Jesus Loves the Church, Do You?

Let me preface this post by saying it will probably step on some toes. I stepped on my own toes in a few places. I didn't write this post to make people feel bad about themselves but to challenge all believers in their attitudes towards the church. Know that, as always, I pray my words are taken with the love and grace I hope to have towards others. Don't feel judged, but feel encouraged that we have a big God who wants us to continually seek hard after him. This post sat in my drafts for months out of fear for hurting someone's feelings. Out of fear for not having the right words. At this point I can only pray that my tone of compassion is appropriately conveyed and if anyone struggles with what I've written that they'll search for the will of the Father.

You hear it a lot. I don't go to church, but I worship God better on the lake anyway. Or, my faith is such a personal thing, I don't really need others. How about, I just don't like what the modern church has become, we should go back to the New Testament church. I'm probably going to be stepping on a lot of toes here, but these are all just excuses to well, not go to church. I fully understand that some people have been hurt by the church. And let me say, I'm deeply sorry. It is a sad thing indeed when the church is a hindrance to a person's relationship with God. But let me be clear, not being a part of the local church is a hindrance to your relationship with God. So I wanted to talk about why it's important to be a part of the local church.

What is the church?

I'll just give you a brief rundown of John Piper’s explanation of the church¹. The Bible uses the word "church" in three different ways. The first is the global church as found in Ephesians 1:22-23; 4:4, etc. The second is a group of believers in a particular city or area like Jerusalem (Acts 1:22), Corinth (1 Corinthians 1:2), Thessalonica (1 Thessalonians 1:1), etc. The last group is the small groups of people that would meet in individual houses. There could be one per city or area or multiple in larger cities (like Jerusalem). When giving his definition of the local church, Piper says, "a local church is a group of baptized believers who meet regularly to worship God through Jesus Christ, to be exhorted from the Word of God, and to celebrate the Lord's Supper under the guidance of duly appointed leaders."

This means, strictly speaking, Bible studies, non-profits, para-church organizations, watching a televangelist, etc are not the local church. It doesn't say don't do those things. They’re just not a church. Mark Dever says², “The relationship between our membership in the universal church and our membership in the local church is a lot like the relationship between the righteousness God gives us through faith and the actual practice of righteousness in our daily lives.” We practice our love for the body of Christ by serving the local church.

Why the Local Church?
Jesus loved and died for the church. Now you could be saying, “that's the global church.” That's true. Ephesians 5:25 commands husbands to love their wives as Christ loved the church, even to death. This verse is talking about the global body of believers. But do you know who Paul was writing this letter to? The CHURCH at Ephesus. Now, we all benefit from it, but he was addressing a local body of believers. It was natural for them to gather together to read/hear God's Word and spend time worshiping him. Jesus loved the church so much, the global church AND the local church, that he died a horrific death on the cross.

The church is called the bride of Christ. If you really want to worship God, how about you love what he loves. Thom Rainer goes so far as to say³, “I am to fall deeply in love with my church. Christ is the bridegroom, and the church is the bride. My commitment is to love that bride with an unwavering and unconditional love.” How can you love something/someone you have no connection with?

A community of believers provides us with the fellowship needed to grow in Christ. God created us to have fellowship. Our desire to be with others (even us introverted types) points us to our need for a relationship with God as well as the perfect relationship among the members of the Holy Trinity. We weren't made to be alone. We weren't made to worship alone. Proverbs 27:17 and Hebrews 10:24 both talk about how being a part of a community helps us to be better Christians. We are not only called to live in fellowship with Jesus but also with his family. 

I love listening to podcasts. I've listened to several lately that have said some really insightful things which have caused me to think and desire to change. But if I don't have real people that I really come into contact with who are encouraging me, challenging me, helping me then I'm not as likely to actually change. While this community can be found outside of the church, there is no better place to find it than within the local church.

But we don’t just gain from being a member of a local church. We also give by being a member of a local church. And in reality, we should always seek to give more than we take. We are given the opportunity to work out our spiritual gifts in service to our local church. Jesus Christ came to earth to serve others through his life, death, and resurrection. If we want to be like Christ, we also need to seek to love, serve, encourage, and hold accountable those who are a part of a local body of believers. And as an added blessing on this, when we love our church well, we spread the gospel to those outside the church. Mark Dever again says “The church gives a visual presentation of the gospel when we forgive one another as Christ has forgiven us, when we commit to one another as Christ has committed to us, and when we lay down our lives for one another as Christ laid down his life for us.” Do you want to truly help others? Do it in the context of the local church. Do it outside of the church as well, but don’t forsake the local body for something that Christ didn’t die for.

God calls church leaders to shepherd and minister to believers. There are several passages in scripture that talk about the roles of leaders in the church. Why is this a reason to be active in a local church? Because those people have the heavy responsibility of teaching, encouraging, correcting, and guiding the members of their congregations. If you are outside of a local church then who is your spiritual authority? God ultimately, of course, but God has ordained certain people to take leadership within the church.

Where are you getting your Biblical teaching and guidance? From someone you don't know on a tv or computer screen? From someone you don't know in a book? As believers we have the Bible to give us God's Word and the Holy Spirit to help us interpret and apply it, but if you are outside of a local church then you are dismissing a God-given method of maturation and sanctification. Ideally you are part of a church where you have direct access to those leaders so that you can form a relationship with them which will allow them to speak directly into your life. I'm not talking about just sitting in a pew once a week. Form a real relationship with someone who has authority over you.

Why aren't you at church?

There are many legitimate reasons that a person may not be actively involved in and attending a local church. Perhaps poor health doesn't allow them to physically attend church. In this case, they should be involved in a healthy church that will come visit them frequently. A church service on tv or online can be beneficial here, but it's not a substitute for the community found within a congregation.

Perhaps you've recently moved and are still looking for a church. My suggestion would be to not take too long. There are most likely many good churches near you, and there's no such thing as the perfect church. Actively seek God's direction on where he wants you to be a member, but don't get into the habit of "church hopping." If you are one of the rare people that doesn't have nearby healthy Bible-teaching churches (like if you're abroad), then ask God to see if you should start your own. Look for a solution instead of just giving up.

I mentioned those who have been hurt by the church previously. I encourage you to pray through your past hurts and seek wise counsel in healing. As I mentioned at the beginning, it’s a terrible thing when church is the reason a person’s relationship with God suffers. But please know that there are good churches out there, and I pray you find one.

Aside from these situations (and possibly a few others I can't think of), the reason you aren't in church is because you don't want to be. You don’t love the church. It's not important to you. You could be doing something else which may be good, but is not the best. Stop right now and pray for wisdom as to the real motivation behind your lack of church membership.

Working with college students, we see pretty much every reason under the sun as to why people don't go to church. One of the most disturbing that has popped up within the last decade or so is the excuse that the modern church just "isn't meeting my needs." Now, it may be disguised as something else. The church isn't doing enough about social injustice. They fail to adapt to current culture. People don't fit in because the church is too cliquey or it has the "Holy Huddle" problem. The church has strayed so far from the New Testament church that it's barely recognizable. The list goes on.

You want to know the funny thing? I agree with all of these. And yet I still try to be a faithful member of a local church. Why? Because church isn't about me! We tell students that when looking for a church there are 3 criteria. 1. Does it teach the Bible faithfully? 2. Is there a place for you to serve within the church? 3. Is there a place for the church to serve you? The last one is last for a reason. To me, this is implicit with a healthy church and means the church leadership and members are loving each other as they should. It doesn’t mean it has the exact program you want, or the type of music you prefer. As believers we are often called to give up our rights and preferences in order to better serve someone else.

Finally, when it comes to the issue of sin in the church, my question is this: Where else should sinners be? Unfortunately, because the church is a people and not a place, there will be individuals who aren’t perfect. In fact, all of the members of a church aren’t perfect, from the pastor to the parishioner. This is where God calls us to forgive others because he forgave us. To love others because he first loved us. There are times when an unhealthy church wounds us, and in that case, if you can’t do anything to change the church culture, then maybe it’s time to find a new church. But before you do that remember this, “A healthy church is not a church that’s perfect and without sin. It has not figured everything out. Rather it’s a church that continually strives to take God’s side in the battle against ungodly desires and deceits of the world, our flesh, and the devil. It’s a church that continually seeks to conform itself to God’s Word.”²

Resources mentioned:

1: The Local Church: Minimum Vs. Maximum (John Piper)

2: What Is a Healthy Church? (IX Marks) (9 Marks of a Healthy Church) (Mark Dever)

3: I Am a Church Member: Discovering the Attitude that Makes the Difference (Thom Rainer)

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