For Those Who Have Fallen Out of Love w/ The Body of Christ Or Who No Longer Want to Be Part of a Local Congregation of Believers
In my earlier years of service, I often succumbed to negative feelings about the church and felt very justified in doing so. I was frequently mistreated by those I tried to serve. I could tell you lots of ugly stories. So yes, it would be all too easy to agree with critics that many believers are shallow, selfish and need a lot of spiritual growth. Many are all of those things and that's a fact. But that is why we are in community together in the first place – to help each other grow closer to Christ. The church is not a gathering of the polished and perfected, it is a nursery for growing baby believers into maturity some day. And spiritual growth, like physical growth, never occurs the same way or at the same pace for each individual. That's just the way it is.
You hear lots of complaints about hypocrites in the church. But so is the person who is leveling the charge if they were truly honest with themselves. We all have hypocracy in our lives – so don't worry about the church, there's always room for one more hypocrite! The church is NOT perfect, that's for sure. Yet consider this, God loves it anyway despite knowing all that He knows. Maybe if we were God we would spank the tar out of them for being so unruly, selfish, judgmental and just plain weird, but I suppose we should honestly be thankful God is as gracious as He is or else we might end up on the receiving end of a good spanking as well. It is a fact that no one denies that there are many things that need fixing in the typical local church! But having said that, there are also many perils we must avoid as we realize these issues or we just become part of the problem.
First, never forget that the Bible calls the Church of Jesus Christ, the “Bride of Christ.” This is a useful term because it reveals the depth of Jesus' feelings and love for His followers. A groom is generally very protective of his bride and is deeply in love with her. He finds great delight in her despite her imperfections and he is prone to becoming a little testy with anyone who speaks ill of his beloved. How little we contemplate this as we have “roast pastor” some Sunday afternoon or when we are exasperated and complain about some other person or aspect of the church. If we love the Master, shouldn't we also try to love those whom He loves? (our fellow believers and the local expression of the Church Universal) At the very least, we should be much more reluctant to complain about her.
Deitrich Bonhoeffer summed it up well in his book Life Together:
“A pastor (and I think this easily applies to all laymen/believer priests as well) should not complain about his congregation, certainly never to other people, but also not to God. A congregation has not been entrusted to Him in order that he should become its accuser before God and men...he had better examine himself first to see whether the trouble is not due to his wish dream that should be shattered by God...But if not, let him never-the-less guard against ever becoming an accuser of the brethren (another name for Satan by the way)...only God knows the real state of our fellowship...the more thankfully we daily receive what is given to us (our fellow believers/the church), the more surely and steadily will fellowship increase and grow from day to day as God pleases.”
I encountered this book many years ago and it's words have haunted my footsteps through good times and bad. Bonhoeffer and the Apostles don't deny that the church can be aggravating – they just don't let us get off the hook for bad-mouthing Christ's Bride. In the end, I found myself not wanting to play Satan's role any longer (being an accuser of the brethren or badmouthing the Bride). If I am an accuser and walk away – I realized I was more a part of the problem. I didn't like that. So I learned to appreciate what I could, laugh or feel sad at the imperfections I see and do my best to urge fellow believers on to deeper spiritual growth (and appreciate those who challenge me as well). If you just can't do that in your church, then AT LEAST, find one where you can. But abandon the church for good – it's not really a biblical option. At least, not if you still want genuine fellowship with God.
Because just like the other Spiritual Disciplines (prayer, reading Scripture, worship etc), the Bible teaches us that every Christian is expected to serve. The psalmist would write, “Worship (serve) the Lord with gladness; come before Him with joyful songs” (Psalm 100:2, NIV); and again in Hebrews:
How much more, then, will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to death, so that we may serve the living God! (Hebrews 9:14, NIV)
We are to serve the Lord with gladness and a clear conscience. Since we are expected to serve, the Lord has supernaturally gifted every Christian to serve. While Christian service/volunteering is a Spiritual Discipline, the gifts or talents with which we practice the Spiritual Discipline are known as Spiritual Gifts, and these “gifts” are to be used for the building-up of the church – for the service of God. “Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God’s grace in its various forms” (1 Peter 4:10, NIV). There are several lists of Spiritual Gifts in the biblical texts (Romans 12:4-8; Ephesians 4:7-13; 1 Corinthians 12:6-31). And though not limited to being used only in the church, the context of Scripture heavily implies that these gifts were given primarily to be used to build up the spiritual life of the church. So if you are going to use the gift God has given you, you will generally need to be part of a local church.
Serving in the local church is not always easy. It is often difficult for many reasons (Ephesians 4:12), but let us not forget that every Christian is called to be a servant of God (Romans 1:1 & Colossians 1:29). Heed Jesus’ own words in John 4:34. The work of serving God was so meaningful to Jesus that it was like food. It nourished Him, it strengthened Him, it satisfied Him, and He devoured it. Serving God is work, but there is no work so rewarding. Disciplined service to God is work, hard and costly labor sometimes, but it will endure for all of eternity. “Store up for yourselves treasures in Heaven…” (Matthew 6:19-23).”
The bottom line is that we were MEANT to be involved in a local expression/manifestation of Christ's Church (a.k.a. The Local Church). It is part of God's divine design for how He matures every child of God and how the work of God is carried out to the world. Jesus gave His Great Commission in Matthew 28:19&20 to the entire group of disciples assembled there on the hilltop – not just the Apostles. We are ALL to help make disciples, we are all to help baptize them and teach them to obey all that Jesus commanded. So like it or not, we are stuck with each other! We cannot simply turn away from the church and “go it alone” as it warns against in Hebrews 10:25 where Scripture clearly declares: “Do not forsake the assembling of yourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as you see the day approaching." (Hebrews 10:25). Some have tried to take this to mean that they are not to remain alone as believers and that if they have a few good Christian friends, they are still in compliance with this passage. That is a highly creative reading of the text and is not supported by the overall tone of the NT teachings about the church as well as the language of the text itself. The bottom line is the assembly needs to have more than enough members for all of the Gifts of the Spirit to be present (which means at least 20 or more individuals).
As a result, we must conclude that Every Christian needs a church home if they are EVER to fully mature in Christ. As a Christian, you are part of the family of God. Other Christians are your brothers and sisters. You need the strength that comes from regular fellowship with other Christians and from the preaching and teaching of God's Word. You NEED the ministry that comes from the rest of the gifts of the Holy Spirit that are dispensed throughout the Body of Christ for the edification of ALL. Without their input and ministry to you, you will become stunted in your growth as a follower of Jesus Christ. And without your input into their lives, they cannot ever become fully mature followers of Christ as well. It is just that important.
What has God called you to do in the local church? How has God gifted you to carry out this assignment? I assure you that God is very concerned that you carry out His Will as you fulfill your unique function or role within the Body. Your lack of involvement not only impoverishes your own soul but robs everyone else of your contribution as well. If you can truly no longer do this at your church, then you must find another community of saints in which to serve and grow in. You just don't have the option of “going it alone.”
posted by Ericosborneo | 8:48 AM
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