“Where do you go to church?” is a common question within the conversations of cultural Christianity.
An answer that includes a physical address, a large immaculate facility, and a denominational distinctive is usually what is expected (and is usually what is given).
If you are a Christian, the biblical answer is: “I am the church.”
The greek word for church in the New Testament is “Ekklesia.” Far from representing brick and mortar, “ekklesia” primarily means, “called out or called forth.” In the context of the gospel, the church is people who have been “called out” of darkness by God and into His light and new life (1 Peter 2:9). The key is not a building or a geographical location, but believers “called out” by God from eternity past for his glory (2 Timothy 1:9).
In the Old Covenant, the Temple was the center of life and worship for the nation of Israel. It signified the very presence of God and His promise to make Israel a great nation (Exodus 25:8). One of the overarching concerns for King David and his son Solomon during their respective reigns was the building and establishing of a Temple for God’s glory to dwell (1 Kings 8:12-13).
The Temple was such a staple in the religious and cultural life of the Jew that during Jesus’ day there was even a law protecting it against blasphemy. Blasphemy against the temple had just as serious repercussions as blasphemy against God; these were the very charges the Jews made against Stephen, Christianity’s first martyr (Acts 6:13). God and the temple in Jerusalem were inextricably linked in the mind of the Jew.
At Passover, and both Jewish and non-Jewish pilgrims alike from all over the world would come to Jerusalem to seek after God at the Temple. On a yearly basis, millions of pilgrims (according to Josephus) would flock to Jerusalem to appease the God of Israel and offer a sacrifice that would perhaps please Him at His temple. The temple was a crucial national treasure to the Jew that displayed God’s faithfulness to the physical nation of Israel. This makes the radical New Covenant words of Jesus in John 2:18-21 all the more shocking:
Then the Jews demanded of him, “What miraculous sign can you show us to prove your authority to do all this?”
Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and I will raise it again in three days.” The Jews replied, “It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and you are going to raise it in three days?” But the temple he had spoken of was his body.
The reason your jaw isn’t dropped open right now is because you are not a first century Jew. A Middle Eastern Carpenter’s son just said in effect, “Kill me and I will raise myself up to become the new global meeting place for God.” It’s not incredibly surprising that these words went right over the heads and hearts of the listeners. A common Palestinian under Roman subjection could not be equating himself with the holy Temple of God. Right? In hindsight, the implications of this astonishing statement are clear: Jesus is the meeting place of God for all peoples of all times. Man must flock to Him now in order to appease God. The flawless life, obedience, blood, and resurrection of Christ are now the only way for sinful man to access the holy One of Israel.
Jesus also makes it perfectly apparent to the woman at the well. Location is moot regarding worship of God (John 4:21-24). Not in Jerusalem, not on a mountain, not towards Mecca, and not in a brick building. The over-riding factor in worship is no longer a physical location, but whether it is in Spirit and Truth. “There is coming a time,” says Christ, “when you will not be able to confine God’s glory and presence to a hollow edifice. That time is now with the New Covenant.” Not a pretty building, but a perfect body. Not the paltry sacrifice of goats and doves man may bring, but the perfect sacrifice God brought in the person and work of His Son. That is the only sufficient place for mankind to encounter the King.
But this is not the only awe-inspiring reality of the New Covenant temple. The church is not merely “called out” of death and darkness, but also called into something greater. Now the redeemed have a position of being “in Christ” and apart of His body (Eph 1:22-23). What Christ is and has purchased with His blood He has in return freely given to us. He’s The Temple. But that’s not all. He has also made us temples (1 Cor 3:16-17). Through the Holy Spirit He has made our body/temple the New Covenant dwelling place of God’s presence. Through the redemption of Christ God has given us the indescribable, undeserved privilege of being the holy temple.
Those who meet at the true Temple of God (Jesus Christ) are transformed into mobile representative temples on His behalf.
This is a profound mystery. As with all gospel truths it is a mystery worth claiming and proclaiming whether we feel it or see it or know it as we think we should.
This divine truth exposes how absurd it is when we reduce the church to the geographical stained glass structure we happen to convene at every Sunday. This truth does not negate the reality of the local assembly as part of the ekklesia (1 Thessalonians 1:1), but it does illuminate to us that the ekklesia is gloriously more than just the local assembly (though not less!). We are now the dwelling place of God’s holy presence. We are now the blessed carrier of God’s glory into the world. We are the ones “called out” of a sure deserving death and called into a glorious life in Christ.
We don’t just go to church. We are the church.
Bryan
