As I was talking with my mom today, she said, “You always get so many people to turn out for what your church does.” It made me think about church and what it means. You see, Church is not a place you go, but a lifestyle that you live. Church is not a time where we spend an hour or two together just to go our separate ways.
Church is a place where we get to know each other more than in a superficial way. It is a place where we learn each other’s struggles, failures, and victories. Church is a place where we learn how to pray for each other. Church is a place where, when one of our members hurt, we all hurt. Church is a place where, when one of us has a praise, we all praise together. Church is so much more than a few moments or even hours that we spend together to get on to the next thing in our life. Church is a place where life happens.
Church is a place where we learn then take our life out into the world as a Church to minister to others that need the Savior. Church is life and life is Church. When we (The Church) understand this, we move from church being something that we do, to being something that we are! We move from thinking that Church is for us and know that Church is about the Lord. Scripture tells us in Ephesians 5:25-27 that Jesus gave himself and died for the Church so that she can be presented back to him, perfect, without spot or blemish. He did not die for a building, or a Sunday School class, or a small group class, or Sunday morning worship. "NO," Jesus did for you and I, “THE CHURCH” and now he expects us to meet together to be the church, grow together to be the church, minister together to be the church, and reach others to be the church. When we walk as “The Church,” then we be all that God has called us to be! When we are the Church, our personal preferences and desire fade away in light of all that the Lord wants the Church to be.
Where are you serving the Lord and "Being the Church"? What local "church" body have you joined in with to be "The Church" that God wants you to be? It is through salvation and growth that one sees the need for the Church. May the Lord bless you and show His desire to have a relationship with you and your need to be a part of a CHURCH!
In Christ,
Bro. W. Dee Daniel
Ephesians 5:25-27, "Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her, 26 that He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word, 27 that He might present her to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish.".