Where do you go to Church?

The William Tyndale Bible of 1524 did not use the word "church" anywhere in its pages. William Tyndale correctly translated the Greek word ekklesia as "congregation". When the King James version of the Bible was translated the Greek word ekklesia was a very important issue for the King. James ordered that his version of the bible would use the word "church" in place of the correct english translation of "congregation". This was because the King had no jurisdiction over the congregation (people) but he did have state power over the church (physical building and hierarchical institution). The third edict out of 15 ordered by King James concerning the KJV translation was that the word "church" would be used in his translation, not congregation.  In Strong's Greek Concordance, the word ekklesia (word #1577) is defined as "an assembly," and it's from the word "ek," (word #1537) which means "out of"; and the word "klesis" (word #2821) which means "a calling." So ekklesia is those that are the called out ones. Christ is the one that is calling us out. We Christians are His ekklesia, not a building or a place that we go. We can cross out the english word "church" in our bibles and write in ekklesia, congregation, or called out ones in its place. (Hendrickson 1611 KJV with original preface and translators' notes)

Conversations that I have had when meeting new Christians or just casual talk among fellow Christians will almost always produce the question "Where do you go to Church?" Would it surprise you to know that this is a nonsense question? Biblically, this question makes no logical sense. We cannot go to something that we are. Have you ever listened to the average Christian vocabulary and our use of the word church? The church building is so connected with the idea of church that we unconsciously equate the two:

• "Hey kids, did you see that beautiful church we just passed."
• "Our church is too small, I think we need to start a building fund to extend the east side and the balcony."
• "Good grief, that is the biggest church I have ever seen. I bet the electric bill is enormous."

How about the vocabulary of the pastor:

• "Isn't it wonderful to be in the house of God today?"
• "We must show reverence when we come into the sanctuary of God."
• "We will be decorating the church this week and need some volunteers to help."

Our traditions have developed institutions that we call church. Would it surprise you to know that most everything we do in "church" has almost no points of contact with the NT. Its true, look into it for yourself. Have you ever been passively sitting in a pew looking around at your fellow churchgoers during the sermon and thought "where did all this come from and why is there no examples of these practices in my Bible?" Have you ever been curious to know about the origins of things such as the church building, sacred spaces, the order of worship, the sermon, clergy & laity, the office of pastor, the pastors chair, the pulpit, the pew, the church steeple, tithing, dressing in our Sunday best, bow your head and close your eyes, the altar call, raising of hands in response to salvation, the church bulletin, etc? We are massively ignorant of how our church practices got to where they are today. I left the institutional church (IC) many years ago after realizing that what I was attending was nothing more than the traditions of men, in the churches of men. It took me some time to detoxify from the ceremonial style prayers, rules, rhetoric, and false doctrines that were being taught in the IC. The specific issues and spiritual hindrances that are unique to each institution are forced upon us by reading the Bible thru the denominational lens that we are subjected to. My reward for leaving the IC was finally being able to see clearly the content and narrative story of the Bible. It was quite the adventure at first, there is accusations and dis-fellowship that come along with questioning the traditions of religious specialists. I have written this blog for those that have been afraid to question the institutional church. The IC violates biblical principles, scripture stands with those of us that will no longer toe the line in our false church systems. I believe all the questions about the IC that were once looming in the back of my mind are swirling around in the minds of others as well. I would encourage every Christian to research the history of our church practices. What you find just might open your eyes and set you free from the traditions of men. God speed brothers and sisters.

Here is some links to recommended books on this topic.