call”). Thus, ekklesia, church, literally means to “be called out of.” But what are we called out of? We are called out of what our normal agenda would be if we had not come upon the traffic accident, seen the woman being stabbed outside our window, or, in our case, met the person and the gospel of Christ and the community of faith on earth. Church puts a rope around us, takes away our freedom, and takes us where we would rather not, but should, go.
