Prayer Tents Bible References - Prayer Tents

CHURCH

The common English translation of Gk. ekklēsía. At the time of the composition of the NT it was widely used to refer to gatherings of people in some kind of assembly. In the Greek version of the OT ekklēsía was used for the people of God (Israel) gathered together for an important purpose (Judg. 20:2; 1 Chr. 29:1; cf. Acts 7:38). In the NT it refers mainly to the people of God gathered in the name of Jesus or the God of Jesus Christ (Eph. 3:21; 5:23; 1 Thess. 1:1; 1 Cor. 10:32).

The NT understands “church” to refer to the visible expression of the gathered followers of Jesus Christ who have been grafted into a community created by God, under the banner of Jesus Christ, embodying in an anticipatory way the life and values of the new creation. As such the Church stands in direct continuity with the historic people of God (Israel); but as an eschatological community of the last days, marked off by its acknowledgment of Jesus as Lord and Messiah, there are discontinuities as well.

Beginnings of the Church

This tension between continuity and discontinuity with the people of God in history, precipitated by the coming of Jesus, is a fundamental factor in assessing when the Church actually began. It is a foundational presupposition of the Bible that Israel is the people of God (Lev. 26:12). Nevertheless, from a Christian perspective it is unarguable that something essentially new emerged with the coming of Jesus.

At the center of Jesus’ mission was the announcement that Israel was at the edge of a new era when God was about to fulfill his promises and inaugurate his kingship. Jesus viewed himself as an ambassador for this announcement. He called around him an inner circle of followers (the Twelve) who assisted in this proclamation and who constituted the nucleus of the community (Matt. 10:1-42; Mark 3:13-19; 6:7-13; Luke 9:1-6, 10). This new community anticipated the special fellowship of the new era by dining together in celebrative meals (cf. Luke 14:1-24; 22:14-23). At these meals, and throughout his teaching, Jesus employed images such as harvest, banquet, and new wine to describe the salvation of the new era. As part of Jesus’ table fellowship, traditional social distinctions created by observance of the rites of purity were abandoned; and the return of the lost was joyously celebrated as a paradigm of the anticipated repentance and restoration of Israel (Luke 15:1-32; 19:1-10; Mark 2:18-20).

Matt. 16:16-19 incorporates the historical reality of Jesus’ giving the name kêpāʾ/Pétros, “the Rock,” to Simon and investing it with special significance (cf. John 1:42). In the confession of Jesus as the “Messiah, the Son of the living God,” Peter becomes a foundation rock of the new community of the end times. This new messianic community would have to survive a terrible ordeal (the messianic woes), which would probably involve the destruction of the Jerusalem temple (Matt. 24:2 par.). The old sanctuary would be replaced by a new sanctuary: the messianic community (Matt. 26:61 par.). In keeping with the previously spoken word of Jesus, this new sanctuary or Church would be inaugurated by Peter (Matt. 16:19).

Upon the death of Jesus, after the disciples returned to faith and the Holy Spirit fell upon the fledgling, but still frightened messianic community in Jerusalem, Peter became the instrument who furnished the word as to how humans may become part of the new messianic community and participate in the salvation brought by Jesus (Acts 2:14-42). When that day ended with the repentance and baptism of several thousand, it could be verified that the community of the end time, the Church, had been inaugurated. Jesus announced the Church and the Holy Spirit inaugurated it.

Expansion in the NT Era

Jerusalem and Judea

Luke and other Greek-speaking believers use ekklēsía to describe the earliest Christian community in Jerusalem after the Resurrection (Acts 5:11; 8:1). This was far more than an alternative to synagōgḗ, the usual term for a gathering of Torah-observant Jews. The Church as a living community viewed itself as the restored tabernacle of David (Acts 15:15-16; cf. Amos 9:11-12). The Twelve were the guiding forces directing this truly apostolic community (Matt. 19:28; Luke 22:29-30; Acts 2:42; 6:2, 6). These apostles saw Jerusalem as the central place where God would bring to fruition his eschatological plans instituted with the Resurrection (Acts 1:8). Living in vital anticipation of the culmination of these eschatological events, this community attended to the most mundane tasks of life with great fervor (2:43-47). By the end of the first generation, the Church was a substantial force in the life of Jerusalem (2:41; 4:4; 6:7).

Beyond Judea

According to Acts, the messianic community began to emerge quickly throughout the Roman province of greater Syria. Most agree that Paul’s call near Damascus took place within five years of Jesus’ death. Paul immediately associated with other believers there and apparently worked with churches near Damascus and east of the Jordan (Gal. 1:17). The connection between the “mother” church at Jerusalem and similar churches among the Jews in greater Syria and throughout the Jewish Diaspora is still an unsettled issue. However, each local assembly seemed to perceive itself as the visible expression of the gathered community in any given place that owed ultimate loyalty to Jesus as Lord and Savior (cf. 1 Thess. 1:1; 1 Cor. 1:2; Gal. 1:2, 22; 2 Cor. 8:1). Even the reference in Acts 9:31 to the church in Judea, Galilee, and Samaria probably refers to collections of Christians meeting in different assemblies somewhat analogous with the structure of the Jewish synagogues.

A major missionary thrust was carried out by the Hellenists, a minority of Greek-speaking Jewish Christians in the church at Jerusalem. In developing their own understanding of faith in Jesus, they quickly drew the antagonism of the authorities (Acts 6:8-15; 7:54–8:3). From this group emerged Stephen, Saul (Paul), Barnabas, Philip, and Silas. The planting and rapid growth of the church in Antioch is attributable to the Hellenists. Their worship and manner of life quickly became so distinctive from other groups within Diaspora Judaism that they were identified separately as “Christians” (Acts 11:26). Part of that distinctiveness involved the open welcoming of Gentiles to be part of the people of God through faith in Jesus as Messiah without first embracing the badges of Judaism (circumcision, dietary and sabbath observance). This not only precipitated Antioch’s sponsorship of the great mission to the Gentiles but also caused problems in the relationship with the church in Jerusalem, which were resolved at an ecumenical meeting in Jerusalem ca. 48-49 (Acts 15:1-35; cf. Gal. 2:1-21).

Mission to the Gentiles

The latter half of the 1st century saw steady growth of the churches around the Mediterranean basin, especially among the Gentiles. The NT highlights the mission of Paul. But others, many of whom will forever remain unknown and who engaged in ordinary pursuits, also spread the word.

With the emergence of churches throughout the wider Greco-Roman world, the question of the relationship of these overwhelmingly gentile churches to the Jewish Christian brethren in Judea remained a burning issue. Paul was sensitive to this matter and sought to promote unity in the Church by collecting voluntary contributions from the gentile churches he had founded for the poor in Jerusalem (1 Cor. 16:1; 2 Cor. 8:1-5). Besides the political function of melding together the gentile and Jewish segments of the Church, there is evidence that Paul understood this as signalling the arrival of the messianic era (Isa. 60:4-7; Rom. 15:25-31).

Besides the consolidation of the churches founded by Paul, many other churches planted around the Mediterranean conceived of themselves as closely connected with major figures in early Christianity such as Peter (1 Pet. 1:1) and John (Rev. 2–3; 3 John 9, 10). By the end of the apostolic period the Church, although primarily still a number of small and struggling assemblies, had become a distinguishable entity in much of the Roman Empire (Col. 1:6).

Features of the Church

Organization in Ministry

Paul argued that each local congregation can be described as the working parts of a body (1 Cor. 12:12-31). God has arranged to distribute gifts (charismata) for the orderly working of the body (1 Cor. 12:27-31; Rom. 12:5-8; cf. Eph. 4:4-16). There is no absolute dichotomy between spirit and structure in the NT; rather, the spirit provided differing structures for the early Christian communities in keeping with the needs of particular situations. Thus, the Jerusalem church began under the direct guidance of the Twelve, who provided guidance and teaching (Acts 6:1-6; cf. Eph. 2:20). Later, a combination of apostles and elders became responsible for the leadership (Acts 15:2-23).

The situation in the Pauline churches was even more diverse. Paul urges submission to leaders of the home churches who “supervise” the members (1 Thess. 5:12; Rom. 12:8; cf. Heb. 13:7). Generally leadership in the Pauline churches became vested in senior men of the congregation who manifested a record of stability and holy living. Various terms that seem to be practically synonymous, such as elders (Acts 20:17; James 5:14) and overseers (Acts 20:28), describe their duties. Also, deacons (both women and men) usually assisted the leadership (Rom. 16:1; 1 Tim. 3:8-12). Evangelists were ordained to proclaim the word (Acts 21:8; Eph. 4:11; 2 Tim. 4:5). Finally, 1 Tim. 5:9-15 identifies widows as a specific group who rendered practical service. Similar diversity of leadership was apparent in other churches not founded by Paul.

Despite the considerable influence of some centers (e.g., Jerusalem), the basic organization and ministry of the NT Church seem to have been centered in the local congregation. Yet, even though spread over a vast geographical area and having insignificant social standing, an amazing sense of solidarity and unity existed (cf. 1 Pet. 2:17; 1 Cor. 1:2). Early Christians viewed the Church not only as a gathered community in a local sense but as a spiritual unity of the total complement of believers (Col. 1:18, 24; Eph. 1:22). It was truly the vanguard of the new age.

Role of the Assembly

The understanding of worship was radically re-oriented by the coming of Jesus. Essential to worship in the Greco-Roman world were (1) a temple or house of the god (2) a sacrifice made to appease the god; (3) an altar where the sacrifice is placed; (4) a priest designated to offer the sacrifice and mediate between the human and the god. All of this was obliterated by the death of Jesus who, for his followers, ended all sacrificial systems with his once-and-for-all sacrifice (Heb. 9:24-28). Christ is the Christian’s high priest in the heavenly sanctuary (7:25-28). His sacrifice is the Christian’s altar (13:10). In place of animal sacrifices, religious ecstasy, or even spiritual communion, the follower of Jesus offered as worship a committed life (Rom. 12:1-2).

Nevertheless, this did not vitiate the need of Jesus’ followers to participate in communal life (Heb. 10:24-25). In these assemblies, which usually took place in the homes of believers, the distinction between earthly and heavenly was blurred, and an ordered world was created and represented in word and action whereby the followers of Jesus “drew near” to God. In an anticipatory sense, the believers joined the heavenly assembly in giving praise to God through Christ (12:22-23; cf. 10:1-22).

An assembly would usually take place on the first day of the week (the Lord’s day), when Jesus first appeared to his disciples (cf. 1 Cor. 16:2; Rev. 1:10). Central to the assembly was a gathering around a table for a main meal (1 Cor. 11:17-33). Through participation in the bread and the cup covenant loyalties were renewed. According to 1 Cor. 14:1-40 a wide range of prayer, praise, and charismatic activity such as speaking in tongues and prophetic utterances also took place. Paul’s emphasis on the need for decency and order (v. 40), and that all things ought to contribute to the spiritual growth of the Church, suggests that the central function of the assembly was not only to usher the believer into the divine world but also to build up him or her in the faith (1 Cor. 14:26).

The Hope of the Church

Central to the faith of the apostolic Church was the conviction that Jesus would return and bring to fulfillment the eschatological events inaugurated with his first coming (Acts 1:6-8; 1 John 2:28). The Aramaic word maranatha, “O Lord, come,” was not only a shout of acclamation in early Christian assemblies associated with prophetic speech but also an anticipation of the Lord’s return at the end of the age (1 Cor. 16:22; cf. Rev. 6:10-11; 22:20). The Church existed to tell the story of God’s faithfulness to his creation; but the culmination of that faithfulness was considered to be Jesus’ returning as the glorified Lord, vindicating the righteous through resurrection (1 Thess. 4:13-17; 1 Cor. 15:50-58) and judging the wicked (John 5:29). This was the reality that sustained the daily life of the Church through the apostolic period.

Awareness of this dominant reality explains two major concerns of the Church at the end of the apostolic period: the danger of apostasy and the need for holy living. The early canonical writers from Matthew to Revelation made strong appeals to believers to remain faithful to their commitment (Matt. 13:36-43, 47-50; 24:36–25:30; 2 Pet. 2:21; Heb. 6:4-8). There was an equal call to remain loyal to the content of the apostolic faith (Jude 3; 2 Thess. 2:15) and follow a Christian lifestyle in positive holy living (1 Pet. 1:15-16; 4:2). Thus, although the apostolic Church as a “remembering community” naturally focused on the past with respect to living under the impact of the coming of Christ, there was also a strong emphasis on the need to persist in the hope that God’s eschatological purposes would be brought to completion in the near future. At this time, the kingdom would be given up to God (1 Cor. 15:24-25). Framed by a consciousness of these two comings, the apostolic Church lived in hope.

Bibliography. R. Banks, Paul’s Idea of Community, rev. ed. (Peabody, 1994); E. Ferguson, The Church of Christ (Grand Rapids, 1996); K. Giles, What on Earth Is the Church? (Downer’s Grove, 1995); H. Küng, The Church (New York, 1968); G. Lohfink, Jesus and Community (Philadelphia, 1984); P. S. Minear, Images of the Church in the New Testament (Philadelphia, 1960).

Allan J. McNicol

Prayer Tents Bible References - Prayer Tents

CHURCH

Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible (2000)