What are some of the dangerous cliffs that our youth ministries almost inevitably begin to peer over when we neglect Paul and Peter’s teachings about the nature of the church? First, we begin to view church as a place we go to instead of a people we are. “Going to church” becomes no different than “going to the movies” or “going to the mall.” We come together expecting to be entertained instead of expecting to be transformed.
SCRIPTURE TEXT :
4As you come to him, the living Stone — rejected by men but chosen by God and precious to him — 5you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. 6For in Scripture it says: “See, I lay a stone in Zion, a chosen and precious cornerstone, and the one who trusts in him will never be put to shame.”7Now to you who believe, this stone is precious. But to those who do not believe, “The stone the builders rejected has become the capstone,” 8and, “A stone that causes men to stumble and a rock that makes them fall.” They stumble because they disobey the message — which is also what they were destined for. 9But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. 10Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy. — New International Version of the Bible, translated directly from the original biblical languages
4Welcome to the living Stone, the source of life. The workmen took one look and threw it out; God set it in the place of honor. 5Present yourselves as building stones for the construction of a sanctuary vibrant with life, in which you’ll serve as holy priests offering Christ-approved lives up to God. 6The Scriptures provide precedent: ‘Look! I’m setting a stone in Zion, a cornerstone in the place of honor. Whoever trusts in this stone as a foundation will never have cause to regret it.’7To you who trust him, he’s a Stone to be proud of, but to those who refuse to trust him, ‘The stone the workmen threw out is now the chief foundation stone.’ 8For the untrusting it’s…‘a stone to trip over, a boulder blocking the way.’ They trip and fall because they refuse to obey, just as predicted. 9But you are the ones chosen by God, chosen for the high calling of priestly work, chosen to be a holy people, God’s instruments to do his work and speak out for him, to tell others of the nightand-day difference he made for you — 10from nothing to something, from rejected to accepted. — The Message, a contemporary paraphrase from theoriginal languages
THINK ABOUT IT
I’m living with a heretic.
He’s cute. And I love him. But he’s bought into a dangerous lie, and it bothers me.
Maybe I should show mercy in correcting his error.
After all, he’s only 5 years old.
Last week Nathan, our oh-so-verbal preschooler, proudly came home from Sunday School with a “new trick” to show us. Standing before my husband and me in the living room, Nathan thrust his arms in front of his body and clasped his hands together. Then he recounted a theological error that is haunting kindergarten and pre-K Sunday school classes across our country.
“Here is the church. Here is the steeple. Open the doors, and see all the people.”
What’s the big deal? Why has this seemingly harmless preschool rhyme irritated me for years?
One of the central tenets of our Christian theological framework is our ecclesiology, or our view of the church. Nathan’s rhyming “trick” reduces the church to one simple symbol: a building. In Nathan’s mind, “church” has become what we go to a few times a week. You know, that place with the big buildings where we make crafts, sing songs, and get apple juice and graham crackers from our nice Sunday school teachers at snack time.
ILLUMINATE IT
The powerful descriptions of the church in the New Testament paint a vastly different picture. The true nature of the church can be at least partially understood from the Apostle Paul’s use of the Greek word ekklesia (pronounced ekk-lay-see-yah). Used over 100 times in the New Testament (60 of these by Paul), ekklesia, while commonly translated as “church” in Scripture, is more generally defined in the Greek language as “assembly.” It seems that most often these assemblies were held in private homes. Not once does Paul employ the term ekklesia to describe a building, for such “church buildings” did not exist until the third century; rather, he consistently uses it to describe the gathered believers.
The origin of the very word ekklesia refers to a people, not a place. It literally arises from two Greek words: “kaleo” (pronounced kuh-lay-oh), meaning “to call,” and “ek,” meaning “out of.” Many theologians therefore conclude that ekklesia literally means “the called out ones.” Interestingly, the Jewish scholars who translated the Hebrew Scriptures into Greek (a version known as the Septuagint) chose to substitute ekklesia for the Hebrew word “qahal,” which means “assembly.” There’s no connotation of brick and mortar here; it’s all about the community of people called to follow God.
A second New Testament writer, Peter, links believers to a “building” but in a way vastly different than our typical conceptions of church. Read through
While Peter introduces the image of a “building,” he does so in a way that supports Paul’s concept of ekklesia. Christ is the ultimate “stone,” but we who follow him also become “living stones” who are a community that becomes, in a sense, a “building.” Yet this building is not a literal structure. Instead, it is a metaphor for the power of the gathered church to worship and serve God and others both inside and outside our community. Every single one of the living stones serves, for all believers are called as holy priests to declare the God who turns our darkness into light.
APPLY IT
Wait, you argue, you’re a youth worker. When you’re “at church,” you’re hustling to make sure kids feel welcome, build relationships with friends and adult mentors, and hear the exciting gospel message in a way that makes sense to them. “Going to church” is far from entertainment for you. It’s sweat and work (and if you’re lucky, a paycheck).
If that’s true, then maybe you’ve begun to dangle your toes over a second dangerous bluff created by our abandonment of Paul and Peter’s teachings about ekklesia. For you, church may be something you put on for others instead of something you celebrate and experience with others. In a strange co-dependent relationship cloaked as “dedicated service,” you may be straying dangerously close to working overly long hours so that you can offer a great program (complete with popcorn and pillows) to the kids and adults in your community who “come to church” every week. You alone serve as the “royal priest” described in 1 Peter 2:9. All others serve as judge and jury about how well you did that week.
Regardless of which of the two previous treacherous tendencies you may be leaning over, there’s a third theological cliff that our neglect of Paul and Peter’s teachings hurls us over. We forget that we are the church 24/7, not just Sunday mornings and Wednesday nights. We are the church when we love and serve God and others by offering to water our neighbors’ plants who are on vacation, spending that extra ten minutes on the phone with a kid who’s feeling all alone, and giving a generous tip to the waitress who’s obviously having a hard day.
Maybe you’re someone who has thought about and studied these and other New Testament passages about the church. If that’s the case, then one important application question for you is: how does your language about the church affect your kids? What youth worker hasn’t said, “The vans are heading back to church,” or “Our church is located at 393 North Lake Avenue”? While these seem like innocuous, offhanded comments, our language about community becomes embedded in how our kids and adult team think about the church and the part they play — or don’t play — in it.
We are the church. With all our sins and all our warts, we are still metaphorical stones who make up the royal priesthood and holy nation (which, admittedly, at times doesn’t feel quite that royal and holy).
So maybe a better “trick” to teach kids like Nathan and to blaze on our own souls is this: <i>“Here is the building. Here is the steeple. Open the doors, and see the church which is people.”>
Not quite as rhyme-y. But a lot more true theologically.
REFLECTION QUESTIONS
1. Think about the language you use in your youth ministry. Do you regularly use statements like, “We’ll collect registration money at church” or “Kids can be picked up after the retreat by the church’s front steps”? What are you communicating to your students and ministry team when you refer to church as a building? What would be better ways to phrase that?
2. How does your ministry reflect Peter’s writings that you are “a royal priesthood” and “holy nation?” How do you wish it would?
3. Which of the three cliffs are you most likely to step off? What is something you can do this week — or month — to move away from that cliff and have a view of church that is closer to Paul and Peter’s?
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KARA POWELL is the executive director of the Center for Youth and Family Ministry at Fuller Theological Seminary. A youth worker with 18 years of experience, she’s the author of many books, including Good Sex, Help! I’m a Woman in Youth Ministry, and Mirror Mirror.
