"Go to Church" or ... "Make the Church"?
I
love studying languages and their influence on each other and on the cultures
they express. Of specific interest to me is the evolution of living languages
and how certain words gradually take on an entirely new meaning. For example,
when J.P.
McCaskey edited the lyrics of the Christmas Carol “Deck the Hall” he
obviously did not have the sexual orientation of the singers in mind when he
wrote the verse that sings “Don we now our gay apparel.” Needless to say the
word has changed its meaning since the times of McCaskey. Likewise many words
associated with our faith and church have evolved as well.
For
example, did you know that the English word “church” is the evolution
of the Middle English chirche, from Old English cirice, from Late
Greek kūriakon, which ultimately comes from kūriakos,
meaning “of the lord,” from the root kūrios, meaning “the
lord.”
However, I would like to call your attention to the Armenian word for
“church.” The Armenian Yegeghetsi is a transliteration from the Greek
Ekklesia which means “assembly” or “gathering.” Since Greek is
the language of the New Testament, and since the word Ekklesia is used in
the New Testament, one can safely assume that according to the Bible it is the
assembly and not the building that makes a certain location the Church.
This
dynamic definition of church is further supported by the fact that in the
biblical times and during the first three centuries of Christianity there was no
building identified as “church.” The Bible tells us also of the earliest
worship gatherings in the private houses of the believers. It was in these
houses that the earliest Badaraks were celebrated. In fact, during these three
centuries, Christianity was a persecuted religion and, practically speaking,
there could not have been possibilities of building public structures and
identifying them as “churches.”
Consequently,
all the teachings of the Bible regarding the church are focused around the
assembly of the worshippers and not a building or a structure. When our Lord
instructs concerning a sinner saying, “If the sinner refuses to listen
to them, tell it to the church” (Matthew 18:17), obviously He does not expect
us to walk to the walls of a church building and tell them about the sinner. It
is obvious that the Lord had a living Christian community in mind when He made
that statement. Again, nobody in his or her right mind would interpret the
verse, “News of this reached the ears of the church at Jerusalem” (Acts
11:22) as if church buildings in Jerusalem have ears that can hear. Obviously
the Bible is talking about the assembly of Christians in Jerusalem.
Unfortunately for
us today, the word “church” has evolved through the centuries and became a
synonym for the word “sanctuary” or “building” that hosts the assembly
of Christians. This development allowed for the misconception that treats the
church as a separate institution from the individual Christian or worshipper.
Based on this misconception, phrases like “we go to church” have become
common instead of “we join the church” or “we make the Church.” Indeed,
it is the assembly of the worshippers that makes a church and not the buildings.
Therefore based on
its original and biblical meaning, the Church becomes a reality only when the
individual worshippers come together. So, next time you think of our parish and
the many great programs it offers as well as the various challenges it faces,
please remember that Holy Martyrs is not the building on Oceania Street. It is
definitely not only the pastor and the Parish Council. It is you, and your
family and how actively you participate in the building of this great assembly
we call “our beloved church.”