The imagery of God’s people as dispersion has roots in the story of His old covenant people, the Jews. By the time Jesus came, Jews had been scattered in many directions through forced deportation, living outside Palestine. The term “Diaspora” has come to be used to refer to the Jews who had relocated. This word speaks of a dispersion or scattering.
The idea of God’s new covenant people, the Church, as a scattered people dispersed in the world is found in the New Testament. First Peter expressly refers to Christians in the churches in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia and Bithynia as “elect exiles of the dispersion” (1:1).
In the beginning, the Church was centered in Jerusalem. However, the persecution that arose after the stoning of Stephen resulted in a scattered Church: “There arose on that day a great persecution against the Church in Jerusalem and they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria” (Acts 8:1). Although becoming a Church in dispersion, it did not cease doing what churches are charged to do. “Those who were scattered went about preaching the Word” (Acts 8:4).
Gathered and scattered
This week’s image of the Church as a dispersion almost seems incongruous with last week’s image of the Church as a citizenry. Citizenry implies cohesion and common location while dispersion speaks of a scattered people. When we think of the Church as all true believers in all places throughout all time, however, the Church universal is dispersed among all nations, tribes, peoples and languages.
In the case of the Church as a body of believers in a given location at a given time, in a sense even a local church is both gathered and scattered. On a typical Sunday the church gathers for worship but becomes a dispersed group between Sundays when it becomes God’s scattered people. The congregation becomes dispersed to their homes, schools, workplaces and so forth.
One pastor said that if asked where his church was located, his proper answer would be, “It depends on what day of the week it is.” His explanation was that if it was Sunday, his church was located at a certain intersection in his city, at least as many of the members as chose to honor the Lord’s Day by participating in worship. However, if it was Monday, his church was in the marketplace, the office buildings, the schools and the homes scattered over the city. The Church is both the gathered and the scattered people of God.
The Church is the people
The imagery of the Church as a dispersion serves to remind us of what we all know: the Church is not the building but the people. What we look like and act like on Sunday should be what we look like and act like all the other days of the week. Although not gathered the other days, we are still the Church, the dispersed people of God. As a Christian “Diaspora,” the Church is in its best position to be the light and salt that Jesus spoke about in the Sermon on the Mount. Scattered in the world, we are in the best position to be lights shining in a dark place by holding forth the Word of life by word and deed.
The ultimate hope of the Church is that it one day will no longer be dispersed throughout the world. John 11:52 tells us one purpose of Jesus’ saving death is “to gather into one the children of God who are scattered abroad.”
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