Thessalonians," "churches of all the saints ," and "churches of the Gentiles." But, in fact, the divinely inspired scrip-tures do not give the church a name as such, but merely described it in terms of its ownership and composition. Such phrases, then, as "churches of Christ" and "churches of the saints" are not names, but simply descriptive expressions portraying different relationships of the New Testa-ment ekklesia.

The limitation of space will not permit us to discuss all the facets of New Testament teaching concerning the ekklesia. But one last point is to be noted. In our teaching and preaching we must never present the church to the world as perfect in fact but only in divine design. It is most assuredly God's desire that the church be completely devoid of sin and error, but such is never the case in reality. The church is composed of people, human beings; and people are never infallible, never perfect, but always fallible and imperfect in themselves. We do the cause of Christ great injury when we make the church the central theme of our teaching and preaching, virtually claiming infallibility and perfection for ourselves in the slogans we parade before the world: "We speak where the Bible speaks and are silent where the Bible is silent;" "We are scriptural in teaching and practice;" etc. If we would be faithful children of God we must present the perfect, infallible Christ to the world, laboring dili-gently to convert sinners to Him rather than to the church, which is composed of imperfect, fallible souls whose hope is not in their own merits or goodness hut solely in the merits and goodness of the sinless Son of God. If we convert men to the church, we convert them to weak, frail human beings who are powerless to save, who at their very best are unprofitable servants of God. But if we convert them to Christ, we convert them to Him who has all power to save, who is "wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification, and redemption" (1 Corinthians 1:30).

Citizenship

"For our citizenship is in heaven; whence also we wait for a Saviour , the Lord Jesus Christ" (Php 3:20). The word "citizenship" in this passage is from the Greek politeuma, literally meaning "common-wealth, state." An inscription has been found at Pompeii, of Egyptian origin, 3 B. C., is in "employed which of an association politeumaof. Phrygians whom we must suppose to have resided in some Egyptian town or district in the employment of their own laws, religion, and administration of justice" (Moulton and Milligan). Arndt and Gingrich state that this word often denotes a colony of foreigners. Many commentators would translate Php 3:20 as follows: "We are a colony of heaven." M. Dibelius' free rendering is: "Our home is in heaven, and here on earth we are a colony of heavenly citizens." The' sense which Paul most likely had in mind is rendered by Thayer: "the commonwealth whose citizens we are." The apostle contrasts this description with that of the preceding verse , which portrays those who "mind earthly things." The faithful Christian knows that his eternal abiding place or home is not this transitory world but heaven. In the world he is but a stranger, living in temporary exile. His commonwealth is heaven. Longing to enter into the possession all the privileges of his heavenly home, earthly things have no attraction for him, and he unceasingly seeks to live in harmony with his high destiny. His treasures are not earthly but heavenly; therefore his heart is in heaven and not in the world (Matthew 6:19-21). Unlike those whose only treasures are earthly, who mind earthly things, he obeys the divine injunction, ". . . seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated on the right hand of God. Set your mind on the things that are above , not on the things that are upon earth" (Colossians 3:1-2). See Galatians 4:26; Ephesians 2:19; Hebrews 11:13-16; Hebrews 12:22.

A word akin to politeuma is politeuo, translated as "manner of life" in Php 1:27, "Only let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ." A footnote in the American Standard Version says, "Behave as citizens worthily." In the papyri politeuo (politeuomai) is used in the sense of "I live the life of a citizen;" "I live the life of a member of a citizen body." Paul's meaning is that Christians should constantly be aware of their heavenly citizenship and thus so conduct themselves that they will exalt and glorify the gospel of Christ.

The word "citizenship" is found in one other New Testament passage: "And the chief captain answered, With a great sum obtained I this citizenship. And Paul said, "But I am a Roman born" (Acts 22:28). The Greek word used here is politeia, signifying the relation in which a citi-zen stands to the State, the condition of a citizen, citizenship. The refer-ence in this passage is to citizenship in the Roman Empire, a legal privilege enjoyed by the chief captain and Paul.

Questions

• How was the word ekklesia used in the ancient Greek world?

• In what sense was the community of Israel the ekklesia, church, of God in the Old Testament?

• Discuss three ways in which ekklesia is used in the New Testament in reference to the Lord's people.

• What are the relationships in which ekklesia is portrayed in the New Testament?

• What is the difference between the church as it is divinely designed and as it actually exists?

• Discuss the use of politeuma in Php 3:20.

• How is politeuo used in Php 1:27?