Exiles: The Church in the Shadow of Empireনমুনা

A Foretaste of God’s Kingdom

Most people who hear the word church think of a church building with services, sermons, and worship bands. But a first-century merchant would have heard something very different. The original meaning of church was profoundly political—just not in the way we think of “political” today.

The Greek word translated “church” is ekklēsia, which was a well-known political word in the Greek and Roman world. It’s used all over the place in the New Testament (114 times, to be exact). Paul and the New Testament writers could have referred to the church as synagōgē (“place of assembly”) or koinōnia (“fellowship”). Instead, they chose a word packed with political meaning, a word fitting for the political implications the early church would have. Because at that time, going to church was a politically subversive act.

For example, when Paul and his companions were in Ephesus, their preaching nearly started a riot. Paul’s proclamation that Jesus is King was an affront to Artemis, the patron goddess of the city. The Ephesians believed that their city’s political success was intertwined with their devotion to Artemis.

The gospel, in fact, destabilized the entire economy of the city of Ephesus. People were converting to Christ and therefore leaving behind their idols, which is bad for business if you’re an idol maker (see Acts 29:27). Idolatry and wealth walked hand in hand.

But as “political” as the first-century church was, it wasn’t a place where Christians mounted a Roman flag next to a Christian one. Rather, the church was the foretaste of God’s kingdom, a colony of heaven on earth. It was a gathering where God’s plan for governing the world was being revealed and practiced, where participants submitted themselves to God’s rule in realms like economics, immigration, bodily autonomy, war, violence, power, justice, and sexuality.

Christians believed they were called to submit to governing authorities (Romans 13:1–5). They also believed that governing authorities were empowered by Satan (Revelation 13:1–18) and would one day be destroyed by God (Revelation 19:11–21).

Our watered-down, de-politicized understanding of church prevents us from appreciating the true scandal of Paul’s message. What does the early church teach us about our Christian communities and personal allegiances today? That’s what we’re going to look at next.

When have you experienced church to be a foretaste of God’s kingdom? In what ways have churches today lost the “scandal” of the gospel?