The Church Body
Right now in my personal devotions I'm studying what it means to be part of the church body or family, which is particularly interesting because it is something that has been weighing on my heart lately.
We all know (or most of us do) the verses in Matthew that tell where two are joined together in Jesus' name, He is there with them also. To me, this has always been a call to worship, that we should gather together with other Christians to pray and to worship.
So this brings about being an active part of the church body. Being a member of a church is not like being a person's appendix: nobody knows why it's there and you could probably do without it. Being part of a church is like a being a vital organ, like the heart. A heart cannot function on its own apart from the body, likewise the body cannot function apart from its heart. We need to take an active roll in in our churches, not come sit on Sunday and do our own thing the rest of the week (like being a Sunday morning Christian). How many of us don't volunteer because we don't have the time? True confession time: I don't, and have always used the excuse that it was because I spend the week in Hamilton and the weekends at Dromore, I can't commit anywhere. But any reason that contains "but" isn't a reason at all, so it's something I need to work on.
If we are to be an active part of a church body, I have to ask myself where this church body is? My own church congregation is flailing somewhat right now, and I'm at a loss it seems on what to do. While we claim to be a church that believes a preaches the Bible unapologetically, there seems to be a spiritual emptiness in the church. I was challenged at my bible study group recently that if my spiritual needs are not being met and I'm not growing at my church, it may be time for a move. While this makes sense, I don't want to feel like I'm abandoning my community.
For a city church to dwindle and close, it may not be as big of an issue since there is likely one a couple blocks away that can fill the need. But it is a different situation for a rural church. Before the advent of motorized transportation, a person would for the most part worship at their local church whether it was Baptist, Presbyterian, Methodist, Anglican, whatever. While the people may have differed on certain things, they could still worship together. The only other option was a two hour buggy ride to the next community. Consequently, a local rural church could flourish. Also, since it wasn't practical to travel all over for entertainment or chase our children to hockey games at 10:30 on Sunday mornings, many social events revolved around the local community and church.
But in our increasingly mobile society we don't do these things anymore. Our children must be active and socialized all the time, and we're all too busy with work and committees and trying to become independently wealthy. Couple this with the ability to cut that two hour buggy ride down to a 15 minute car ride, the rural church is steadily declining. To most, when a rural church closes, there's another close by that they can switch to, so it's not a real loss. However, what I see is a rural landscape that is increasingly becoming more and more devoid of places to worship. If Amos Dromore closed, how many of it's members really would start driving to Holstein or Swinton Park for church? Not many, for whatever their reasons may be, leaving a hole in the community.
But what is the solution? Cut and run? I don't think so. If a need is not being met, shouldn't we try to fill it rather than abandon it? Like the heart and the body, if the heart's needs aren't being met, we have to fill it's needs in order to survive. If the body's needs are not being met because of the heart, the heart needs to be revitalized or repaired (ok, so the analogy breaks down with heart replacement surgery, but you get my point). This should be a great opportunity for growth in the church, but unfortunately most just think it's easier to leave and let someone else do it. Or we're too busy ourselves. Someone once told me that if the Devil can't take you from God, he'll make you so busy so that you'll do it instead.
We all know (or most of us do) the verses in Matthew that tell where two are joined together in Jesus' name, He is there with them also. To me, this has always been a call to worship, that we should gather together with other Christians to pray and to worship.
So this brings about being an active part of the church body. Being a member of a church is not like being a person's appendix: nobody knows why it's there and you could probably do without it. Being part of a church is like a being a vital organ, like the heart. A heart cannot function on its own apart from the body, likewise the body cannot function apart from its heart. We need to take an active roll in in our churches, not come sit on Sunday and do our own thing the rest of the week (like being a Sunday morning Christian). How many of us don't volunteer because we don't have the time? True confession time: I don't, and have always used the excuse that it was because I spend the week in Hamilton and the weekends at Dromore, I can't commit anywhere. But any reason that contains "but" isn't a reason at all, so it's something I need to work on.
If we are to be an active part of a church body, I have to ask myself where this church body is? My own church congregation is flailing somewhat right now, and I'm at a loss it seems on what to do. While we claim to be a church that believes a preaches the Bible unapologetically, there seems to be a spiritual emptiness in the church. I was challenged at my bible study group recently that if my spiritual needs are not being met and I'm not growing at my church, it may be time for a move. While this makes sense, I don't want to feel like I'm abandoning my community.
For a city church to dwindle and close, it may not be as big of an issue since there is likely one a couple blocks away that can fill the need. But it is a different situation for a rural church. Before the advent of motorized transportation, a person would for the most part worship at their local church whether it was Baptist, Presbyterian, Methodist, Anglican, whatever. While the people may have differed on certain things, they could still worship together. The only other option was a two hour buggy ride to the next community. Consequently, a local rural church could flourish. Also, since it wasn't practical to travel all over for entertainment or chase our children to hockey games at 10:30 on Sunday mornings, many social events revolved around the local community and church.
But in our increasingly mobile society we don't do these things anymore. Our children must be active and socialized all the time, and we're all too busy with work and committees and trying to become independently wealthy. Couple this with the ability to cut that two hour buggy ride down to a 15 minute car ride, the rural church is steadily declining. To most, when a rural church closes, there's another close by that they can switch to, so it's not a real loss. However, what I see is a rural landscape that is increasingly becoming more and more devoid of places to worship. If Amos Dromore closed, how many of it's members really would start driving to Holstein or Swinton Park for church? Not many, for whatever their reasons may be, leaving a hole in the community.
But what is the solution? Cut and run? I don't think so. If a need is not being met, shouldn't we try to fill it rather than abandon it? Like the heart and the body, if the heart's needs aren't being met, we have to fill it's needs in order to survive. If the body's needs are not being met because of the heart, the heart needs to be revitalized or repaired (ok, so the analogy breaks down with heart replacement surgery, but you get my point). This should be a great opportunity for growth in the church, but unfortunately most just think it's easier to leave and let someone else do it. Or we're too busy ourselves. Someone once told me that if the Devil can't take you from God, he'll make you so busy so that you'll do it instead.
posted by peccles at 12:34 PM
2 Comments:
Nice colors. Keep up the good work. thnx!
»
Interesting website with a lot of resources and detailed explanations.
»
Post a Comment
<< Home