40 Days to a More Meaningful Life - Day 15

A Place To Belong~

In the Garden of Eden God told Adam and Eve it is not good for man to be alone. They we created for fellowship, and so were we. No one can fulfill God’s purpose for our lives in isolation. We were put together to belong together and grow together in our relationship with God. The church body is one example of this. We no longer only believe, now we belong. Rick Warren tells us a very important fact. He says simply, “While your relationship to Christ is personal, it was never intended to be private.”

Connection to a body is a vital a part of fulfilling God’s purposes for your life. Just as an arm or leg needs the connection of a body to exist, so we need the connection to the body of Christ, being the church. So often, the first sign of spiritual decline is less involvement in church. Romans 12:4-5 says, “For as we have many members in one body, but all the members do not have the same function, so we being many, are one body in Christ, and individually members of one another.” Despite our earliest thoughts about the church being merely a building, we must come to the realization church is actually a body of people. The church is intended to be around for a very long time. It is meant to withstand ridicule, opposition and the forces of hell itself as mentioned in Matthew 16:18. Ephesians 5:25 says Jesus gave Himself up for the church. We, being the body of Christ, must see the importance of our roles as part of this body called the church. How often we use the church as out ticket to heaven. We run to the church when we have needs that are not being met elsewhere and unfortunately we even criticize the church if our needs are not being met as we feel they should within the body of Christ. How distorted our view of attending church and being part of the body has been. Ephesians 2:19 describes the body of Christ as ‘fellow citizens and with the saints and members of the household of God’. Being committed and active in a local church is part of being a Christian, a believer. God tells us not to neglect the fellowship of other believers. Have you ever wondered why this might be important enough for God to tell us this?

For one, a church identifies you as a true believer. Not all people who attend church are always believers, but it is a sign you are flowing Christ. Fellowshiping together, not only individually, is what makes a church family. Rick Warren says “it is a powerful witness to the world.” We are a body made up of many members. Such is how God intended it to be.

Secondly, a church body resolves many selfish issues. It’s the perfect classroom setting to help eliminate self-centered isolation. The body learns to suffer together or rejoice with together. Being committed to one another is as crucial as being committed to Jesus Himself. God told us to love others as we love ourselves. Spending time with a body of imperfect people creates many situations such as thinking of others as more important than ourselves, turning the other cheek and learning sacrificial giving and receiving.

Another reason for being active within the body of Christ is you build spiritual muscle. Just as watching others run on a treadmill will do nothing for your own health, so it is with being a pew sitter. God says in Ephesians 4:19 ‘that every part of the body doing its own job causes growth of the body and edifying of itself in love.’ As Rick Warren puts it, “Biblical membership is praying for one another, serving eachother, loving and encouraging one another, accepting and honoring one another, teaching and forgiving oneanother, submitting and being devoted to one another as well as bearing eachother’s burdens are all commands God has given His children. Relationships are the true essence of spiritual maturity. Accountability amongst believers provides for massive growth in ways we may never have imagined.

God has gifted each and every one of you with special gifts. If you think you are to attend church for yourself alone, think again. That single mom sitting at the end of the aisle may need a hug of acceptance. The little boy who always plays on the playground alone might need a smile to brighten his world falling apart for a daddy that just left him and his mother. The teenager dressed in gothic clothing behind eyes of black may have just recovered from an abortion she had and is wondering if God even cares about her. Asking how she is really doing while looking her eye to eye may be the only time anyone has shown a true interest I her well being for many years. The father sitting amongst his family may have just lost his job and could use a bit of encouragement while he sifts through unpaid bills and falls beneath the pressures of collectors calling him day and night. We go to church to share our gifts, the love we have for our Lord and for others. You discover your own gifts while in the midst of other believers as you see needs unmet, hearts that are broken and lives requiring loving care. Your ministry begins to evolve as you are challenged to reach out to others.

There is a wide mission field to be discovered, and it can begin within the body of Christ, the church. It is a privilege to walk as Jesus walked, being His hands and feet to a hurting world. In Jeremiah 1:9, God shares his heart on our mission in life. “Behold, I have out forth my words in your mouth. I have this day set you over the kingdoms and the nations, to root out and pull down, to destroy and to throw down, to build and to plant.” We have the awesome responsibility of being co-workers with Christ while on this earth.

As mentioned before, accountability is another good reason for being a part of a church. Hebrews 3:13 reminds us without exhortation, our hearts can be hardened and deceived through sin. As we make ourselves accountable to other believers, we grow and mature steadily as Christ would have us do. God wants us to be concerned for the welfare of others. Leaving their business to them and sheltering ourselves as if we knew nothing was going on, is doing no one any good. God tells us to be examples to one another, helping eachother in our walks with the Lord and remembering anything that has overtaken someone else; we are not immune to ourselves. Leaders and teachers of the faith have a high accountability to their flock. So be encouraged knowing others caring for you, as you are to care for others, is no simple matter.

Finally, just as when you are born, you become part of a family, so it is when you are born again as a believer. You immediately become part of the family of Christ. Your second home becomes the church. The church which often seems to be likened to that of a hospital; full of sickly, imperfect and hurting people needing help. Help is needed from the pastor in the form of teachings and guidance. Elders within the church are held accountable by one another and hold the body accountable to oneanother as well. Each person beholding a gift has something to share with the one sitting next to them. Prayer partners join in your suffering and pain while growing alongside you as well. Children do well under the authority of caring, loving and nurturing Sunday school teachers beginning in the nursery through college age and you need the experience of giving out to others what God has richly poured into you. Being only a spectator from the sidelines does little for the person sitting next to you that could have used hearing an encouraging word after losing their mother to cancer. The body grows when we make commitments to attend church faithfully. Being a contributor as opposed to merely a consumer makes all the difference in the world to the church, your own self enrichment and the world at large. It is a proven fact people are happier when they are giving out to others. Loving real people is hard to do with all their idiosyncrasies and shortcomings. But we learn patience, to be non-judgmental and to care for the less fortunate when we are committed to other believers in the body of Christ. We ourselves have so much to learn in our lifetimes. Why would we think we know it all when we are just as broken and imperfect as our neighbor?

Take that first step of a believer is to join a local church. You won’t find a perfect one so find one that models itself after the words of Christ. A firm belief that Jesus Christ is God’s only begotten Son, was born of the virgin Mary, lived a sinless life, willingly gave His own life for sinners out of His unconditional love for them and was raised on the third day now sitting at the right hand of His Father, almighty God. Becoming a member of a church is a believer’s responsibility. Just as a head cannot operate without the rest of the body, so it is within the church. We all need eachother to fulfill God’s purposes for our lives and to make a difference in this sin-scarred world we live in. Romans 12:5 tells us, “In Christ, we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others.” Belonging has its benefits. It is what makes life rich for the believer and the rewards are endless. Belong because it’s what God tells believers to do. Being obedient is the least we should do for a loving God who gave His only Son, who chose to be obedient to what he knew would save the world from eternal damnation. Belonging matters more than you think.