I Love the Church

It seems that many Christians are rather ambivalent towards the church. They don't want to get too involved. Maybe they had a bad experience with a church in the past, so they downplay the importance of the church. They realize that there are good things about the church. They know the Bible talks about the church. But they only get invovled to the degree that they feel comfortable. Perhaps the old saying about Noah's ark applies to the way many think about the church. "If it weren't for the storm on the outside you wouldn't be able to put up with the stench on the inside."

No doubt churches have problems. No doubt believers have had bad experiences in some churches. I have. I have had some horrible experiences in some churches. But I love the church. The reason I love the church is because it is the temple of God (1 Corinthians 3:16). The church is the household of God (1 Timothy 3:15). The church is the body of Christ (Colossions 1:18). The church is the bride of Christ (Ephesians 5:25; Revelation 19:7). The church is precious to God and to Christ. The church was purchased by the very blood of God (Acts 20:28). How can I say that I love God if I don't love His household? How can I say I love Christ if I don't love His bride? If I love the head, I will love the body.

Yes, I have had some bad experiences in church but I have had some wonderful ones as well. The instruction, the fellowship, the worship, the times of prayer, the times of rejoicing, the friendships have been priceless. It is the church, even with all of its imperfections that Christ is committed to and He has used the church with all of its weaknesses to work in my life.

My adult life has been spent devoted to the church. Even before I became a pastor I was involved and serving in the church. The church has had a tremendous influence in the life of my family. All of my children have grown up in church and they all began serving at an early age. Today they are all still serving the church and loving it.

We need to be reminded of Christ's commitment to the church. That's what keeps us going. And we need to be continually devoting ourselves to the local church like the apostles and the early believers did (Acts 2:42). We have to remember that our love for Christ is tangibly demonstrated by our love for the church. Serving the Lord is never a waste of time.

In my last post I talked about my 50th birthday. That night a number of people from the church I pastor threw a surprise party for me. During that time we had some great fellowship just remembering the things the Lord has accomplished in our midst. The people that were there have been through some tough times in churches. But a night of fellowship like we had more than makes up for it. I feel badly for Christians who stay on the fringe of the church. There is a spirit of independence among many Christians which is not good. Those believers miss out on so much.

Revelation 1-3 pictures Christ ministering to His church. Seven letters were sent from the Lord to seven local churches. Five of those churches were having serious problems. But where was Christ in relation to those churches? Well, the churches were pictured by seven lampstands and Jesus was standing right in the middle of them (Revelation 1:9-20). Where are you standing in relation to your church?

I love the church because I love Jesus.