Ekklesia

1 Corinthians 11:18 ESV

For, in the first place, when you come together as a church, I hear that there are divisions among you. And I believe it in part,

Ekklesia (transliterated)

Paul uses this Greek word for church.  It may be better to use this word when referring to the body of Christ, or to be more accurate.  Sadly, church today can be a distraction from the gospel, or an outright misrepresentation.

The meaning of the English word church has been tattered by division and the touch of man's hand from the beginning of the original gatherings.  It has and continues to be an alter built by hands, molded in the shape of something different than those gathered only by the one Spirit.  Just as the Spirit is in the world, it is in the churches.  It is not defined by us, but by the word of God and the testimony of Christ.

It is not what we craft with our hands that is the church (ekklesia), but the one that God raised the three days.