[aron]

Anything with a 2,000 year history of usage by fallen human beings, Christian or not, is going to get complicated.

But think of it this way - the usage of the word pre-dated the Christian era. In the Greek of the day it meant what we would call "meeting". So the LXX OT, written hundreds of years before Christ, could say, "In the midst of the 'ekklesia' I will sing hymns of praise to you" (cf Psa 22) and nobody said "Gee, what is an ekklesia?" And nobody said "Oh, that's the church". No, it meant a gathering.

And when Jesus said, "On this rock I will build my 'ekklesia' " the possessive pronound indicated there were other ekklesia besides those of Jesus. Like the one dismissed by the city councilor in Act 19:41. I don't see any English translation using the word 'church' there in Acts 19. Because obviously 'ekklesia' didn't mean what we would call church, either with a capital "C" or a small one.

If you say, "Last night I went to the home meeting at Sister Smith's house" that 'meeting' is an 'ekklesia' in the NT sense (Romans 16:5 &c) and it is named (at sister Smith's house), and it doesn't bespeak of division. So having separate meetings and having a name is not perforce division.

Nee & Lee said it was, and they created their own division. Which is something like the poem, "I know an old lady who swallowed the fly". The more curative remediation we try to address the situation, the worse it gets. Which is the way of the world, not of the kingdom of God.

It is really simple, actually. God raised Jesus Christ from the dead on the third day. Either you believe this statement or you don't. Whether or not you meet at Sister Smith's house for prayer on Tuesday nights is optional. Just believe, gather with those nearby (receive those whom God received in Christ Jesus, just as God received you in Christ Jesus). Love your neighbor. The commands are simple, and not burdensome. Believe, love, receive, gather.

The problem is that we're ignorant and zealous - ignorance and zeal will get you a long way in this world. Just not in the right direction. But there's an old Russian proverb - "No matter how far you have gone down the wrong road - turn back."

The "college meeting on Friday night at Podunk University's Ellworth Hall" and "the prayer meeting at Sister Smith's house" and "the home meeting at Brother Bob's" are all separate gatherings and necessarily named so as to be distinguished from one another and yet are not divisive, even if they happen in the same city. The issue is not which meeting you went to, but if you believed. If you believe in your heart, and confess with your mouth that God raised Jesus from the dead on the third day, you will be saved. I mean, either that proposition is true or it's false. Pretty simple, to me.