Do we go to church or are we a community?

I was driving my son to the train back to NYC today and we became engaged in a conversation about “church”. I had recently put the finishing touches on a chapter regarding this word for my forthcoming book The Secret of God (The . It was stunning to him that I said this word is a horrible translation of the underlying Greek word (ekklaysia). Not only that, but the curious history of the English word “church” is a testimony to keeping Christians from realizing their relationship to God, Jesus and other believers.

When men began to translate the Bible into English the Greek word ekklhsia (ekklaysia) was invariably translated “congregation” (see even the Bishops Bible of 1568, the precursor of the King James Version). Yet, when James, the First, engaged scholars in England to translate the sacred texts into his (now) revered 1611 Version he forced certain rules upon the rendering body. This was after he conceded modestly to the demands of the Puritans to actually do a new translation. The Puritans, that activist group within the King’s own Anglican congregations, wanted to change church polity and purge much of the Roman Catholic trappings that remained in Anglicanism after the Reformation. James thwarted much of their upward and internal pressure by not acceding to their demands (see The Millenary Petition (1603) and the Hampton Court Conference (1604) for details on this). It is the opinion of many that the new translation was a bread crust thrown their way while the king retained the loaf of religious power.

The retention of the word “church” for ekklaysia was merely one of the many “rules of translation” that James (himself a student of theology), via his lackey Richard Bancroft, the current Archbishop of Canterbury, demanded. It helped James retain the ecclesiastic liturgy and format of an organized, top-down church government (think Roman Catholicism under another name). It made it easier to keep his thumb (more like an iron fist) on his constituency.

The better word to use in any English version is “community”. Even in our early 21^st century lives, in a Western culture, this word fits better than assembly or congregation, each of which have connotations of a group gathering at a particular place. The Greek word ekklaysia had none of that in its meaning. It is formed from two other Greek words; ek meaning “out” and kaleo meaning “to call”. They combine to mean “to call out” (in the case of a verb) and “those called out” (in the case of the noun) and therefore Christians are those called out (for a particular purpose). The secular usage of the word had been to “call out” certain Greeks in Athens to participate in political and military deliberations where issues were discussed and voted upon. The Christian community is called out for any number of purposes for the one, true God. The English translation of the word was never meant to carry structural overtones and never meant to make an institution out of what would otherwise be a bunch of people living for God.

Paul, in his letter to the Hebrews gives the only admonition to believers regarding “getting together” as a group. We don’t “go to church”; we are a community of those dedicated to the Lord Jesus and his God an ours.

^NIV Hebrews 10:25 Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another-- and all the more as you see the Day approaching.

How do we know there are theological economies in the Bible

The Fundamental Meaning of “Dispensation”
(or How do we know there are Dispensations?)

Dispensationalists (most varieties, that is) see the ages of man broken up into different theological economies . By this we mean that God had and has “rules and regulations” by which man lives and lived in different times and these rules were modified as man became unfaithful to them. Just as the parable of the steward (manager) in Luke 16 shows the rules of the “stewardship” given by his lord, so the rules of God’s economies or stewardships are shown in the various parts of the Bible.
One of the more cogent examples is found in the Garden of Eden: “eat of the trees I tell you, but don’t eat of the tree that is in the midst of the garden” – that was one of the rules. When the stewardship of the garden was “broken” (read: man was unfaithful to carry out God’s commands) a new stewardship arrangement was instituted. Man was put out of the Garden of Eden and given other tasks to perform.
Another example, which most, if not all Christians (dispensational or otherwise) understand, regards the period after Christ’s Ascension in which occurs the abrogation of the Law. Talk about a “rules change”; no longer does God require an animal sacrifice at a Temple in Jerusalem for the forgiveness of sins. No longer is the Christian required to keep the regulations of Mosaic Law surrounding this sacrificial service, which were numerous and wide-ranging.
Theological acquaintances, on more than one occasion, have asked that I “show” that oikonomia (dispensation) is used by dispensationalists “according to biblical usage”. They have said that the dispensationalist is making a theological mountain out of a mole hill and that, “The biblical usage of oikonomia, as far as we see it, is nothing more than a “job”, a “task” given to someone; a managerial position.” It made me think whether I could show them differently or whether they actually had a point. I have written my findings below.
I will attempt to show how Jesus, Paul and Peter used the term “oikonomia” and their related cognates – oikonomeo (the verb) and oikonomos (another related noun). It will be illuminating to see whether dispensationalists use the term in a similar fashion to the Biblical personalities.
Some facts about the underlying Greek forms should be known before the Biblical records are mentioned:

1. The various forms of the Greek word appear in the NT twenty (20) times. They are found five (5) times in the Gospels (used in a parable in Luke 16), once in 1 Peter 4:10 and fourteen (14) times in the Pauline Epistles.
2. The verb “oikonomeo” is used once in Luke 16:2 (parable) where it is translated “to be a steward”. The noun “oikonomos” appears ten (10) times; (Luke 12:42; 16:1,3, 8; Rom. 16:23; 1 Co. 4: 1, 2; Gal. 4:2; Tit. 1:7; 1 Peter 4:10) and is usually translated “steward” or “manager”, but “ treasurer” in Romans 16:23. The noun “oikonomia” is used nine (9) times (Luke 16: 2, 3, 4: 1 Co. 9:17; Eph. 1:10; 3:2; 3:9; Col. 1:25; 1 Tim. 1:4,) and is variously translated “stewardship”, “dispensation”, “administration” or “commission”.
3. The parable (the one in Luke 16 in which the words are used) show:
a. There are two (2) parties involved; one with authority (the ruler) to delegate duties and one designated to carry out said charges (the steward).
b. There were specific responsibilities (in this case the steward failed in his duties when he wasted the goods of the lord)
c. Accountability also plays a part. The steward may be called upon to show how well he had discharged the owner’s responsibility given him at any time. There were expectations on the part of the master as well.
d. A change could be made at any time unfaithfulness was found in the arrangement (note the phrase used: “can no longer be steward”)

So, at the time of Christ, these last points give some idea of what a “dispensational” arrangement was and how it was administered. If we were to then look at how the occurrences of the word are used in the Church epistles (all the rest except the one in Peter) we will see further evidence of the features of the concept.
1. God is the one to whom men are responsible in the stewardship commitment (note the three (3) times Paul mentions this in 1Corinthians 4:1-2 and Titus 1:7)
2. Faithfulness is required. (1 Cor. 4:2) Note that Erastus, treasurer of the city of Rome (Romans 16:2) illustrates this principal.
3. A stewardship may be terminated at a given time (Galatians 4:2). Here it came to an end because a different purpose was introduced. Paramount in this verse is the inclusion of time in the description of the steward’s term.
4. “Dispensations” are connected with the “mysteries (secrets)” of God (1 Cor. 4:1; Ephesians 3:2; Colossians 1:25). The terms are inextricably linked.
5. The term “age” and “dispensation” are also inextricably linked, but not exactly interchangeable. Take for instance Paul’s remark that the present dispensation was, “hidden for ages”, meaning a long period of time (Eph. 3:9). See also, “the mystery that has been kept hidden for ages and generations, but is now disclosed to the saints” (Col. 1:26). Time issues again are involved and must be considered as colorization.
6. At least three (3) dispensations (as generally understood in theological circles) are mentioned by Paul (Eph. 1:10 – the “dispensation of the fullness of the times”), the “dispensation of the Secret” in Ephesians 3:9 and the one inferred by comments in Col. 1:25-26, where another preceded the present one (in which the Secret of Christ “in you” is revealed).
Now, I grant you that there are not the seven (7) or eight (8) dispensations (in chapter and verse) which some dispensationalists propose, but there are at least the three (3) and I think the logic is there to show (in my theology) eight (8). And here’s another thing; most opponents to Dispensational Theology try to say that the way we use the term is not backed up by Scripture. Look above and consider this: The concept of “atonement” is not used in the New Testament, yet theologically we all use the term (and rightfully so) to stand for what is involved in the death of Christ. Biblically the word is not used in relation to the death of the Messiah. But since by extrapolation the concept is understood, it is not unbiblical to give it a theological meaning that, as one author put it, ”is in reality more inclusive than its strict biblical usage”. Dispys infer the same theological understanding in “dispensations”. The concept is there.
I’ve passed my limit on cogitation and you’ll have to wait on a formal definition. But this is at least a beginning of a “simple word study” and certainly a dispensation is not merely a “job”.