Defining Church, Part 2

Part 1 of this article began to reveal to us the true definition of church (the ekklesia). The “ekklesia” was a body of citizens gathered to discuss the affairs of the state (Vine’s Dictionary). The word refers to the gathering of competent citizens of a city-state in order to decide issues regarding laws, office appointments, and public policy (Mounce’s Dictionary). We said that Jesus did not intend to build a “synagogue”, a mere gathering of people for religious purposes.

The ekklesia was a political system of effecting human development and so the word “ekklesia” reveals the purpose and the mandate of church in the world. As we reflect on this, there are two realities we have to begin to engage:

1. Becoming an Ekklesia of God demands that we begin to consider the politics of the Kingdom of God (Kingdom Politics) and establish the political dimension of Christ in the saints.

1. Becoming an Ekklesia of God means that we need to reposition church in the Nations

Considering the Politics of the Kingdom of God

The word Politics has been associated with that which is secular or that which is “worldly” and so therefore the pathway to touching and appropriating kingdom politics (or the political dimension of Christ) involves the need to confront the spirit-secular divide in the minds of church leadership and the saints.

This spirit-secular divide produces a set of limitations and deficiencies within the church, namely:

· It reduces church to a religious institution that has no real voice over critical issues of human existence like politics and economics.

· It produces a situation where Church leaders are trained only to lead religious or spiritual fellowships as opposed to developing the kingdom of God as a system of life and advancing its Cause within this world system. Moses, the elder of the first church (Acts 7:37&38) was not just a conductor of church service, he was a revolutionary who led people out of political bondage into new and just political systems of the Kingdom of God (the laws or doctrine of Moses); we will deal with issues of eldership later. This limitation in church leadership training causes a situation where the most a church leader can generally do is to construct a sermon, lay hands etc. (things like laying hands etc. are very important Biblically established ministries but are not the only thing a leader ought to do). We have not seen a kind of leadership that is able to develop the mind of God (perspective) from the scriptures in as far as politics and economics are concerned.

· It produces a situation where the saints do not see the church correctly. The saints have not realised the role of the church in developing competences that help them function better within the world system. According to scriptures (e.g. Eph 4:11-13), it is the duty of church to equip the saints for “ministry” or for kingdom responsibility so that they can advance the kingdom of God in their families, communities, marketplace and systems of governance. Typically, what the saints do is that they develop themselves in educational institutions (which is not wrong) but come to church mainly for a time of refreshing, revival, motivation and laying on of hands. This kind of church model is not only limited but it is very wrong. We however cannot blame the saints for not seeing the church correctly; the leadership of church is to blame for this. It is the kind of teachings and sermons you hear on Sunday and church operational emphases that have defined church in the minds of believers.

The kingdom of God does not see spirit and secular, the kingdom sees life as one unit and wants to engage with the totality of that life.

Genesis 1:1

1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. NIV

Psalms 24:1

The earth is the LORD's, and everything in it,

the world, and all who live in it;

NIV

Genesis 1:26-27

26 Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground."

27 So God created man in his own image,

in the image of God he created him;

male and female he created them.

NIV

The scriptures above reveal to us that God made the totality of life and not just the “religious” aspect of it. To build a church that only deals with “spiritual-religious” matters is to suggest that God is limited to the religious sphere.

Acts 17:24-26

24 "The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by hands. 25 And he is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything, because he himself gives all men life and breath and everything else. 26 From one man he made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should live. NIV

God made the world. The word “world” is the word “kosmos” which deals with the “systemic arrangement of life”. So God made man (in Gen 1:26), He made the world in Acts 17:24 and He also made nations in Acts 17:26. If we believe that God is the One who made systems and nations then we have to believe that God is political.

God is Political

The issue then is what really is politics? We are to separate between Politics and Party Politics. When I say “politics” I am not referring primarily to elections, voting and occupying positions within a government.

Politics is the practice or study of the art and science of forming, directing and administrating states and other political units; the art and science of government; political science.

The complex or aggregate of relationships of people in society, especially relationship involving authority or power.

Any activity concerned with the acquisition of power…(Collins Dictionary).

Politics is social relations involving authority or power (Webster’s Online Dictionary).

Politics is the art or science of government (Merriam-Webster.Com).

This is how I define Politics:

Politics is the process, means & methodology of mobilisation & regulation of society that produces progressive & sustainable development in human existence.

In all these definitions, we can see that politics deals with the formation, development and regulation of human existence. The “development of human existence” means that the state and conditions of humanity must be improved. The “regulation of human existence” means that there must be systems (doctrines or laws) that govern the way humans co-exist.

Politics deals with the formation, development and regulation of human existence. “Human Existence” here refers to the state of humanity, the totality of conditions that characterise humanity at a particular point in time. Politics deals with a deliberate process and activity of setting up systems that help us produce a certain kind of human existence. The interesting thing therefore is that one does not need to be a “politician” to engage in a political process. The reality is that we are all engaged in a political process as we put effort to produce better conditions of human life, better humans out of our kids, raise up sound families etc. Politics is far broader than Party Politics. In fact when we look at the “Adamic Commission” given in Genesis 1:26-28, it becomes clear that every human is supposed to be at the forefront of the formation, development and regulation of human existence. God said to us “rule”, He did not say we must be spectators of the political process.

A kingdom political orientation begins with the realisation that God is the initiator of the political process; He forms, develops and regulates human existence. God does this in partnership with men. God is the One who created a human being, family, nations and the entire world system (Gen 1:26-27, Acts 17:24&26). In the beginning, God did not have a church service or a revival, He formed life. God dealt with unjust Cain, He judged in the matter between Cain and Abel and so therefore His church must imitate Him (Eph 5:1) and His leaders in the earth must portray Him correctly (1 Cor 11:1).

Politics deals with the formation, development and regulation of human existence. Every political process seeks to produce a certain kind of human existence characterised by certain principles. The objective of every political process is an “equitable and just human existence”. Throughout the scriptures, we see that God seeks to produce a human existence characterised by justice, equality and mutuality.

Ezekiel 34:20-23

20 "'Therefore this is what the Sovereign LORD says to them: See, I myself will judge between the fat sheep and the lean sheep. 21 Because you shove with flank and shoulder, butting all the weak sheep with your horns until you have driven them away, 22 I will save my flock, and they will no longer be plundered. I will judge between one sheep and another. 23 I will place over them one shepherd, my servant David, and he will tend them; he will tend them and be their shepherd. NIV

God confronts and judges a human existence that is characterised by marginalisation and the “survival of the fittest” doctrine. He wants a system of human existence driven by equitable distribution of resource (2 Cor 8:13-15, Eph 3:6, Luke 3:10&11). One where there is integration, co-existence and equal access (Eph 2:14-18).

Laws or verses like:

Matthew 7:12

12 So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets.

NIV

and

Matthew 22:39

39 ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.' NIV

…are not sermons, these are systems of mutuality and co-existence that ensure a stable human existence. God revealed or gave these laws because He wanted to produce a better human existence in the earth through church (Eph 3:10).

The Formation of the First Church: Key Lessons from God

Exodus 2:23-25

23 During that long period, the king of Egypt died. The Israelites groaned in their slavery and cried out, and their cry for help because of their slavery went up to God. 24 God heard their groaning and he remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac and with Jacob. 25 So God looked on the Israelites and was concerned about them.

NIV

Exodus 3:7-10

7 The LORD said, "I have indeed seen the misery of my people in Egypt. I have heard them crying out because of their slave drivers, and I am concerned about their suffering. 8 So I have come down to rescue them from the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land into a good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey — the home of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites. 9 And now the cry of the Israelites has reached me, and I have seen the way the Egyptians are oppressing them. 10 So now, go. I am sending you to Pharaoh to bring my people the Israelites out of Egypt."

NIV

Exodus 5:1

1 Afterward Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and said, "This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: 'Let my people go, so that they may hold a festival to me in the desert.'"

NIV

Acts 7:37-38

37 "This is that Moses who told the Israelites, 'God will send you a prophet like me from your own people.' 38 He was in the assembly (or church: ekklesia) in the desert, with the angel who spoke to him on Mount Sinai, and with our fathers; and he received living words to pass on to us.

NIV

Isaiah 14:24-27

24 The LORD Almighty has sworn,

"Surely, as I have planned, so it will be,

and as I have purposed, so it will stand.

25 I will crush the Assyrian in my land;

on my mountains I will trample him down.

His yoke will be taken from my people,

and his burden removed from their shoulders."

26 This is the plan determined for the whole world;

this is the hand stretched out over all nations.

27 For the LORD Almighty has purposed, and who can thwart him?

His hand is stretched out, and who can turn it back?

NIV

· The story of the exodus of Israel from Egypt is not intended to reveal a selective God who loves the Jews more than other races. That kind of doctrine is not consistent with what the Bible teaches. God created all nations (Acts 17:26) and He shows no favouritism but accepts men from every nation (Acts 10:34).

· The story of the exodus reveals a God of justice who is concerned about the oppressed.

· This story reveals that God actively confronts unjust superpowers or empires and systems that devour other nations or people and that feed on the blood of the weak.

· The story of Egyptian rule was a case of enslaving a people and making them cheap labour to build an economic system. This condition is still the same today. The word says God was concerned over this situation.

· God heard the groaning of the people – not just of the Jews but of any oppressed people, see James 5:1-6.

· The response of God to systems of oppression is to raise leadership (Moses) and church that will go and confront those systems and bring about liberation and justice. This is how the “church in the wilderness” (the first church which is a model of New Testament church) was birthed. That is, the building of church is not without the confrontation of unjust systems of human existence and so therefore the building of church has a strong political element to it. If we build systems of training church leadership (“Bible Schools”), such systems must teach on issues of justice without which one can never build church correctly. The greatest violation is to build a church and doctrine that reinforce the deficient principles and systems of the world like greed, self indulgence, survival of the fittest etc. Church preaches self indulgence in the name of God and in the name of blessing. That kind of church is nothing but a second beast that causes people to worship the image of the first beast (Rev 13:11-18).

· The “Promised Land” was not a geographic location but “a state of human existence” that the Jews were called to discover in God and model before other nations (Deut 4:5-8) for the purpose of revealing God and redeeming humanity. Even though the Jews occupied a geographic territory, they never entered the Promised Land (according to Heb 3&4), i.e. they failed to build and model a system of life that would make other nations realise a better system of human existence.

· The church is now called to build and represent this system of human existence to the nations (Isa 2:1-4, Isa 60:1-3). The notion of church as just a spiritual fellowship, a synagogue of some kind, goes against this prophetic imperative that prophet Isaiah tells us about. This therefore means that the highest calling of a church leader is not simply to build a big church organisation but it is to produce a system of human existence that reveals God and that presents humanity with an alternative to the injustices of the world. Big churches do not necessarily solve issues of injustice.

· God wants to remove the “Assyrian” in the land, this is the plan determined for the whole world and for all nations. Assyrian was another oppressive empire and so “Assyrian” is a metaphor for oppression and injustice. God wants to remove systems of oppression and injustice and I think He is starting right inside the church. According to Isa 14:24-27, God is not simply looking at Middle East, He is looking at Sudan, Haiti, Zimbabwe, South Africa and all other nations. He wants churches built with a purpose of producing a better system of human existence in those nations. In other words, the concept of New South Africa must be modelled by the church first. If we still have class, race and gender segregation in the church in South Africa then there is no hope for the realisation of a new South Africa. This requires a new configuration of leadership and new platforms of collaboration beyond the bounderies of “local church” because what I am describing here cannot and will not be built by even the biggest of local churches but by God’s net (Ezek 32:3, Matt 13:47), the Body of Christ.

So therefore through Israel, God was forming and developing a system of human existence. Through the church, God is forming and developing a system of human existence (Isa 2:1-4), a city (Rev 21); He is not building a church service. This reveals that God is political and that the building of church requires a kingdom political orientation and not religious mindsets.

Jeremiah 22:13-17

13 "Woe to him who builds his palace by unrighteousness,

his upper rooms by injustice,

making his countrymen work for nothing,

not paying them for their labor.

14 He says, 'I will build myself a great palace

with spacious upper rooms.'

So he makes large windows in it,

panels it with cedar

and decorates it in red.

15 "Does it make you a king

to have more and more cedar?

Did not your father have food and drink?

He did what was right and just,

so all went well with him.

16 He defended the cause of the poor and needy,

and so all went well.

Is that not what it means to know me?"

declares the LORD.

17 "But your eyes and your heart

are set only on dishonest gain,

on shedding innocent blood

and on oppression and extortion."

NIV

James 5:1-6

1 Now listen, you rich people, weep and wail because of the misery that is coming upon you. 2 Your wealth has rotted, and moths have eaten your clothes. 3 Your gold and silver are corroded. Their corrosion will testify against you and eat your flesh like fire. You have hoarded wealth in the last days. 4 Look! The wages you failed to pay the workmen who mowed your fields are crying out against you. The cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord Almighty. 5 You have lived on earth in luxury and self-indulgence. You have fattened yourselves in the day of slaughter. 6 You have condemned and murdered innocent men, who were not opposing you.

NIV

God speaks very strongly against political and economic systems of injustice and oppression that deprive the weak of their rightful economic inheritance. Quite clearly, God could fit well right inside the Labour Movement. What I am saying is that what we see the Labour Movements do (in terms of defending the cause of the weak and marginalised) is actually the mandate of the church (the ekklesia of God).

God and Justice

On the one hand, “justice” is at the centre of all human political activity, mobilisation, initiatives, revolutions and systems. African Politics for example and Politics in general have been and continue to be a battle between those who deprive others of justice and those who pursue justice. The word ‘justice’ then, is at the core of political activity and process. It cannot be separated from politics. On the other hand, “justice” is the core component of the nature of God. God defines the very meaning of justice. He is the God of Justice (Isa 30:18). He is known by His justice (Ps 9:16). He loves and exercises justice (Isa 61:8, Jer 9:24 & Acts 17:31, Heb 1:9). If justice then, is the core component of the nature of God, then justice should be a central feature of church language and doctrine, and should be at the centre of all spiritual development. A perfected church is a justice-conscious church. Justice is the core reality of spiritual maturity.

Jeremiah 22:16

16 He defended the cause of the poor and needy,

and so all went well.

Is that not what it means to know me?"

declares the LORD.

NIV

To know the Lord (or to come to a position of spiritual growth) is to come to a place of political competence, where we are pursuing justice and equity within the nations God has placed us in.

In fact God says that any spiritual activity that is not connected with a pursuit of justice is noise unto Him.

Isaiah 1:15-17

15 When you spread out your hands in prayer,

I will hide my eyes from you;

even if you offer many prayers,

I will not listen.

Your hands are full of blood;

16 wash and make yourselves clean.

Take your evil deeds

out of my sight!

Stop doing wrong,

17 learn to do right!

Seek justice,

encourage the oppressed.

Defend the cause of the fatherless,

plead the case of the widow.

NIV

Israel, which is described as “the church in the wilderness” (Acts 7:38) really reveals God and the politics of the kingdom of God. God delivered Israel not only from religious bondage but also from political-economic oppression represented by Egyptian rule. And in fact if Israel is indeed “the church in the wilderness” this means that understanding church does not begin with reading New Testament, it begins with studying God’s dealings with Israel in the Old Testament. In building Israel, God had to deliver them from the political systems of Egypt (Egypt here represents the world system) in order to bring them into the political systems of the kingdom of God. This is the responsibility of church leadership today. All we have been focusing on so far has been to deliver the saints from behavioural sin (which is very important); we have not focused on delivering the saints from ideologies, cultural positions and worldviews that are anti-Christ in nature.

Politics is the very nature of God

As we have said, the objective of any political process is “justice and equity”. The objective of any government or politician is “a just and equitable human existence”.

The scriptures we have read above reveal that God is just; He hates marginalisation and injustice of any kind. The word says God heard the “groaning of a people” who were oppressed by an empire (Ex 2:23-25, Ex 3:7-10) and He still hears the groaning of the marginalised (James 5:1-6).

2 Peter 1:4

4 Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.

NIV

Ephesians 4:13

13 until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.

NIV

Our perfection in God is the full appropriation of all the dimensions of the nature of Christ, including the issue of justice and equity. These issues therefore need to be preached and taught in the church so that we can build a strong kingdom political orientation in the saints.

God actually establishes systems of justice and equality: the example of Manna.

2 Corinthians 8:13-15

13 Our desire is not that others might be relieved while you are hard pressed, but that there might be equality. 14 At the present time your plenty will supply what they need, so that in turn their plenty will supply what you need. Then there will be equality, 15 as it is written: "He who gathered much did not have too much, and he who gathered little did not have too little."

NIV

Paul here is referring to Manna which was a system of distribution of resource (food) to the Jewish society (see Exodus 16). This system came by revelation from God to Moses, the first elder of the first church. The big issue in the world today is one of injustice, marginalisation and inequity in the distribution of resources either between nations or between groups of people within societies. The story of Manna reveals a God who is just, who understands and in fact initiates systems of redistribution of resource between peoples. Christ later says that “He is the Bread that came down from heaven” (John 6:51). This means that Christ is the “System of Equality”. If this is true, how come then in the church we tolerate class consciousness, greed and materialism when the word says in Christ “there is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free…” (Gal 3:28). How come we celebrate “the survival of the fittest”? Where is the “taking care of my brother”? How come we raise big offerings from widows (Luke 20:47) and take monies to buy big cars and live in pent houses without supplying back the resource as the early apostles did (Acts 2:44&45, Acts 4:34&35). We take from the weak sheep in the name of God without supplying back as the Bible commands (Ezek 34:1-5). These are big political issues inside the church that are causing a stirring and a revolt against a system of church that is built on platforms of greed and self indulgence.

We therefore must realise that we serve a political God and we have a political mandate of forming and developing a new just and equitable system of human existence. This requires a different kind of approach to church building.

Defining Church, Part 1

It is time for us to review Biblical definitions of church so that we know who we are, how we ought to exist in this world system, what our mandate is and how we ought to operate.

Many of us have gone to start churches or to be part of churches without due consideration of what this thing is all about. As a result, we accept whatever that is presented to us either by tradition or by those we assume know as we are not in a position to discern and assess correct definitions, operations and practices of church. Generally, it has become the culture of Christians to invest in something they do not even understand why it exists. We invest our lives, time and our resources without even checking if the church system we are part of is operating within the Biblically correct framework. We take the most important decision in life, that of giving our lives to Christ and then continue without checking if the “giving of our lives to Christ” is bearing any real fruit to Him and His kingdom. In fact at times we do not even care if the thing is correct as long as we can produce a successful church service on Sunday morning. We forget that Israel under Moses had “successful church services” in the form of the manifest presence of God (Pillar of Cloud and Fire) although God Himself had long judged that they would not enter the Promised Land or His purposes (Heb 3:7-19, Jude 1:5, Acts 7:39-43). The fact that God had judged them did not mean that He would not heal their diseases and provide manna for them; God did this faithfully until all of them died except for two men, Joshua and Caleb, whose hearts were set on the journey. This is what I call “sustaining presence of God” where God provides His miraculous power and manifest presence just as a way of waiting for the entire generation to die in order to raise a new generation that can possess His promises.

Definitions

Mathew 16:13-19

Matthew 16:13-19

13 When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, "Who do people say the Son of Man is?"

14 They replied, "Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets."

15 "But what about you?" he asked. "Who do you say I am?"

16 Simon Peter answered, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God."

17 Jesus replied, "Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by man, but by my Father in heaven. 18 And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it. 19 I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven." NIV

It was in Mathew 16 that Jesus revealed for the first time His intent of building an entity He called “church”. The word “church” was unpopular in the religious circles of the day. The word that was used to describe the gathering of a people for religious purposes was “synagogue”. Jesus Himself was familiar with synagogues, he went and attended synagogue meetings and sometimes even taught in synagogues, see Luke 4:16-21.

Luke 4:16-18

16 He went to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and on the Sabbath day he went into the synagogue, as was his custom. And he stood up to read. 17 The scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him. Unrolling it, he found the place where it is written:

18 "The Spirit of the Lord is on me,

because he has anointed me

to preach good news to the poor.

He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners

and recovery of sight for the blind,

to release the oppressed,

NIV

“Synagogue” (sunagoge in Greek): an assemblage of persons. If you study about Synagogues in the Gospels and in the book of Acts, you will realise that it was basically an assembly of people (Jews) who came together to pray, worship and teach one another on the Word of God. Since the synagogue was a Jewish religious assembly, their Bible would have been the Old Testament (the Law and the Prophets). For example, in Luke 4:17, Jesus was given the scroll of prophet Isaiah.

It is important to unveil the definition of “synagogue” simply because although Jesus was familiar with synagogue operations, He did not say “I will build my synagogue”. On the contrary, He said “I will build my church (ekklesia)”. This straightaway tells us that the Lord was not simply establishing an assembly of people who would meet weekly only for religious purposes (as the Jews did within the synagogue system). The disturbing realisation is that the church has not only been run like a synagogue historically, it still operates as a synagogue even today. Church, just as ancient synagogues remains a system of bringing people together for religious purposes. In the synagogues, there was powerful evangelism taking place just as we see today (Matt 23:15). Now anybody reading this article will have to track through following articles carefully because if we read as far as this paragraph, then we will misinterpret and misrepresent what is being said.

Matthew 16:18

18 And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it. NIV

“Church” (ekklesia in Greek): The word ekklesia is made up of two words, “ek” which means “out” and “klesis” which means “a calling”. This word “ekklesia” was used among the Greeks of a body of citizens gathered to discuss the affairs of the state (Vine’s Dictionary). The word refers to the gathering of competent citizens of a city-state in order to decide issues regarding laws, office appointments, and public policy (Mounce’s Dictionary).

The ekklesia was therefore a political system of government and human development.

The important question here for us is, why did Jesus not say “I will build my synagogue”? Jesus took what was known to be a “secular” concept, entity and system and declared that He would build this same system to advance the kingdom of God. Ekklesia was a system of regulation and development of a city-state and so those who formed what was known as church needed to be people who were concerned with the affairs of humanity or with the human conditions of their city-state. Basically, ekklesia had a serious political-developmental role and function. When I say “political”, I do not mean “party politics”. The important question is, why are these realities not even traceable within the current identity, existence, doctrine and operations of the church? Who has defined church for us? Where did they get those definitions from?

In declaring the building of church, Jesus took what was known to be secular and unreligious; He bypassed the whole synagogue operation. This reveals the mind and the intent of God for the church.

Principles from Matt 16:13-19

· The revelation of church is preceded by a correct definition of Christ (Matt 16:13-17). The first question by Jesus was ‘who do men say that I am’. Correct definition of Christ basically means that we need to have correct revelation and doctrine in the church. Our sight of Christ produces understanding, doctrine and church operations. If we see Christ wrongly, like those who confused Him with past expressions of the Spirit (John the Baptist, Elijah, Jeremiah) then we are not even going to see what church is all about.

· Church is built upon ‘this rock’, the foundation of revelation truth (Matt 16:18). And so the extent to which we have correct revelation truth is the extent to which we have a correct solid foundation upon which to build.

· Church is “built” (Matt 16:18). Jesus did say, “I will build my church”. This means that what I’ve just described in the paragraphs above needs to be built diligently over a long period of time. Our test of correct building is when we eventually produce a mature people that God can use to administer and govern the affairs of humanity. We have to produce the ekklesia. The idea of building must therefore emphasise to us issues of (a) having design (a blueprint) for church that must be built, (b) mobilising necessary and relevant resources (tools from God) that will help us build, (c) engaging in a long term process of building (building takes time), (d) being much more deliberate in how we build church.

· The building of church is a governmental-warfare issue (Matt 16:18). There is “gates of hades” we have to overcome. “Gates” in the Bible always represent wisdom and government. Elders sat at the gates to discuss issues of their cities and to come up with wisdom for effective government (e.g. Prov 31:23). This is the meaning behind the concept of elders in the churches. Paul meant that elders were governors of church communities (1 Tim 3). Elders were governors and senators of human civilisations and the church has reduced them to conductors of church services and builders of church organisations. Building a church service and governing human lives in Christ are two different realities. The “gates of hades” therefore means that there is wisdom of darkness that can overcome us if we are not receiving a higher wisdom from God. When we build church, we are engaged in warfare.

· Church has a clear mandate to advance the kingdom of God (Matt 16:19). According to Matt 24:14, this mandate must be brought to completion before the end comes. If this is true, how is it that kingdom realities are so distant from church processes. Why is there lack of kingdom emphasis in the church? Why has the “vision of the pastor” taken over clearly stated vision of advancing the kingdom of God in the earth? Have we considered that Christ and apostles preached that which they called “the gospel of the kingdom of God”? Why are we hearing “a different” gospel in the church today? Why are we “sermonising” the saints instead of preaching doctrine that reveals kingdom realities to believers. Have we considered what the kingdom of God is all about?

There are several principles that can be extracted from the word “ekklesia” (the called out ones):

· To be part of church means that you have been “called out” (of the world) to participate in serious kingdom business. That “calling out” is not a monastic process, i.e. it does mean we have to distance ourselves from the world. That calling out is one based on identity, mentality, ideology and value system. If church is made up of people who are called out then why is it that believers still wonder if they are called or not? What is a calling and what are we called for? Clearly, what we can say for now is that “calling” is not limited to “pastors” but to all those who are part of the ekklesia of God.

· One can not be part of church if one is still locked up in worldliness, worldly philosophies, values and ideologies. There must be a “calling out” or a “moving out of the world” process.

· To be part of church means that we have to be motivated by an advance of the kingdom of God.

· To become a functional church (ekklesia) we need to be trained and equipped (instead of being sermonised), see Eph 4:11-13. The “ekklesia of God” will not be produced through “sermons” but through training and equipping for kingdom function. This training must produce a set of competences inside the church that in turn produce people who can interact and advance the cause of the kingdom of God in the spheres where God has placed them (namely: Business, Workplace, Communities etc.). We have to be trained to function within the broader scope of the kingdom (and not simply or only in a “local church”). Many of believers have become competent in handling the affairs of their local churches but are still incapable to advance the kingdom of God into their God-given spheres.

To be continued…