The "ekklesia" is a gathering of citizens called out from their homes into some public place; it is an assembly of Believers unified in serving God's people in the marketplace. Many Christians mistakenly refer to themselves as the ekklesia just because they are members of a "church."
The focus of the ekklesia is for you to "go out" and the focus of the church is for you to "come in."
Who are the ekklesia? They are the ones that the Lord God called to Himself by name in Matthew 10:1 to, "...He called His disciples to him and gave them authority to drive out impure spirits and to heal every disease and sickness. We know from studying the scriptures that the ekklesia are His disciples. We know that the Holy Spirit has given all Believers the same power and authority as Christ to drive out impure spirits. We also know that the Triune Godhead has the expectation that all Believers heal the sick and diseased.
Are you a disciple of the ekklesia or a member of the church? Are you going out or coming in?
Did you know that the miracle Jesus performed more than any other was the "casting out of demons (impure spirits)!" Why do you think that is so and do you think that modern day Christians even give this demonstration of glory a second thought?
Who is the church? These are the ones have taken this profound doctrine of truth, peace, love and joy in the Holy Spirit and created over 44,000 Protestant denominations, and transformed the group dynamic of leadership into "sola pastora" or the one leader, one voice communication model. The false prophets come from "inside" the church. The church loves to be inside. The church doesn't like the other kids to play in their sandbox. This is not the model Jesus fostered in the earth. The church is not visiting the sick, clothing the naked, feeding the hungry, going to the prisons taking care of the poor.
Jesus was interruptible. You could ask Him questions while He preached. He would ask you what you thought while He preached. There was room for discussion. Discussion and debate promotes growth and maturity. Maturity elicits "graduation" from the milk to the meat and "creates a seat" in the church for the new Christian as the disciple graduates to the ekklesia and goes out to serve the Lord God.
This is a hard word I know. But I love the hard stuff in God. When the Holy Spirit visits me and asks me the hard questions, I have to respond to Him the only way I can; by humble submission to His Presence and teaching the hard truth. The truth is an offense!
In Matthew 28:18-20, Jesus came to His disciples and directed them to "go out to all the nations and make (other) disciples baptizing them in the Father, Son and Holy Spirit." He sends them out again in Luke 9:1-6; and again in Luke 10:1-18; and yet again in Mark 16:15. It seems Jesus was fixated on sending the brothers outside to gather the lost sheep.
It's hard to hear but I couldn't find one scripture where Jesus told His disciples to "come in" to church...
Are you going out or coming in?
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