And He is the head of the body, the ecclesia, Who is sovereign, First from among the dead, that in all He may be becoming first
Paul to the Colossians 1: 18, Concordant New Testament
Ever since I left the church, it seems that I always come across someone who asks me THAT question once again. "So, what church are you going to?" They're always a bit dumbfounded when I tell them that I walk into the church of the Lord Jesus. Well, just where exactly is that? Can I go too? In all honesty, the church of the Lord Jesus, that church of which He is the head, will not be found in some ornate fancy building that we've come to expect of churches down through the years. Where we will find the church of the Lord Jesus, His ecclesia, is anywhere there is a gathering of those who know, love and worship Christ Jesus. This could be in a Sunday morning small group meeting or, as in my case, in a simple gym environment among those who are seeking the Lord as well. Through the years, those within the mainstream church have come to structure the way that church is defined. They will insist that we should not be "Forsaking the assembling of ourselves" {To the Hebrews 10:25}. They will point to this verse as somewhat of a heavenly command to go to church each and every week without fail. In reality, when one looks into the context of this passage, we began to see a somewhat different message. See, when this scripture was written, the nation of Israel was still under the control of the Roman empire. As a consequence of this, early believers were persecuted for their belief and for following the teachings of Jesus. The writers of the verses we find in Hebrews encouraged believers to gather amongst themselves in worship despite the consequences they faced if they were caught by the Roman authorities. To not forsake the assembling of themselves within the ecclesia, the church of the Lord Jesus. These gatherings typically took place not in synagogues, but in the homes of believers in Christ Jesus. If these early believers followed the dictates of the religious leaders of their day, they would have gathered in the synagogues as they always had. Jesus changed all that. No longer is the brick and mortar church the center of those who know and believe in Jesus.
God is spirit, and those who are worshipping Him must be worshipping in spirit and truth
Johns Account 4: 24, Concordant New Testament
One of my favorite scenes from The Chosen series is the day that Jesus traveled to meet the Samaritan woman drawing water from a well. This woman had been fed the requirements of the religious leaders of her day, who claimed that she could not worship in Jerusalem due to the fact that Samaritans were seen as somehow "Unclean" by the Jews. Once again, Jesus came to break the traditions and requirements of the Jewish authorities. This woman, who was seen as unclean was assured by Jesus that she was a part of His ecclesia. That the traditional worship requirements no longer mattered. She was now free to worship the Lord in "Spirit and truth" wherever she felt led to do so. This is the same spirit of worship which we have today. Nothing has changed, God is still in spirit and He continues to desire that we worship in spirit and truth. Now, if someone is led to worship in the traditional church environment, then they are free to do just that. As for myself, I choose to worship the Father in my own way, apart from the rules and traditions of the mainstream church. No boring sermons. No tithe and no obnoxious praise and worship music. Of course, there will always be those within the church who will tell me that I'm missing the point. That I somehow cannot worship the Father unless I do so within the confines of the brick and mortar church environment. That sounds a bit too much like compulsion to me.
~Scott~
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