How to deal with differences within the church is a frequent topic of conversation around our dinner table, and a frequent topic of prayer as we ask God to help us love the church.
As we've recently moved churches to one closer to home that we feel more aligned with the vision of, I've been thinking about the many blessings we experienced in our old church.
Friendship
Encouragement in the word
Correction
Care
Leadership
Serving others
Getting to know people different from ourselves
Prayer
Hospitality
There are so many benefits to being part of the church. When you are not part of the church, you do not have continual reminders of the right way to live. You less likely to have people around you who are committed to the ideal of caring about those who are suffering. You do not have the same regular opportunities to serve others in ways that may be uncomfortable.
The blessings I've listed above are common to most Bible-believing churches. I believe that one of the key blessings non-Christians miss out on in this life is being part of a church community. They are less likely, as a result, to have networks of people who care (even imperfectly) about them. When they are old, they will likely be lonelier and have less contact with a variety of age groups. One of the things I love at our new church is that they pray for church members during the service, including those who are unable to be at church due to age or ill health. When you are a part of the church, you are remembered.
I know the church is imperfect, often frustrating, and even hurtful at times. Yet it is also one of the great benefits God gives Christians. One of our key motivations for evangelism should be to bring people into the community of the church. We live in lonely, socially-dislocated communities, where people receive all kinds of ungodly advice on how to live. The benefits of being part of a loving, godly community would be enormous for those who are presently without positive social networks. What an incentive to fulfill the Great Commission, spread the blessings of church life to as many as possible.
This month Dave and I moved churches. Last Sunday we were fare welled at our former congregation, Crossroads, and said a few words. We were grateful for this opportunity to tell many people we know and love that we will no longer be attending this congregation. Instead, we will be regularly attending a morning service just five minutes from our home, and also hope to become involved in a small group there.
I have known for a while that we would almost certainly be leaving, but our decision came as a surprise to many who spoke to us after the service. In many ways this is a good thing. It means we had not been going around complaining to everyone! It is also probably a result of our efforts to remain involved and serving until the end of our time there. In fact, Dave preached in late July! We told the elders beforehand that we would be leaving, but they still wanted him to preach.
As we have gone through this process of moving, I have thought a lot about what it means to be loving in leaving a church. I regret the few times when I have shared the details behind our decision. Why? This could give others fuel for discontentment or gossip, and it adds nothing to either their lives or ours. I'm happy for us to state that we feel we'll be more passionate about the vision at our new church, but saying any more may be unhelpful.
Instead, it may be better to simply say what I did at Crossroads on Sunday: "I am thankful for the love and care many people in this church have shown to me over many years. I am also grateful for the teaching I have received. My theology has improved a great deal, and I'm sure this will bring lifelong benefits". This also is true, and it is a truth I'd rather share.
What about you? What are your experiences in moving churches? How do you think we can be loving in the process of leaving?
Maybe like me you've struggled at times to love the church. People disappoint you. The preacher says things you disagree with, or even hate. The music is bad, or non-existent. The Bible studies seem pointless. Why should you bother?
Many people give their answer: I won't bother.
Maybe you have seen some of these people loose their love for the church. They recount stories of hypocrisy and confusion. They have grown bitter about slights and disappointments that happened years ago. They no longer care what the Bible says, and they live according to what "seems right".
Maybe you are one of those people.
Or maybe you have seen people who think they are too good for the church. They have a better way of "doing church", and until they find a group of like-minded people they are not going to go. They can see how the church will affect them, or their children, badly if they do go.
Maybe you are one of those people.
Perhaps you go to church, but you remain disengaged. You are afraid of being hurt or making mistakes. I've been there, and often I still am.
In our consumer orientated, fragmented society, it is hard to commit to a community of imperfect people. It is hard to open yourself up to deep relationships when you're used to superficiality. It is hard to stick with something when the dominant attitude is "If you don't like it go somewhere else" - or perhaps, don't go at all.
I'm so grateful that the Bible is not unclear when it comes to our responsibilities to love God's people. We are to love all people, but we have a particular responsiblity to commit to the church. As I've chosen to obey God's word, very imperfectly, I have been blessed through the teaching and relationships at my church.
To read more about loving the church, why not read Joshua Harris' book "Stop Dating the Church" . . .
You can read an interview with Josh about the book at Boundless Webzine. You can also read Tim Challies' review.
I'd also love to hear about your experiences of church, positive or negative, and how you are dealing with them. I'm always encouraged by Faith's positive comments about her church!
I was so sad yesterday when I discovered from Crystal's blog that Kristy's husband has died. They had only been married since January. I can't imagine how hard this must be for Kristy. Please pray for her as she walks through this very black valley. As God's people we are called to "weep with those who weep". The least we can do is to uphold Kristy in prayer.
Read more...As God's people, we are called to speak words that reflect Christ's love. There are many instructions about the tongue in the Old and New Testaments. One that I remember from Proverbs is: "a wholesome tongue is a tree of life, but perverseness in it breaks the spirit".
Stacy McDonald has recently been attacked on the Internet. She writes:
Along with the growth of the Internet, the potential for sin has grown. Rather than gossiping with just one neighbor at a time, now the blogging housewife can count the hits on her site meter as she multiplies her possibilities.
Let me be clear, I don't believe that an honest critique, or a godly debate or discussion, is an act of slander, libel, or gossip. Book reviews (that actually review a book—not the personal “impressions” the reviewer has about the author), discussions on email lists and blogs regarding a specific teaching or biblical truth, and even respectful debates can be fruitful. Iron sharpens iron and we can all learn a lot in these settings.
This wonderful passage from the gospel of Matthew reminds us that God's church is built upon the fact that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God. Jesus is not simply a good man, a worthy role model. He is God, and this fact is what we are to build our lives upon.When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, "Who do people say the Son of Man is?"They replied, "Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets."
"But what about you?" he asked. "Who do you say I am?"
Simon Peter answered, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God."
Jesus replied, "Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by man, but by my Father in heaven. And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven." Then he warned his disciples not to tell anyone that he was the Christ.
Matthew 16:13 - 20
A couple of weeks ago I posted about the gift of confidence God's people received as a result of the revival of understanding of God's word that came with the Reformation in the sixteenth century. In response, a couple of readers questioned the need for a reformation and argued that I had misrepresented the Catholic church. I will discuss the present Catholic teaching on salvation in a later post. I have worked with many Catholic people on pro-life projects and I respect many aspects of their faith. However, I do have grave concerns about the doctrine of salvation the Catholic church teaches. I have discussed this with numerous Catholics.
For the present, though, I'd like to point out the state of the church of Martin Luther's day. Susan aptly does this in her post Reformation Day: A Reminder for our Times.But look at Europe at the time leading up to the Protestant Reformation. The Word of God was held captive by a religious elite who were corrupt to the very core, hiding theft, adultery, greed, swindling, and lies underneath the guise of the name of our Lord. The Gospel was not being preached to the masses; instead they were hearing select portions of scripture read to them in a language not native to them, and the public were being taught that they had to help earn their righteousness. They were so frightened of the future of their souls, and so frantic to do anything to earn their way into heaven, that the poor would give away some of their last pennies to buy off a few years from purgatory or to save their souls from hell. The masses murmured rote prayers in penance, trusted in priests to be their mediators before God, and lived in utter fear and spiritual darkness.
I recognise that selling indulgances is no longer an emphasis of the Catholic church. However, it was in Luther's time. This alone was cause for Reformation.
In closing, I've discovered another way that some are celebrating this important day! Please visit Your Sacred Calling to read about one church's Reformation Day Faire! It sounds like a great time! That is one way to ensure that children remember the events surrounding Reformation Day!
I have been thinking about how Dave and I could create traditions to celebrate Reformation Day, so I was pleased to receive a couple of ideas from Carmon's blog.
You may like to read Happy Reformation Day where Carmon described a couple of things they were going to do to celebrate or heritage as God's people.
Today is Reformation Day. Many Christians remember and celebrate the fact that Martin Luther nailed his 95 theses to the door of a church over 500 years ago – launching upheavals in the Roman Catholic Church and facilitating the birth of many new churches. Luther challenged the view that salvation is partly a matter of man’s works, countering this with the truth of the gospel of grace. Christ’s substitutionary death and resurrection for us saves us from our sins – we could never be good enough to save ourselves.
Reformation Day is a reminder that the freedom we have in the gospel is hard-won, by men and women who sacrificed comfort and acceptability to proclaim the message of grace. The work that these people did has given many millions of people the gift of confidence in God’s saving work. No longer do God’s people have to labour under the burden of uncertainty about whether they have “measured up” to a standard that will allow them to enter heaven. They can have confidence that Christ has met that standard for them.
I am blessed to be part of a group of churches that commemorates this day with “Reformation Sunday” every year. Many Presbyterian and Reformed churches meet together to speak and sing about what God has done. Sadly, many churches outside of the Presbyterian and Reformed traditions do not choose to remember the events that occurred at the Reformation. The Reformation paved the way for all churches – Pentecostal and Reformed, Baptist and Presbyterian – to have confidence that salvation is assured through Christ. All Protestant churches are the beneficiaries of the revival of this truth. All can celebrate this gladly on Reformation Day.
It is worth remembering those who enabled us to sing with confidence the following words from “In Christ Alone”:
‘Till on that cross as Jesus died
The wrath of God was satisfied
For ev’ry sin on Him was laid
Here in the death of Christ I live
No guilt in life no fear in death
This is the pow’r of Christ in me . . .
No pow’r of hell no scheme of man
Can ever pluck me from His hand
‘Til he returns or calls me home
Here in the pow’r of Christ I’ll stand.
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