An interesting conversation caught my attention recently.
We were trying to define the word “church”.
Apparently King James, when he was establishing a translation of the Bible, required that the word “church” be used instead of “congregation.” The reason: congregation was too democratic. While we see his effort to provide a standard translation as a unifying thing for the country, there may also have been a bias towards controlling the country through the office of the King.
Over the years, “church” has become a part of what many people revile: organized religion. In some cultures the word is pictorially represented by teaching – or cynically we would say indoctrination or brainwashing. Membership is pictorially seen as related to business.
But the Bible seems to have a different approach to “church.” I like the definition that was expressed:
When you are cut, we all bleed.