Matthew 16:18
Before I was a Christian, I was influenced by a loving singles group within in a large church in northern Virginia. Most of the folks in “Salt and Light” had been Christians for much of their lives. I had not. For the first few months I sporadically attended, I might have been the only one there who was not a Christian. Yet less than one year later, I gave my heart to Jesus! For several years after that, the community of Salt and Light became an important community of “nurture” for me as a new Christian.
The leadership team was co-ed, and one man was named Robert. He and I had rather different personalities. In fact Robert and I never got close. Yet I liked Robert. One morning when we were talking, Robert said: “Christianity is not a religion, rather it is a relationship.”
All these years later, I agree. Christianity is a loving relationship with God, made possible by the atonement of Jesus on the cross.
By certain definitions, “religion” is working to get closer with God, whereas in a relationship, the union is there, and that union simply needs to be fostered. For a person who believes in Jesus, she or he is forgiven of her or his sins, and she or he enters an eternal loving relationship! Relationship fits what I have been saying about Jesus’s Church.
In the past three writings, Jesus’s Church has been the focus. Now I address the common usage of the term “church,” where it describes a group of people who worship God and fellowship at a certain location.
And I state the nature of “churches” should be on the same line as Robert’s statement. In fact you could say Christianity involves relationships, plural, starting with a relationship with Jesus, because you also enter a relationship with members of the family of God. And local churches are opportunities for people in a loving relationship with Jesus to worship God and to develop loving relationships with one another. God wants local “churches” to reflect Jesus’s Church.
Thus the leaders of a church need to keep telling the Gospel of Jesus Christ to continually give all people an invitation to be in a relationship with Jesus. Secondly, the leaders of a church need to keep teaching about Jesus in order to foster the growth of the worshipers in the love of Jesus, so they can also love others.
At this time, I am looking for a church. Having searched for a church one too many times during my Christian journey, I know what I am looking for. I give five general principles here:
I am looking for a church where Scripture, which reveals Jesus, is trusted and advocated.
I am looking for a church which generally fits my doctrinal convictions.
I am looking for a church where people love Jesus.
I am looking for a church where people love other people.
I am looking for a church where I can be myself.
If you were, (or are), looking for a church, what would you be looking for?
Now the core of Christianity is God, not a church. Times when I have put much hope in a “church,” (or a Christian ministry), or when I have become extremely dependent on a “church,” (or a Christian ministry), disappointment, or even despair, has resulted. Our hope needs to be in Jesus. Our dependency needs to be on Jesus.
Churches are not even the core of worship for me. Personally, I worship God every morning in my room, seven days a week. I grow in a loving relationship with God right in my home with the presence of Jesus in my heart and with my Bible before me. I would not trade that time for anything.
Yet growth would be quite stifled if I only worshiped in my room all of the time. And I sure would not be supporting my sisters and brothers-in-Christ. On the flip side, churches can be a safe place where a Christian can worship, learn, fellowship, and be blessed along with brothers and sisters-in-Christ. In doing all this, loving relationships develop.
And churches should be a place where Christians can serve! My favorite thing to do is preach.
What is your favorite thing to do in a church?
Regarding serving in a church, sadly in America, people in leadership of a number of churches suppress the involvement of people by allowing only a few privileged individuals and a few musicians to carry out all the fun stuff. This is un-biblical. People in churches should be serving in their local church according to their spiritual gifts and training. (Yes, I think churches need to do more training.)
Back to my search for a church, I know from experience there are many problems in a number of churches. I have learned to rely on God for guidance, encouragement, and patience to find a loving church. And I have learned to rely on God for guidance and encouragement to know when to move on from worshiping with a particular church. (This is hard for me, yet I know when I leave a particular church, that my love for the people remains!) Yes, in every church community, and in every “season,” our purpose is the same: Love God, and love people!
The moment any person believes in Jesus as his or her Savior and Lord, that person is adopted into the family of God. From that moment, he or she is going to have brothers and sisters for the rest of his or her days. Jesus wants you and me to love those brothers and sisters, and church communities are a prime place for doing so.
The more you and I love people as Jesus loves His Church, the more fruit there will be in our families, in our work places, and in our “churches,” even in this day and age.
We people were created to be in the loving family of God. Churches, which have the commitment of genuine loving people, have an important role in the loving family of God.
Hunter Irvine
