The nature of a thing impacts how you interact with it. When we remember what the Bible says about the church, it will change the way we interact with it- especially our main Sunday morning gathering. Let me tell you about three different scenarios.
Scenario A. You go to Walmart. You need to get some bread and milk. You walk in through the sliding doors, grab a cart, and make a beeline to the back of the store. You maneuver around a few people who stopped in the middle of the aisle. You grab the milk. Heading for the bread, you have to take the long way because someone spilled something. Finally, you get the bread and head to the checkout. With some frustration, because the machine didn’t like how you swiped your credit card the first time, you completed your trip. Despite some inconveniences, you got what you came to get.
Scenario B. You go to a small Casting Crowns concert. You pay to buy a ticket at the door. You went with a few friends and sit in some pretty good seats. You have a great view of the show the entire time. You sing along to your favorite song and mumble under your breath when the so one you don’t know. At one point, you decide to go check out the merchandise display for a few minutes because you are getting a little bored with the current song set. All in all, things we ok, you sat and enjoyed a decent performance.
Scenario C. You go to a family gathering for a meal together. You have been excited all week to get together with family. It was a rough week at work, you carry in some of the same old pressures, but you always find joy just hanging out and talking with your siblings and relatives. You arrive twenty minutes early. Everyone took time to make and bring something to the gathering- a pot of chili, peanut butter pie, a few sides, and grandpa made his famous ribs again. Your younger brother even came ready with a few jokes (he’s a goofball but you wouldn’t have it any other way)! You all dig in, enjoying shared nourishment. You check your phone a few times, but you try really hard to be present and attentive. After the meal, several pitch in to do the dishes, a group breaks off to the front room to talk and tell stories, while others go outside to throw a football around. Even though your family drives you nuts sometimes, you showed up, jumped in, and spent time together as a family.
Too often, we treat church like scenario A or B. We act as if church is something we go to so we can get something from it (and if it doesn’t go as planned, there may be some huffing and puffing). The problem is that we forget that God’s people gather together to worship God as we exalt Christ- it’s not about me. Or we may act as if church is a show we go to watch. The problem is that every Christian should be using their spiritual gifts to build up the church every time they get together, not just “watching” a select few (granted, some have been gifted to do this in a more prominent way, but everyone is called to use their gift for the good of others). Both of these have the same thought: I am going to church today to get. Which one do you find at times creeping into your heart?
The Bible presents a picture of the local church that is much closer to Scenario C because the Scriptures picture the church as a family:
Ephesians 2:19 Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with God’s people and also members of his household.
John 1:12 Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God.
2 Corinthains 6:18 And, “I will be Father to you, and you will be my sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty.”
Galatians 4:6-7 Because you are his sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, “Abba, Father.” So you are no longer a slave, but God’s child; and since you are his child, God has made you also an heir.
Psalm 68:5 A father to the fatherless, a defender of widows, is God in his holy dwelling.
The church is most fundamentally a people to belong to; the church is a family of blood-bought, rescued and redeemed sinners. If the church is a family, then our Sunday morning gatherings are not so different from gatherings with your biological family. And as we gather with our faith family, we should come seeking to give. Let me leave you with three steps to think about.
First, pray. Ask God to do a work in your heart with how you view the church. You cannot manufacture a true, lasting, Christlike love. It must be a work of God- and it is something he wants to do in you! Along with this, spend some time reading the passages mentioned asking God to ignite a fire in your heart both for his people and for the goodness of gathering together like a family.
Second, prepare. This is important, especially if you have children in the house! Sunday begins Saturday evening. Take the time to layout clothes for the morning, gather your Bible and a notebook, and (maybe most importantly), start to get ready in your heart. If we are preaching through a book series, read the new passage. If we are learning a new song, take a moment to listen to a recording of it so you can joyfully sing along. Think of one person who you haven’t talked to in a few weeks- write their name down on a sticky note and put that note on your Bible so you can seek them out on Sunday.
Third, participate. Do it- get out of bed and show up! A pastor friend of mine once said, two of the most important things you can do is “come a little early” and “stay a little late.” You’ve built a relationship with your biological family through time together, you’ll build a relationship with your faith family through time together too. But that won’t happen if you show up five minutes after the service started or leave before the benediction. Start small, plan to arrive by 9:50, find someone you don’t know well, and ask a few simple questions to begin to learn their story.
May the Lord bless us as we grow in our love for each other as brothers and sisters in Christ.
For the Kingdom,
Bobby Ludlow