Success in all of living on earth whether its through businesses, grade schools, universities, governments, and religious organizations require hard work. A great deal of focused hard work. By the sweat of our brows, we labor and we make it work.

BUT, this is not so with the church (better translated the ecclesia).

Sure many have tried to turn churches into business or schools or like some other worldly organization, we’ve done this for generations.

But real ecclesia that is by to and of the Lord Jesus is the gathering of Jesus Christ in a people. It’s a collective image bearing. It’s a manifestation of a person and his kingdom through a people. A new kind of people all together in one place loving and submitting one to another. The ecclesia represents a new kingdom entirely unlike anything we see on earth.

It’s not something we can generate by will. It’s not something we can pull up our bootstraps and make happen by loyalty, good behavior and hard work.

I have many times wished it were.

And to the extent that we make it that is the extent that we have departed from Jesus Christ. Departed for ourselves or for someone else.

And have begun to do our own version of fallen human religion.