George Barna on What The Church Is

After all the mud I slung at George Barna over his book Revolution (I did a boatload of posts on it and it would probably be easier for you to just do a search on my blog for "George Barna Revolution than for me to try to link them all) I thought it only right to post some new words I found from him further explaining his views. 

In Ed Stetzer's book Breaking the Missional Code he publishes an e-mail from Barna clarifying his position on the church:

Am I defining mere relationships as "church"?  No, as you know, the Greek word ekklesia, from which we derive the English term church is not clear to most scholars but most of them agree that it generally has to do with the gathering of called-out people.  So my notion of "being the church" requires that you be not only engaged in such passionate endeavors but that you also be connected to other believers in some type of faith-oriented, regular meeting for the purposes of emulating and honoring Christ.  Christianity is not an isolationist experience; it is covenantal and communal.

Now if only he had said that in the book! This would have helped a great deal.  My biggest gripe about the book was that, in my mind, it destroyed the covenantal and communal character of the church.  I do think it will be tough to apply what he says here in light of what he says in the book.  I also think he has to deal with the fact that much of what he calls believers to do in the book in effect causes them to violate their covenantal obligations to their present communities. 

Still, this is a great comment and a step in the right direction.