Belonging to a church is a beautiful and difficult thing. The early church endured conflicts inside and opposition from outside it. In response, the writers of the New Testament fruitfully applied the gospel to all the church’s questions, complications, and situations.
The longer you are a Christian, the more cynical, jaded, or disillusioned you can become about the church. Few people have escaped the deep wounds of a brother or sister in Christ. But no Christian can truly enjoy union with the Bridegroom while turning their backs to his bride.
Though there are legitimate reasons for leaving a church to join a different one, belonging to a church is the best way to grow into the likeness of Christ. He draws a clear line of consequence between how we love one another and what the world believes about him (John 13:35, 17:23).
To follow Christ comes with belonging to the body of Christ as an active member of a healthy church (Rom. 12:5). But how can you enjoy belonging to Jesus without despising or resisting the responsibility of belonging to a church?
The Church is a Beautiful Family
The church is the largest and most diverse family in human history. It includes people across time, space, multiple generations, and diverse backgrounds (Heb. 12:1, Rev. 7:9). As we speak, the church is growing. If the words of Jesus are anything to go by, nothing can stop its advance (Matt. 16:17-19).
The church is the most inclusive community in history.
The people whom we read about in the Bible belong to our spiritual family tree. We belong to them and they belong to us. David is not simply a historic figure of faith. He’s one of our great grandfathers in the faith. We are his descendants in the Spirit. It sounds like a strange thing to say but it is the most fascinating thing to take to heart.
The church is the most inclusive community in history. We know little of why God chooses people but we know one thing at least: he likes to include people everyone else would exclude (1 Cor. 1:28-29). It makes for fascinating stories when you meet Christians from different backgrounds.
The Church is a Fractured Family
India knows that large families come with large family problems. The more people per square foot, the more sin per square foot. It all adds up.
The family history of the Bible is littered with stories of polygamy, adultery, murder, betrayal, property disputes, civil war, sibling rivalry, and prostitution. In the Christian view of family, there are no good families. Since there is no one righteous, it stands to reason there are no righteous families.
In a human family, when there is wrongdoing, all eyes turn to the head of the family to take responsibility and set things right. But so many family stories are complicated because the ones with most authority are complicit with, or guilty of, the wrongdoing itself.
The best thing about the church is the head of the church.
Not so, with the church. The best thing about the church is the head of the church. He knows the hearts of men, hates the texture of sin, warned us against wolves in sheep’s clothing, empowers the vulnerable, brings down the proud, and promises justice to the oppressed (John 2:24, Matt 12:34, 7:15, Luke 1:46-48, 51-53). The purity of Christ is the chief reason I am still a member of the body of Christ.
The Church is a Redeemed Family
The church is a family of orphans whom God has adopted to become his children (John 1:12, Eph. 1:4-6). Though we are were not biological orphans, we were like people who did not know their right from their left, helpless and harassed, like sheep without a shepherd (Jonah 4:11, Matt. 9:36).
The purity of Christ is the chief reason I am still a member of the body of Christ.
Every true Christian’s heart beats with the resounding anthem of redemption, “Once I was blind, now I can see. Once I was lost, now I am found. Once I was dead, now I am alive” (Gal. 2:20). This is the song of the church through the ages.
The gospel binds us to our Redeemer, unites us to one another, and sends us out into the world as his ambassadors, representatives, and advocates. We are most eager to represent him in the world when we are most conscious that he represented us on the cross.
The Church is a Healing Family
The most painful stories of our lives are family stories. Usually, our physical families have the deepest impact on our souls. Jesus’s family mocked him and his friends deserted him. He is able to heal the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds. The Lord sets the lonely in families (Ps. 147:3, 68:6).
The rupture in any human family can be repaired in the healing power of our spiritual family in Christ. It provides people with safe, healing relationships with fathers, mothers, sons, daughters, brothers, and sisters in Christ. As a result, the healing we receive can make us a healing, non-anxious presence in our physical families.
The Church is a Vital Family
In Christ, the love of God is manifest in the world. By his Spirit, Jesus has sent the church to manifest the love of God to the world (Matt. 28:18-20, Acts 1:8). Most poignantly, the world is most likely to trust in Jesus, when we are most willing to love one another (John 17:23).
The church is a gathering and scattering community. We can do some things best only when we gather—sing, pray, study God’s Word; and other things when we scatter—serve our neighbours, live as salt & light, and testify to Christ.
Belonging to a church is vital to becoming like Jesus.
In this active, daily, weekly, slow burning rhythm of gathering and scattering God is spiritually forming us into the likeness of Christ (2 Cor. 3:18). At the same time, we are resisting the natural outcome of conforming to the patterns of the world (Rom. 12:1-2). Belonging to a church is vital to becoming like Jesus so we can become fruitful ambassadors of Christ in the world (Heb. 10:25).
The Church is an Eternal Family
No Christian can survive the chaos of the present world without a vibrant theological imagination of the new creation. The one who keeps our tears in a bottle will will wipe away every tear from our eyes (Ps. 56:8, Rev. 21:4).
God empowers us today with a vision of perfect unity in beautiful diversity for tomorrow. Jesus is the perfect and ultimate culture conservationist. He will redeem and receive people from every tribe and nation, along with gifts and offerings from every king and country (Rev. 7:9, 21:24).
How can we have such confidence in the future? Only with one eye on the past. The resurrection of Jesus Christ is central to the credibility of our confidence (1 Cor. 15:14-15, 1 Pet. 1:3-5). An empty tomb is the downpayment for our purchase in eternity. Because he reigns, we also will reign. Because he lives, we also will live (John 14:19).
