The True Meaning Of The Word “Church”

When Julius Caesar died in 29 BC, a temple was built in Ephesus honoring him as a god. The Caesars who followed him didn’t wait until they died before proclaiming their divinity.

Octavian was the first to claim he was divine, demanding that the people worship him. Coins were minted to proclaim him as a god and temples were erected for the people to come and pay homage to him.

Eventually Octavian changed his name to Augustus and called himself the Son of God. It was during his reign that a census was taken, bringing a young couple to the City of David where the teenage mother would give birth to “another king” (Acts 17).

The child would grow up to be an itinerant Rabbi, proclaiming the kingdom of God and promising to grow a church. Yet the words of Jesus bare little resemblance to what many people experience today.

The word “church” means “called out ones,” it never has nor ever will mean a building or a denomination or a religion. When Jesus spoke of calling out people he was talking about transformed lives that would be defined by love.

It was against this organic, living group of people that the Caesars persecuted. Indeed, for most of the 1st Century they were simply called followers of the Way. The Romans were threatened by these new believers who refused to worship the Roman gods and leaders.

David Chilton shares that of 30 emperors who persecuted the followers of Jesus that one went insane, one was killed by his son, one was strangled, one died in prison, three committed suicide, five were assassinated by their staff, eight were killed in battle, and several had untold complications or diseases.

Of the thirty, Julian was fatally wounded in battle at the height of his prosperity. He raised his sword to heaven as he lay dying and proclaimed, “Thou has conquered O thou Galilean.”

Jesus proclaimed that he would build his church and that the love that defined it would overcome all odds. Whether we are talking about Los Angeles or Uganda, the message is still the same; church is not something you can attend.

Both the words of Jesus and of Paul make it clear they were talking about individuals that had embraced the message of love and forgiveness offered in the gospel, and whose lives had been radically changed by that message.

As Bridget Willard shares, “Church isn’t where you meet. Church isn’t a building. Church is what you do. Church is who you are. Church is the human outworking of the person of Jesus Christ. Let’s not go to Church, let’s be the Church.”