My first day to experience “ekklesia”
View all responsesOne day I walked into a group of about 60 people who were sharing testimonies about how Jesus Christ had changed their life. I had been to church plenty of times, but I had never been to a meeting like that before. As they shared with humility, passion, and zeal something instantly happened inside of me and I’ve never been the same. I’ve been walking and talking with the risen Jesus Christ ever since!
Now I trumpet this thought: Spirit-prompted child-like innocence will break the hardened clay pots that surround our heart. Gather with a few Christ-followers and give it a try.
God’s unconventional strategy is hidden by our use of the word church and our neglect of the meaning of the New Testament Greek word that church replaced. Church means: A building where people gather for sermons and ceremonies, a religious organization, or the organization’s members that gather in the building.
The Greek word ekklesia, however, has a completely different meaning. It is the proper name of the participatory town hall meeting in ancient Greek cities where any citizen could share what was on his heart. That’s the unconventional strategy that Jesus revealed when He, referring to the rock of direct, personal revelation from God, said: “I will build My ekklesia.” Christ’s unconventional strategy is to invite people to gather in His presence and to say and do whatever He prompts them to as they are led by His Spirit (See Matthew 16, Romans 8:14 and 1 Corinthians 14:26.)
Watching the Light of Christ shinning in and through ordinary people will produce awe and wonder. It will transform even the gloom and doom of deep darkness into joy and delight. Gather with some Christ-followers as each person present listens to the living Jesus and then shares and does what Jesus tells them to. Let the risen Jesus reveal His passionate and caring zeal for you by opening your heart and blasting away the burdens that bar you from receiving His Light and rejoicing in His love.
The art of opening your heart and being vulnerable is more caught than taught. To pass it on to others we have to model it for them by embracing the courage and humility to honestly reveal our heart in front of them. Then we need to encourage them and to be kindly receptive as we humbly hear people when they dare to share from their heart.
Jesus isn’t a teaching or a slogan. He’s a real person. We need to show people how to interact with and obey the living Jesus, not just to listen to religious information about Him.
Jesus said that He will be present when we gather in His name. If we open our heart, He will make us aware of His presence and will lead us by His Spirit. When people are actively worshipping Jesus from their heart, I can see radiant beams shinning from their face. When they open their heart to God and to each other it makes them hungry to read, absorb, and live the Bible.
The risen supernatural Jesus is hard to explain with human logic. Perhaps you could ask Him your questions and listen to His still small voice in your heart. His supernatural presence isn’t imaginary or magic. He’s truly risen from the dead and is now omnipresent.
Some people say that they never see a miracle. Every day I experience more miracles than I can count!
Pharisees focus on
Religious information
And impressing people
With their rule keeping,
Rather than discipleship
And heart transformation.
Ignoring the
Supernatural mystery
Of Christianity
Is spiritual insanity.
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