Articles
Word Of The Week: Church
The word church probably conjures all kinds of thoughts -- a religious building, a stuffy ceremony, dressing up in “Sunday clothes,” etc. But church in the New Testament has a limited meaning.
First, it refers to people -- Christians. It can mean all Christians on the earth (Eph. 1:22) or only those in a given locale (Acts 14:23). Less commonly church refers to the actual worship assembly of Christians (1 Cor. 14:19, 28).
The basic definition of the word is the “called out,” an assembly of people brought together for a particular purpose. One example is a gathering for a legal hearing (Acts 19:39). The word, however, is not used of the facility where people gather.
This is not just hair-splitting. How we use words affects our concepts, and wrong words lead to wrong concepts. "Church” is not optional; it is the very essence of being identified with the people of God.
