The Church Is NOT a Religious Institution
Podcast Transcript (Listen to episode here)
Matthew 16:15–20 ESV
15 He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” 16 Simon Peter replied, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” 17 And Jesus answered him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven. 18 And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. 19 I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.” 20 Then he strictly charged the disciples to tell no one that he was the Christ.
As you’ve learned in the ekklesia training, the word church here is not “kurios,” the Greek word for church but “ekklesia,” a ruling council. Let me read you from my notes of the lesson, “The Ancient Battle.”
Ekklesia is the Greek word Jesus used for church in Matthew 16:18 in describing how the gates of hell would not prevail against the church. By the time of Christ, the word ekklesia had been in use for over 600 years. It had specific, well-acknowledged connotations. When early believers heard ekklesia, they didn't think of a building but of a ruling body. It was a political term, not a religious one.
The ekklesia was an assembly of the government in Greek city-states. Open to all male citizens over the age of eighteen, the ekklesia was responsible for declaring war, military strategy, and electing military generals and other officials, including chief magistrates of the city-state. Members voted on decrees, treaties, and law proposals.
This means that when Jesus said He was going to build His ekklesia, He meant He was going to build His governmental center. He was going to establish His ruling body with the revelation that He is the Messiah and the supreme ruler of the earth. The gates of hell would not prevail against the kind of assembly Jesus intended to build.
All you needed were two-three to form an ekklesia in any location in the Roman Empire no matter how far away. When you formed an ekklesia and decreed something as lawful (loosing) or unlawful (binding) you had the full might of the Roman government and army behind you.
Collectively, Christ followers are His government center on the earth and as such, we are to make sure that the ideas we share (in the form of sermons and teachings) support that original intent of the Lord’s. Unfortunately, much of what we do today as Christians is more along the lines of a religious organization. Here’s one more snippet from that lesson:
Now the Lord could have used any other word like maybe “edah” or “qahal” or even “sunagoge.” But, instead, he chose a “secular” word that was governmental in nature. It had been used for 600 years at this point. And nowhere was it used of heathen religious assemblies.
Why was it so important that is ruling council be built upon the revelation that He is the Christ? Because the Christ is the only rightful Ruler of all the earth.
Psalm 2:1–12 ESV
1 Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain? 2 The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the Lord and against his Anointed, saying, 3 “Let us burst their bonds apart and cast away their cords from us.” 4 He who sits in the heavens laughs; the Lord holds them in derision. 5 Then he will speak to them in his wrath, and terrify them in his fury, saying, 6 “As for me, I have set my King on Zion, my holy hill.” 7 I will tell of the decree: The Lord said to me, “You are my Son; today I have begotten you. 8 Ask of me, and I will make the nations your heritage, and the ends of the earth your possession. 9 You shall break them with a rod of iron and dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel.” 10 Now therefore, O kings, be wise; be warned, O rulers of the earth. 11 Serve the Lord with fear, and rejoice with trembling. 12 Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and you perish in the way, for his wrath is quickly kindled. Blessed are all who take refuge in him.
Revelation 19:16 ESV
16 On his robe and on his thigh he has a name written, King of kings and Lord of lords.
Psalm 110:1–2 ESV
1 The Lord says to my Lord: “Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies your footstool.” 2 The Lord sends forth from Zion your mighty scepter. Rule in the midst of your enemies!
Isaiah 9:6 NKJV
6 For unto us a Child is born, Unto us a Son is given; And the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
The word “anointed in Psalm 2 is where the term, “Messiah” comes from and Christos or Christ is the Greek version. As the Anointed One, the Messiah, He is the King of kings and Lord of Lords, the government of God rests upon His shoulder, and He is right now ruling in the midst of His enemies through His ekklesia. And, as stated in the lesson referred to above, our mission as His ruling council is to reverse the curse of Mount Hermon by expanding His rule throughout the nations. He’s asked for the nations; therefore, we must focus on nations.
Matthew 28:18–20 ESV
18 And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
ALL authority in both heaven and ON earth has been given to Him, then He gave it to us, and commanded us to make disciples of ALL nations teaching them the things He taught us, implying that if we are doing our job, the thought of a nation will be aligned with God’s and if we are not doing our job, the thought of a nation will be opposed to God; therefore, as the “church” goes so goes a nation. Our evidence of this is all throughout the Bible. You see God’s rule through His people in the affairs of nations from the very beginning.
Genesis 1:27–28 ESV
27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. 28 And God blessed them. And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”
The word “dominion” means “rule.” Interestingly, in the Arabic, the twin word means “tread, trample” (rada).
Luke 10:19 TPT
19 Now you understand that I have imparted to you all my authority to trample over his kingdom. You will trample upon every demon before you and overcome every power Satan possesses. Absolutely nothing will be able to harm you as you walk in this authority.
The enemy’s kingdom has authority over all the kingdoms of the world and their glory UNTIL the ekklesia changes that (Luke 4:5). Unfortunately, the enemy has been more shrewd is seeking to influence the influencers than the people of God have been. We’ve been concerned with church attendance, tithes, parking lots, buildings, pet doctrines, denominations, and our own petties grievances and offenses.
We’ve lost understanding of our role in civil government, where our focus should be, and how to take nations. And we’re paying for it here in America. I once heard someone say that if America sneezes, the earth has a heart attack meaning that the health of America directly affects all other nations. We are THE superpower and the reason we are is HOW God set this country up in the beginning, which we’ll get into in depth later.
But for right now, I want to show you the governmental and civil nature of the kingdom of God from the very start.
In the beginning, Adam and Eve were co-rulers over the earth and everything in it until they ate from the tree and abdicated their rule to the enemy.
The very first challenge post flood was at the tower of Babel from Nimrod, the first world ruler and conquerer (Gen 11).
God told Abram that from him he would make “a great nation” (Gen 12:2).
Abram also had his own army who fought against other armies of nations and won.
Abram and his descendants regularly interfaced with world ruler and even made treaties with them as needed (Gen 21:22).
From Jacob came the 12 tribes, which formed the nation of Israel.
Joseph ruled and was successful in all that he did eventually becoming second to Pharaoh in Egypt (Gen 41:40).
Moses was a governmental leader who led a nation out of the world’s superpower of the time, Egypt. He was trained in Pharaoh’s house to rule but left it all. He helped establish the laws governing the nation of Israel, called a Lawgiver, which came directly from God. He formed the worship system after the pattern God gave him.
Joshua took Moses’ place and led the Israelites into the promise land to drive out the nations and establish Israel as a nation fulfilling the prophecy given to Abraham in Gen. 15:13-16).
God raised up King David to be the greatest king of the earth followed by his son, Solomon. Unfortunately, Solomon’s unfaithfulness to God opened the door to gross idolatry and judgment later. Each king interacted with other world rulers.
Solomon’s fame tied to the name of God went throughout all of the world attracting world rulers’ to consult with him and to solve problems. He is THE best example of the role of the ekklesia in the earth today.
All the prophets interacted with rulers and worked with rulers—Elijah, Nathan, Elisha, Isaiah, Jeremiah, etc. Their job was to primarily influence the kings of Israel and Judah but also addressed the kings of other nations.
Daniel served the leaders of Babylon starting with Nebuchadnezzar through the Medo-Persian rule until his death along with his friends and colleagues.
Jesus was of the lineage of David, the first true king of Israel. He came to establish the Kingdom of God referenced in Daniel. He established His ruling council and gave us the charge to expand His kingdom and disciple nations. He regularly interacted with both religious and political leaders as directed by Holy Spirit.
Paul is the best example of a marketplace apostle and influencer. Everywhere he went, he ministered to political leaders—governors, mayors, military leaders, etc. In fact, his entire goal (other than evangelizing 70 nations to reverse the curse of Mt. Hermon), was to get to Rome and speak with Caesar.
All the other examples in the Bible were not just concerned with growing a church in a building (in fact they didn’t exist yet). They were concerned with taking nations just like Jesus told them to and that required influencing the hearts of those over those nations.
Beware of the Leaven
Mark 8:14–21 ESV
14 Now they had forgotten to bring bread, and they had only one loaf with them in the boat. 15 And he cautioned them, saying, “Watch out; beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod.” 16 And they began discussing with one another the fact that they had no bread. 17 And Jesus, aware of this, said to them, “Why are you discussing the fact that you have no bread? Do you not yet perceive or understand? Are your hearts hardened? 18 Having eyes do you not see, and having ears do you not hear? And do you not remember? 19 When I broke the five loaves for the five thousand, how many baskets full of broken pieces did you take up?” They said to him, “Twelve.” 20 “And the seven for the four thousand, how many baskets full of broken pieces did you take up?” And they said to him, “Seven.” 21 And he said to them, “Do you not yet understand?”
I want to break this verse down for you so you know what will be absolutely necessary as a marketplace apostle, a solutionary and influencer.
The phrase “watch out” means “to come to understand as the result of perception—to understand, to perceive, to see or recognize.” Beware is “to be ready to learn about future dangers or needs, with the implication of preparedness to respond appropriately.” One is to recognize and the other is to prepare now to respond to a future danger—leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod. What exactly is this leaven? Many try to over spiritualize it but Jesus told us plainly what it is in Luke 12:1.
Luke 12:1–3 ESV
1 In the meantime, when so many thousands of the people had gathered together that they were trampling one another, he began to say to his disciples first, “Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy. 2 Nothing is covered up that will not be revealed, or hidden that will not be known. 3 Therefore whatever you have said in the dark shall be heard in the light, and what you have whispered in private rooms shall be proclaimed on the housetops.
The leaven is hypocrisy. Let’s read both verses in the Passion.
Mark 8:15 TPT
15 And as they were sailing across the lake, Jesus repeatedly warned them, “Be on your guard against the yeast inside of the Pharisees and the yeast inside of Herod!”
Luke 12:1–3 TPT
1 By now a crowd of many thousands had gathered around Jesus. So many people pushed to be near him, they began to trample on one another. Jesus turned to his disciples and warned them, “Make sure you are not influenced by the hypocrisy and phoniness of the religious leaders. It permeates everything they do and teach, for they are merely serving their own interests. 2 Everything hidden and covered up will soon be exposed. For the facade is falling down, and nothing will be kept secret for long. 3 Whatever you have spoken in private will be public knowledge, and what you have whispered secretly behind closed doors will be broadcast far and wide for all to hear.
Hypocrisy are hidden motives and agendas that serve the interests of the one hiding them while acting like someone else on the outside a.k.a. being phony. Leaven in the Greek is a fig. ext. that denotes “hypocritical behavior, probably implying hidden attitudes and motivations.” In Matthew 16:6, Jesus confined leaven as their teachings as well, which is hypocritical teaching meaning they said one thing but did something quite different. There’s only one leaven permissible and that’s the leaven of the kingdom. Any other kind of leaven is destructive because it’s sin, which disturbs and penetrates daily life (1 Cor. 5:7).
The Greek definition for hypocrisy is “to give an impression of having certain purposes or motivations, while in reality having quite different ones.” It’s to pretend. It was “generally used for flattery or evil deception.” It was originally used to describe “playing a stage role.” It’s something that God cannot tolerate (Job 22:16). Idolatry is considered a form of hypocrisy (Deut. 18:13).
It is equated with falsehood and lying, especially in John. It corrupts the conscience and cannot receive the truth. Its eye is on man not God. It can only defend itself through the persecution of others (John 8:37). What is outwardly performed is most important versus what is believed in the heart. And it’s even tied to blaspheming the Holy Spirit (Matt 12:22-37; Mark 3:20-30).
The opposite of hypocrisy is purity and sincerity. You’re the same in front of people as when no one is looking. You don’t act or put on a show. You are more focused on inward transformation that manifests outwardly versus with externals that mean nothing. Being real and authentic is a core value. You say what you mean and mean what you say.
The warning is twofold: recognize and be ready for it as you would any other dangerous thing and nothing that is covered up will remain hidden. I think this warning is particularly important because when you start influencing influencers of nations, you will be around a lot of hypocrites but also be tempted to be something on the outside that you are not in order to feel included or gain access. Jesus never adjusted who He was based on His audience. He spoke the truth to ALL audiences.
Peter and Paul
Galatians 1:10 ESV
10 For am I now seeking the approval of man, or of God? Or am I trying to please man? If I were still trying to please man, I would not be a servant of Christ.
This epitomizes Paul. He had learned to live before an audience of One. He wasn’t interested in man’s approval and didn’t care about their disapproval. Peter, on the other hand, struggled in this area.
Galatians 2:11–14 ESV
11 But when Cephas came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he stood condemned. 12 For before certain men came from James, he was eating with the Gentiles; but when they came he drew back and separated himself, fearing the circumcision party. 13 And the rest of the Jews acted hypocritically along with him, so that even Barnabas was led astray by their hypocrisy. 14 But when I saw that their conduct was not in step with the truth of the gospel, I said to Cephas before them all, “If you, though a Jew, live like a Gentile and not like a Jew, how can you force the Gentiles to live like Jews?”
Peter would act like a Gentile until the circumcision party came to town and suddenly he’d act like an observant Jew. Paul recognized this and that it was spreading (like leaven does) and put a stop to it immediately. Anytime you feel the need to act, STOP. You’re in dangerous territory. The best thing you can do is be a person of integrity.