As previously covered, two of the Greek words translated “church” in the New Testament are ecclesia and koinonia. Ecclesia is the structure and government of the church, and koinonia is the church bonding together in love. Which is the most important? We are called to be a family first, not an organization, but we do need organization, too.

        True koinonia is rare in the church today, because most of our emphasis is on organization, the ecclesia. This will change at the end of this age, when the main emphasis of church life will be loving God and one another. This is going to bring koinonia to the forefront, and His people are going to become known for their love. 

        We see in the book of Acts that the apostles seemed to take much longer than we might expect to bring structure and government to the new churches. This is something that should be done on a case by case basis. For example, some places and cultures are so lawless that they need church structure and government sooner than other places. However, churches where local cultures are less structured do not necessarily need structure and government more than churches in other places do. Some cultures have such strong tribal traditions that the people naturally live by certain governing values, though they may not be apparent to the Western mind.

        For this reason, missionaries and church planters should follow the Lord in each case, and not impose one predetermined plan and model on all cultures. The present church model in Western Christianity doesn’t work well for us and is becoming obsolete, so why should it be imposed on other cultures?

        As Francis Frangipane used to say, “We’re called to follow Emmanuel, not a manual.” The seven churches in Revelation all existed at the same time in the same general region, yet they all needed different words from the Lord and were given different promises. Beware of those who try to impose one pattern on every church. 

        The Lord loves creativity. He makes every snowflake different, and every one of us different, as a reflection of His nature. Why, then, is the modern church so boringly uniform? Most of them are not His churches but franchises created by men for men. They may still have a measure of His blessing on them, because He will bless almost anything His people do as much as He can, just as He blessed Ishmael. However, He will inhabit only what He builds.

        There is a major difference between a congregation blessed by the Lord and one where His presence dwells. There can be a difference between those who have His gifts and those who have Him. Those who have Him will also have His gifts, but in much greater measure. 

         Again, what good is the most glorious temple if God is not in it? If He is in it, it won’t matter what the temple is like. His presence will be what gets our attention. 

        When people leave our congregation, do they leave talking about us, the message, the worship, the working of miracles, or the Lord? Of course, we should want to have a great message, the greatest worship, and the Holy Spirit doing His works among us. However, if His manifest presence is there, He will overshadow all of those things. 

        How would a congregation built to attract the Lord be different from one built to attract people? No doubt, if we would build what the Lord wants, we would have far more people than we do. Just think about how different it might be. 

        We have been very blessed as a ministry to have had visitations of the Lord. Some were so spectacular that they are still being talked about decades later. These are markers in our history, just as visitations of the Lord are markers in Scripture, but the Lord wants to dwell with His people, not just visit us. To be the dwelling place of God is our highest calling and greatest achievement. Why not put that first?

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