What is Church For?

Every Lord's Day, thousands of people leave their homes and go to a building, whether great or small, to participate in a service. This has been happening since Jesus rose from the dead, and yet, I don't know if many of those people have really thought through why they go. There are many ideas out there about what church is for, why we go there, what we do when we are there, and what we are supposed to get out of it, but are these ideas correct? How do we know if they are correct? Let's explore this topic in depth and see if we can answer these questions.

Why the Word 'Church'?

The word church is an interesting little word that gets used by many in so many different ways. So what does it mean? Some will say that a church is the building that people go to where they participate in worship. Some will say that the church isn't a building at all and that it rather is the people who are inside of that building, ie. the ones doing the worshipping. Still others will object to that and say that the church doesn't refer to just that one group in that one building, but is rather all true Christian believers in the world today, across time, and forever, and that it is only meant to refer to that large universal group of believers.

Before we evaluate these definitions and define 'church' for ourselves, let's look a bit at the history of the word and where it comes from. The Bible was written in a couple of different languages, Hebrew and Greek, and has been translated many times, specifically for our purposes, into English, and so decisions had to be made about how words would be translated. There are a couple of words that are vital to understand here, the Hebrew word 'qāhēl (קָהֵל)' and the Greek word 'ekklēsia (ἐκκλησία)'. (I will digress for a moment to address one quick thing about the Old Testament, though it was written in Hebrew, the First Century Jewish people, including Jesus, used and quoted from the Greek translation called the Septuagint. So, we have the word qāhēl used throughout the Old Testament and is translated into Greek with the word ekklēsia, which is the word that Jesus and the rest of the New Testament writers use that gets translated as church.) So what do these two words mean?

• qāhēl (קָהֵל) - According to Strong's the word is defined as "assemblage (usually concretely):- assembly, company, congregation, multitude."(1) The Brown-Driver-Briggs Lexicon expands on this definition to give some concrete examples such as "assembly specially convoked... for religious purposes... for feasts, fasts, and worship..."(1) There are other uses of the word in the Old Testament, it sometimes refers to an assembly of people who are gathering for untoward purposes, such as evil counsel in Genesis 49:6. (If you want to see more how this word is used, I recommend looking at the Blue Letter Bible app or website, you can find the link to this word here.)

• ekklēsia (ἐκκλησία) - According to Strong's this word is defined as "a calling out, i.e. (concretely) a popular meeting, especially a religious congregation (Jewish synagogue, or Christian community of members on earth or saints in heaven or both):- assembly, church."(2) Thayer's Greek Lexicon simplifies the definition to this: "a gathering of citizens called out from their homes into some public place; an assembly."(2)

  
  

What I want you to notice from both of these words, is that they both refer to an assembly of people who come out of where they are to a new location. Now, what is also worth noting is that if you go and look at all of the places that ekklēsia is used in the Old Testament, you will never see the word church as the translation, it's always the word assembly. And then in the New Testament, the word ekklēsia is most often translated as church, but then a couple of times is translated as assembly. You should ask the question, why this discrepancy? And the reason has a lot to do with theological interpretation. At some point, it was decided that when referring to a Christian assembly, the word would be translated church, but if it was referring to a different assembly, then the word would be translated assembly or congregation. Now, regardless of your theological position, it's worth understanding that this is the case, as it helps us to see what this word church that we use is referring to. Before we move on, let's look at some of the uses of ekklēsia in the Bible so that we can understand how God intends us to understand this English word church that we use today.

• And Yahweh gave me the two tablets of stone written by the finger of God; and on them [were] all the words which Yahweh had spoken with you at the mountain from the midst of the fire on the day of the assembly. - Deu 9:10 LSB

• Then some of the elders of the land rose up and spoke to all the assembly of the people, saying... - Jer 26:17 LSB

• Now many people were gathered at Jerusalem to celebrate the Feast of Unleavened Bread in the second month, a very large assembly. - 2Ch 30:13 LSB

• And I also say to you that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build My church; and the gates of Hades will not overpower it. - Mat 16:18 LSB

• And if he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church; and if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as the Gentile and the tax collector. - Mat 18:17 LSB

• This is the one who, in the congregation in the wilderness, was with the angel who was speaking to him on Mount Sinai and with our fathers; the one who received living oracles to pass on to you. - Act 7:38 LSB

• Now I commend to you our sister Phoebe, who is a servant of the church which is at Cenchrea; - Rom 16:1 LSB

• For, in the first place, when you come together as a church, I hear that divisions exist among you, and in part I believe it. - 1Co 11:18 LSB

• And He is the head of the body, the church; Who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that He Himself will come to have first place in everything. - Col 1:18 LSB

• He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. - Rev 3:22 LSB

  
  

When we look at how this word is used in the Bible (and this is just a small selection), we see that overall, it is used as a physical assembling of people to a particular purpose. As the normative use of the word, we see places like Romans 16:1 where Paul commends Phoebe as a particular servant of a particular church, and uses the word to distinguish one group of Christians from another. There are times where the word becomes used more broadly and is opened up to a more universal sense as in Colossians 1:18, but this is not the way that God uses this word the majority of the time. The end of this discussion on the word church is meant to give you some context before we move on to purpose.

We in the English speaking world have nothing to fear by the word church. This is the word that has been chosen by some translators as the one that we will use to refer to the gathered people of God, and if you like using the word assembly or congregation that's just fine, these are both valid words and can be used with church interchangeably. What is more important is that you understand that when we talk about the purpose of church and why we attend, we may use that word in a valid way to refer to whichever building we go to. We may go to King's Church, or Christ Church, or the First Church of the Nazarene, and we are just using the word like Paul was when talking about the church at Cenchrea.

So What is Church For?

Now we get to the meat of all of this. We know that the word church is meant to refer to mainly the assembled people of God, and we know that it has the connotation of some religious practice when that happens. Let's examine some reasons that people say that we go to church.

1. So that the worshipper will feel God. This often comes out in peoples' vocabulary where they say things like "church was ok, but I didn't really feel the Spirit", or "that service was amazing, you could feel God so easily."

2. To evangelize the lost. You often hear in some circles that every sermon should have a gospel presentation, or that every service should have an altar call.

3. For teaching people about the Bible. This is evidenced in a lot of churches where the preacher gets up and talks for 45-60 minutes and has a full power point presentation and the expectation is that people will be taking notes.

4. To serve God. You'll see this in some circles where they talk about how important it is that we choose all the right music so that we can serve God rightly and praise Him sufficiently well.

5. To be served by God. You hear this when people talk about a 'means of grace' (watch for a future article about this concept) and how God uses various elements of the Christian walk to give grace to His people.

   
   

As you can see, there are many ideas that someone may give in answer to the question 'what is church for?' So how do we sift through these and find out what is the truth? Well, the best way to do this is to look at God's Word and see what He says about this.

When we start to look into the Bible for an answer to this question, most people are going to automatically start in the New Testament, because that's where all of the Christian services are pictured. However, the passages that talk about religious assemblies of people are mostly in the Old Testament, and without understanding how God told His people to worship Him in the Old Testament, we aren't going to understand the New Testament services at all. Now, if you've spent some time reading the Old Testament, then you are likely aware of the fact that most of the times that people gathered in a religious gathering, they were gathering to sacrifice. And this is the point, God's instruction to His people in the Old Testament regarding sacrifice is meant to instruct us in how we order our church services, and what we do in them.

As we open the Bible to the book of Leviticus we see that there are some broad themes that go through the sacrificial system. These themes are:

1. The person who is worshipping God and sacrificing is bringing an animal and is asking that he be represented by that animal. And he shall lay his hand on the head of the burnt offering, that it may be accepted for him to make atonement on his behalf. - Lev 1:4 LSB

2. The person who is worshipping God and sacrificing is killing the animal so that God will look upon the animal instead of on himself. Then he shall lay his hand on the head of his offering and slaughter it at the doorway of the tent of meeting, and Aaron's sons the priests shall splash the blood around on the altar. - Lev 3:2 LSB

3. The priests then take the blood and splash it on the altar to 'show' God that the sacrifice has been properly made. Then the anointed priest shall take some of the blood of the bull and bring it to the tent of meeting, and the priest shall dip his finger in the blood and sprinkle some of the blood seven times before Yahweh in front of the veil of the sanctuary. The priest shall also put some of the blood on the horns of the altar of fragrant incense which is before Yahweh in the tent of meeting; and all the blood of the bull he shall pour out at the base of the altar of burnt offering which is at the doorway of the tent of meeting. - Lev 4:5-7 LSB

4. The animal is then burned on the altar that God might smell a 'soothing aroma' and that the smoke of the sacrifice would join the smoke of God's presence. Then Aaron's sons shall offer [it] up in smoke on the altar on the burnt offering, which is on the wood that is on the fire; it is an offering by fire of a soothing aroma to Yahweh. - Lev 3:5 LSB

5. The remainder of the animal that isn't burned on the altar is given to the priests as a meal. So the priest shall make atonement for him concerning his sin which he has committed from one of these, and it will be forgiven him; then [the rest] shall become the priest's, like the grain offering. - Lev 5:13 LSB

6. There is a final declaration of blessing on the person who brings the sacrifice. ...and the priest shall make atonement for him before Yahweh, and he will be forgiven for any one of the things which he may have done to incur guilt. - Lev 6:7 LSB

   
   

With all of these things in mind, lets look at what the New Testament says about Christian worship, and the church service.

1. The person who is worshipping God and sacrificing brings himself and a Lamb and is asking that he be represented by this Lamb. Therefore I exhort you, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a sacrifice--living, holy, [and] pleasing to God, [which is] your spiritual service of worship. - Rom 12:1 LSB ...and he looked at Jesus as He walked, and said, "Behold, the Lamb of God!" - Jhn 1:36 LSB

2. The person who is worshipping God acknowledges the Lamb was killed so that God will look upon Him instead of visiting that person's sins upon himself. ...how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without blemish to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God? - Heb 9:14 LSB

3. The Priest then takes the blood and splashes it on the altar to 'show' God that the sacrifice has been properly made. But one of the soldiers pierced His side with a spear, and immediately blood and water came out. - Jhn 19:34 LSB For Christ did not enter holy places made with hands, [mere] copies of the true ones, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us; nor was it that He would offer Himself often, as the high priest enters the holy places year by year with blood that is not his own. - Heb 9:24-25 LSB

4. The Lamb is then 'burned' on the altar that God might smell a 'fragrant aroma' and that the 'smoke' of the sacrifice would join the smoke of God's presence. ...and walk in love, just as Christ also loved us and gave Himself up for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God as a fragrant aroma. - Eph 5:2 LSB

5. The Lamb is given to the priests as a meal. ...and He has made us [to be] a kingdom, priests to His God and Father--to Him [be] the glory and the might forever and ever. Amen. - Rev 1:6 LSB He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day. - Jhn 6:54 LSB Is not the cup of blessing which we bless a sharing in the blood of Christ? Is not the bread which we break a sharing in the body of Christ? - 1Co 10:16 LSB

6. There is a final declaration of blessing on the person who brings the sacrifice. Now the God of peace, who brought up from the dead the great Shepherd of the sheep through the blood of the eternal covenant, our Lord Jesus, equip you in every good thing to do His will, by doing in us what is pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom [be] the glory forever and ever. Amen. - Heb 13:20-21 LSB

   
   

This is just a small selection of passages from the Old and New Testaments that help us to see what it is God expects out of a worshipper. But this doesn't give us the whole picture, because there are some practical items that need to be talked about, mainly, how do we act this out in our church service? Jeffery J. Meyers in his book 'The Lord's Service' gives us a great example of how these things are put together in order for our church service. He says this in Chapter 4:

"The basic threefold pattern of God's service to us may be outlined as follows:

God cleanses and restores us through confession and absolution ([As in the]

Purification Offering)

God consecrates us by the Word ([As in the] Ascension Offering)

God communes with us at the Table ([As in the] Fellowship Offering)

Our response to God's work (our service to Him) corresponds to His service to us and gives us this threefold sequence:

We confess our sins, receive absolution, and respond with praise.

We hear the Word of God and offer our works and lives to Him.

We eat and drink at peace with God at His Table."(3)

As you can see, there is an order that comes out of this pattern of sacrifice from the Old Testament and that order includes some elements that would be normal in most churches, and some elements that you might not see in any churches. Most churches have praise, they have the Word of God read and preached, and they have other items like an offering. The elements that you may not see all the time are confession and absolution and the participation in the Lord's Supper. What's more, one of the main things that is brought forward in all of this is what the main purpose is of this time of worship that God ordains for us, the main purpose is that God serves us and we serve Him. There is a reciprocal relationship in the church service where we offer ourselves as 'living sacrifices' and God serves us absolution, His Word, His Son's blood and body, and His blessing.

Conclusion

As we come to the end of this matter, what is the conclusion? I would submit to you, that in God's Word, there is a very clear reason that He calls His qāhēl, His ekklēsia, together, and that is so that He might serve them and that they might serve Him. It isn't about getting a good feeling of the Spirit, it isn't about evangelizing the lost, it isn't even ultimately about teaching people (although these things may occur in the service). When we come together as churches, we ought to be worshipping in the way that God tells us to. We should be participating with the other saints in bringing ourselves as sacrifices, confessing our sins and celebrating and praising God for the absolution He gives us. We should be hearing the Word read and preached, and we should be presenting our tithes and offerings to Him. We should be participating in the Lord's Supper and communing both with the other saints and with Jesus in this meal, and finally, we should be blessed and sent out to do the work of evangelism, discipleship, and more. This is what church is for, it is for serving God and being served by Him.

(1) H6951 - qāhēl - Strong’s Hebrew Lexicon (lsb). (n.d.). Blue Letter Bible. https://www.blueletterbible.org/lexicon/h6951/lsb/wlc/0-1/

(2) G1577 - ekklēsia - Strong’s Greek Lexicon (lsb). (n.d.). Blue Letter Bible. https://www.blueletterbible.org/lexicon/g1577/lsb/mgnt/0-1/

(3) Jeffery J. Meyers, The Lord's Service: the grace of covenant renewal worship. (Moscow: Canon Press 2003), 86.