If you were keeping track, you may have noticed that I shared one thought from Thursday’s presentation at the 2:7 Jubilee conference and two from Friday’s. What happened to Saturday?

The last presentation was by Todd Wagner, pastor of Watermark Church in Dallas, and it was a winner! However, three things have prevented my sharing highlights: (1) we traveled home the next day, (2) between the sound system and my hearing, I missed some key points, and (3) some of what he said was so provocative I didn’t know quite how to capture it.

I’ve since listened to a recording of it, and there are some important lessons I want to share with you over the next few days.

Let’s start with something simple: Todd is actually using change.org to petition Merriam-Webster to change the definition of “church” in the dictionary! Here’s the definition as it looks today with the building as #1. The closest of these definitions to the real one is 3a or 3c.

Todd is making the point that somewhere along the way, the New Testament’s ecclesia, assembly of people, got hijacked and replaced by the German word kirk, church building. Here’s the official Greek definition of the word translated “church” in the Bible:

ἐκκλησία (ekklēsia) ‘assembly’ church, congregation, assembly; a group of people gathered together. 

Why is this important? Here’s how Watermark Church expresses it on change.org:

If we primarily define church as a building, we miss the point of what God intended His Church to be: a group of people that are on mission 24/7 to bring hope and restoration to a broken world. This could not be more important. We’ve let culture define what the church is, causing people to first think of walls and windows instead of men and women who love and care for them.

I’ll have more to say on this and related topics over the next few days. In the meantime, please consider going to change.org to sign the petition!

And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it. (Matthew 16. 18, NKJV)