I have tried this week to put into words an answer to the question: Why Church? The topic is near and dear to me because I get a lot of questions from people who are struggling with this issue. It has become such a big issue that people who love Jesus and don’t go to church are now numbered in the millions. Some people call them “None and Dones”: When they fill out a questionnaire that asks their church affiliation, they mark “None”. And when you speak with them about church they normally say something like “I am done with church”. Hence, “None and Dones”.
But I personally love the church. I realize that the church has problems and that no church does everything right, including my own. But I keep coming back to the statement that Jesus made when He said “I will build my Church and the gates of Hell shall not prevail against it”. G.K.Chesterton said that many people have spoken of the death of the church through the years but now, they are all dead and the church is still alive.
There is something mysterious about the church and its relationship with Jesus. The bible uses different metaphors to describe it, such as bride of Christ, body of Christ, and temple of the Holy Spirit. These all speak about a relationship that is vital and intimate. As the bride of Christ, we are pledged to Him and looking forward to the day when we will be with him. Revelations 19 says that the bride has made herself ready for the marriage supper of the lamb. The apostle Paul says that Jesus loved the church and gave himself for her, that he might sanctify her and cleanse her. His ultimate goal is to her without spot or wrinkle, holy and without blemish, on that wedding day. That’s a very special relationship.
Referring to the church as the body of Christ carries the idea that the Christ as the head and the church as his body is intimately, organically, and vitally connected to one another. The authority that Christ has by virtue of his death, resurrection and ascension, is given to the church to bring forgiveness and redemption to all who will believe. Acts 17 declares that “In him we live and move have our being”. This reminds me of Jesus saying that He is the vine and we are the branches. It speaks clearly about our life being derived from and not independent of His life. And the picture of the body speaks of many different parts connected and working in harmony with one another and wit the head.
The last metaphor is that of the church being the temple of God. This is actually more than a metaphor. It is a new reality. Jesus moves the place of God’s worship and presence from the temple to the people. We don’t go to church, we are the church. And as the place where God dwells, the Holy Temple, the church has the great privilege of belonging to “the Holy Spirit of God”. The goal of the church is not the church. The goal of the church is the purposes of God worked out by His Holy Spirit in our midst.
So these 3 metaphors and Jesus own words about the church being His church causes me to view the church in a different light. If it’s His church, it is eternal. If we are pledged to Him in marriage, we need to get ready. If we are His body, we need to cooperate with one another. And if we are the temple of God, we need to talk about the church with respect, and maybe a little bit of awe. After all, it is the dwelling place of God.
Site Title 