Ekklesia

Ekklesia. The church. The assembly. The congregation. His church, Jesus’ church. The exquisite bride of Christ, [1] whom He loves so much He “… gave himself up for her”, [2] of which not even “… the gates of hell shall… prevail against....”. [3]

O’, the church… the glorious, sweet church. Thank God for the church. For as this world progressively feels more horrid and tastes more bitter, the church becomes increasingly lovely and enduringly savory. Yes, to love it and to savor it more.

Likenesses can help us do so. So, to what shall the church be like?  

The Household of God – Paul likens the church to “… the household of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and buttress of the truth.” [4] A household, a dwelling; a place where family live… with laughter, sorrow, pain, healing, nourishment, protection, love, understanding, forgiveness, care, and aid – a safe house to be just who they are… in Christ. It’s a household not of earthly, frail human hands, but of the supernatural hand of God. And this household is alive because it is “… of the living God”, [5] where “… God’s Spirit dwells… ”. [6] A holy refuge, a glorious sanctuary built with the truth, “… the pillar and buttress… ” [7] – a structural column and foundation withstanding the strength of unlimited force and weight. Put the church up against all the powers of this world and wait and see who will be the last to stand.

The Flock – Peter likens the church to “… the flock of God…”. [8] Only one flock of animal is fitting here – a flock of sheep, because sheep need a shepherd. Thus, Peter fully instructs the elders to, “… shepherd… the flock of God…” [9] (emphasis added). Sheep require defense, shelter, pasture, provision, covering, rest, direction, and each other. Forbid that one ewe should wander away by itself, for then all those necessities risk waning and wax to danger. And so, the shepherds must shepherd.

The pastors pastor, the elders elder,  the overseers oversee – they tend and herd and manage and lead and protect and feed and care… for the flock, all from supernatural will, from supernatural eagerness, with the utmost of humility under the direction of the chief Shepherd (Capital “S”), [10] Jesus, “… the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.” [11] And so the church, under Jesus’ overarching leadership and supremacy, [12] is the place where the world looks on and sees love, [13] where one of the greatest longings of mankind “… never ends.” [14]

The Body – Paul again likens the church, but this time, to the body. “For as in one body we have many members, and the members do not all have the same function, so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another.” [15] The body is a whole, with connective tissue across its wholeness, a macrocosm of working parts where, “The whole is greater than the part.” [16] And the woven parts, like a picturesque tapestry, are visibly intertwined with invisible complex connection.

The external needs the internal, and the internal needs the external. Without one single part the whole is partial and incomplete. Individually they bear an image of the divine, and together bear an image of the loveliest bride [17] ever to be adorned. And while the world looks upon the church body with both appeal and bewilderment, and even sometimes hate, Christ looks upon her with gleaming eyes and undying love.

Envisioning these likenesses and experiencing their reality stimulates the Christian heart to well up with gratefulness to God for this household, this flock, this body, this church. And the deepest of gratefulness to God that she’s also safe, protected, and beloved by Jesus Christ. [18] He’s her head, and her sole union and identity are wholly wrapped up in Him. And so, there’s no more blessed place on this earth to commit, to be accountable, than the church. It’s this place where Christian gifts can all wonderfully unite, “… until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes.

Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.” [19]

O’ yes, Ekklesia. The church. A foretaste of heaven in the aftertaste of this world. No other gathered place on earth can substitute for this assemblage designed from heaven.  It’s a holy household, a fitting flock, a beautiful body. The church – the place where all Christians belong.  

Thomas Kruggel is a non-vocational Elder at Grace Bible Church and works in The City of San Francisco

1. II Corinthians 11:2
2. Ephesians 5:25b (ESV)
3. Matthew 16:18b (ESV)
4. I Timothy 3:15b (ESV)
5. Ibid.
6. I Corinthians 3:16b (ESV)
7. I Timothy 3:15b (ESV)
8. I Peter 5:2a (ESV)
9. Ibid.
10. I Peter 5:2-4a
11. I Peter 2:25b (ESV)
12. Colossians 1:17
13. John 13:35
14. I Corinthians 13:8a (ESV)
15. Romans 12:4-5 (ESV)
16. Euclid, Elements, Book I, Common Notion 5
17. II Corinthians 11:2
18. Colossians 1:18
19. Ephesians 4:13-16 (ESV)