Being the Church…
Yesterday, I had a very interesting and encouraging conversation with a close friend. We were talking about how we should live as the church – the people of God in, but not of, the world.
Here are a few questions to think about: 1) Are you living as the church with a group of believers? 2) What is the most difficult part of living as the church?
While these are questions that I am asking myself, I would love to hear answers from others. If we discuss this for a while, I will include my answers in the comment section.
Alan,
I agree… this topic is difficult because it is hard to find a believer who cares what the Bible says about the Church (which is unfortunate and troubling).
Lew
2) Time. I keep coming across this aspect lately; in my ladies’ Bible study the other night, in books I’m reading, in (for lack of a better term…..what can I say, it’s morning) real life examples and experiences. I have time…and it continually puzzles me why others don’t.
Alan,
You pose some good questions. As to the first one, yes I do think I am living as the church with a group of believers. However, I should qualify this. The group of believers I am living as the church with does not consist of all the believers I know. There are some believers I meet with on Sunday mornings that I do not have much of a relationship with. We do not carry out the commands Scripture gives for believers relating to one another. Are these people part of the same church? Yes…because they are believers not because they hold “membership” in an organization we call a “church”. Do I live as the church with these people? Not really…we are basically acquaintances. This brings up an interesting question though. Is there a limit to the number of believers that one can live as the church with (due to time limitations or other factors)? As to the believers I do live as the church, this has not happened in a programmed way. We enjoy spending time together. Whenever we get together we typically talk about Scripture because each of us have been studying it and want to share what God is teaching us. We serve one another because we know what is going on in each others lives. I am sure there is some effort I can make to live as the church with the believers that I currently know at a surface level. I would love to hear other’s thoughts on these questions.
Theron
Thank you for your comments. You have caused me to think deeply about my relationships with others in the body of Christ.
To answer my own questions:
1) Yes, I am living (or learning to live) as the church with a group of believers. As Theron said, the connection with some believers is deeper than with others.
2) The most difficult part is recognizing that God’s expectations may be different (and usually are) than my own expectations or the expectations of others.
So, I will ask another question (one that someone else brought up), why are people willing to set aside time for an official Bible study, but they don’t have time to meet for a cup of coffee?
– Alan
Alan,
There are a few things that I would like to say about this post.
First, these are great questions! My church is currently trying to think through similar questions.
Second, we started home fellowships at our church and my group is really thinking about this. We actually have a member whose wife is dying and is not a believer. We are trying to reach out to them. We are all seminary students and don’t have that much time. We are trying to live the gospel out in every part of our lives. This is something that we are currently learning as well. Let’s keep this discussion going and encourage one another in this area by looking to the scriptures.
Thanks Alan for this post! It is great to see that there are others out there contemplating the same things.
Dougald
Dougald,
Thank you for visiting my blog and for your comment. I am glad to see that others are asking these questions. The world needs to see the church being the church.
– Alan