Okay, I have found what the true ekklesia is all about. The words, ek, which means, out, and kaleo, which is a verb that means 'to call' and when they are put together, you have 'a called out assembly'. Now, there are a large amount of denominations, such as Baptists, Methodists, Episcopalians, Protestants, Presbyterians, Church of God, and the like, and also the house churches, mega churches, cell churche, and other parachurches out there who are unfamiliar to what the ekklesia is. Now, the truth is that the pastors, preists, superintendents, and the like are not in charge of the sheep. They are part of the sheep. If they want to be authority figures, then they need to be examples to the flock. (Matt.23:8, 1 Pet.5:3) You will not find the true ekklesia in any church building or any type of church setting, whether outside or inside, although somehow they do produce fruit, to be at God's strongest, but God can use them. (You never know. Anything is possible.) Part of the problem is that to pew-sitters are to passive and the preachers are too active. The problem is that each of us have gifts. No one should be in an authoritative position. (Remember, Jesus said that the Pharisees love to sit in the seat of Moses. That's not a good thing.) We should share what we have from the Lord, because we all prophesy in part. (I Cor. 13:9).
However, in the true ekklesia, it is not about us; it is not about gifts; it is about Christ. Christ is lord. He is lord over the church. If He is the High Priest in the order of Melchizedek, then He, alone, needs to be Pastor, Prophet, Preist, and King. We should let Him be shepherd. We should have no authoritative positions unless it is by example, because man is not perfect and there is always a possiblity of man making errors. That is why we need to rely on Christ, and not ourselves with our lives. Christ is the pastor of the ekklesia. He is the clergy and every Christian is the laity. The church has spiritual walls and we need to listen to what Christ has to say, because Christ always has to say something that will be for our benefit. It is not a building, it is not a house, it is not a church that is outside, but it is any church or ekklesia that Christ is the only one who is in charge and we, all, are the pew-sitters, figuratively.
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