THE CHRISTIAN AND ORGANIZATIONS in a technical sense the Christian must view the church just as he viewed the body of Christ. For in a technical sense, the church is the body. In the same sense that we call all believers part of the body, we may also call all believers part of the church. Such passages as I Corinthians 12:27, 28; Ephesians 1:22, 23; 4:11-13; Colossians 1:18, 24; illustrate the manner in which Paul uses the term, "church" to refer to the body of Christ and vice-versa. The concept of the "church" refers to all believers. Sometimes we even speak of it as the universal church. The Creek term ekkleesia literally means "called out" and refers simply to an assembly of citizens. In the fifth and fourth centuries B.C. at Athens, the ekkleesia referred specifically to the assembly of all the citizens, and they served, as unwieldly as it may seem, as the sovereign power of the state. This was a political assembly, and it was from this all-encompassing group that the Heliaea, or judicial assembly, was drawn. The idea, then, of using the Green ekkleesia to designate all of the believers is most fitting. Whether a Christian advocate of the "new gen eration" appreciates the church or not, he is in it! By accepting Christ as his Savior, he is at once part of the body and in the church. The New Testament epistles do, of course, modify the concept of the church by the phrase, the "local" church. This term is used by Paul to designate all of the believers who reside in a given locality. I Thessalon- ians 1:1 could just as easily have contained, "to the assembly of believers of the Thessalonians" as the phrase using the word "church." But even in this restricted sense, the idea is to embrace all the believers in a given locality. Again, if you are a believer, you are in the body and, hence, in the church. The Christian, then, reacts to all "local" believers in Christ as he would to any other member of the body of Christ. But what then of the local church on the corner? Even though it carries out many of the same functions of a local body of believers in New Testament times (e.g., observing the Lord's Supper, baptizing, singing, sending forth evangelists and teachers, ministering one to another and taking up collections) it may go beyond specific New Testament practice. It has joined a denom ination, set up man-made hurdles for membership, encumbered its membership for thousands of dollars for carpets, cushioned seats, and air conditioning. Disagree if you like, teach moderation in such actions if you wish, and above all, urge for greater unity of all believers. But remember, despite the building those believers inhabit on Sunday, and despite the extra-
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