Daily Devo - Thursday, April 10, 2008

"To...the church in your house"
Philemon 2 (ESV)

Thousands of years ago, God spoke to a man in the city of Haran (in the Middle East). He worshipped idols, and was probably quite immoral, but God wanted a relationship with him anyway. Genesis 12 records the story, and in this story the man is told that God intends to create out of him a people—a nation, a great family. Isn’t it amazing that from the very beginning God didn’t pick the most upright? Rather, he chose one of the most wicked and broken. The story of the Bible is essentially the story of this one family, and God’s involvement with them. God directed Joseph to save this family by leading them into Egypt, and later directed Moses to save them by leading them out. Joshua led this family to their new homes, and Gideon protected the family from raiding bands and hostile nations. Saul organized the family into a kingdom, David led them to glory, and Solomon showed them the nature of true wisdom. Prophets like Isaiah and Elijah willingly reminded them of their duty to God, and Jonah did the same (though without being willing). This is the people of God, and the Bible is their story. God set them apart for a special purpose, and this job has always been simple: love God (Exod 6) and love others (Lev 19:18).

But their story doesn’t end with the closing of the Old Testament. In fact, it is only the beginning. The New Testament continues the story of this family—but with a new name. Here they are referred to as the assembly or gathering. The New Testament word for this is the ekklesia, better known to us as the church. When the first churches began—in such places as Lystra, Iconium, and Antioch—they do not seem to have been large, yet Paul appointed elders (plural) in each church (Acts 14:23). In cities where thousands converted to Christ they seemed to have all met together when they could, but normally met together in small home groups (Acts 2:46).¹ Though the groups were small, they were important enough to the apostles to ensure each had multiple, godly leaders.

The church is the single most important and potent social unit the world has ever seen. It is literally God’s spiritual presence on earth, and the vessel God uses to break the power of darkness. Whether a contemporary ekklesia has thousands, hundreds or merely a few, it is still dynamic and vigorous because God’s presence isn’t increased or decreased with numbers. How sad, and how dangerous, is the detestable idea that God’s church is a mere building. It is dangerous because such a concept strips the church of its potency and resolve to be the people that God had created them to be.

In his letter to Philemon, Paul also greets the small ekklesia that meets in his home. Although it was a private letter, Paul understands that spiritual problems in one member affect the entire assembly. Though Philemon was a godly man, there was a spiritual rift between him and Onesimus. Paul wanted nothing to lessen the passion and excitement of this local gathering for serving Christ. If only the contemporary church would understand who we really are. Paul knows, Jesus knows, and we can be sure Satan knows. It seems as if we are the only ones who tend to forget.

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¹ Though we only have New Testament evidence for this larger gathering in Jerusalem, which had the great Jewish Temple. We should also note that we have no idea what this “larger gathering” entailed. More than likely, this statement in Acts 2:46 does not refer to one large worship service consisting of thousands. Such a display would not have been tolerated in the Jewish Temple. A more realistic picture is that small groups went to the Temple together to pray and discuss Scripture. The area known as Solomon’s porch was generally used by the rabbis to pray with and provide teaching for their small group of followers.