Sadly, our lives are slowly shaped by these self-serving doctrines. But we know that is not the case for Christians, instead, we are called to deny ourselves and take up our cross constantly. (Matthew 16:24)
I grew up in the church. In fact, for more than half of my life, I have lived in the church’s parsonage. In contrast to how other people assume that we "perfectly" adhere to moral standards, the truth could never be any more far. The church is messy and can sadly fail to reflect what it is expected to be.
Growing up, I witnessed a couple of times how Christians got hurt and brokenhearted after reconciliation meetings. My father — a pastor — for one, needed to attend summons because Christians were about to file lawsuits concerning the rightful owner of the land on which the church building was built. My father narrated how disarrayed it was back then with fellow Christians. I can still vividly remember that as a kid, we needed to move from one place to another because of what seemed to be irreconcilable differences within the church. I no longer see often this one close high school classmate as they needed to move to a different province as well since their family was opposed by the very people they lovingly served.
There were countless times when prayers didn't seem to suffice in resolving relational conflicts. Somehow, that traumatized me and I was convinced that it was wiser not to belong to any church in this lifetime - I did not want to experience the same hurt, again.
Those hurtful moments in the past resulted in a lot of confusion as I tried to propel myself through my Christian life. To be honest, it is not surprising that there are a lot of people who had more terrifying experiences with the church than I had. But as Christians, how do we stay faithful to the call of enduring despite the church’s flaws and defects? If we look at the Scriptures, we can see multiple passages about our calling to belong to a church:
So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. In Him, you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit. Ephesians 2:19-22
One of the main themes Paul addresses in the Book of Ephesians is that Christ united the church to Himself. Notice that before writing verses 19-22, Paul faithfully and clearly laid the truth of the Gospel. We now know that without a proper understanding of the Gospel, Christians can't possibly understand the necessity and non-negotiability for each one to belong to the household of God. We have One Perfect Cornerstone and that’s where our identity is anchored. We are no longer divided or identified by our social statuses, individual achievements, past traumas, etc. Church membership is a manifestation that we understand and believe this truth. Through the Gospel, we are now identified as children of God and in this Gospel, we are being built together into God’s dwelling place. In other words, it is an obvious and unavoidable truth that a Christian ought to be in fellowship and commitment with his brothers and sisters.
Another passage that we can look into is in the book of Hebrews:
“Not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.” Hebrews 10:25
The writer of the book of Hebrews also urges us not to neglect the gathering. To put it differently, every time we deliberately neglect the gathering, we sin. Does this mean every time I intentionally don’t go and attend church I sin? YES. Every time we decline to be fully committed to a local church, we constantly sin before a Holy God, we sin against Christ our only Savior, and we intentionally grieve the Holy Spirit.
As Christians, we know that we are already reconciled to God but seldom do we understand that this means we are also reconciled to His people. When we commit to a church, we first submit to the Word of God, honor Him, and amplify His Word's perfection, which is the ultimate and final authority of our lives. We do not simply belong to a group of people but when we commit to a church we echo the wonderful truth of the Word. We continually imply the wonderful saving works of the Gospel.
The same grace that brought out the Israelites from the hand of Egyptians is the same grace that saved us and the same grace that will sustain us as we beautifully endure with the church until Christ returns. Again, we are not called to attend a church simply but to commit to it. You shouldn't join a church for merely belongingness. If you want to, then join a membership club instead.
Committing to a church plays a vital role in a Christian's sanctification. Saying no to local church membership is saying no to accountability and saying no to following the perfect pattern God set before us. As the Scripture used the metaphor of iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens the other (Proverbs 27:17). As other members of the church are used for our sanctification so are we equally used in sanctifying our brothers and sisters in Christ. Take heed that growth into godliness often hurts, as Matt Chandler puts it.
Upon writing this, the necessity of church membership does not equate to perfectly spiritual euphoria. Again, love is never innocuous. Church membership has its own wonderful times with each other but there are also equally excruciating moments from each other. Let not the hurt from the people of the church nullify the works of the Gospel in your life. We are church members solely because of the Gospel. When fellow Christians hurt us we are called to forgive just as how the great Redeemer forgives us and we are called to unconditionally love these equally sinful people like us (Colossians 3:13). Remember, the church is messy because you are messy. Our unity is only possible because of the work of Christ on the cross, the Holy Spirit sustaining our commitment, and the Father faithfully providing grace for His people to continually obey Him.
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Member of MCF-Cebu
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