Friday

Show You Believe by Belonging

The Bible says a Christian without a church home is like an organ without a body, a sheep without a flock, or a child without a family. It is an unnatural state. The Bible says, "You belong in God's household with every other Christian." (Ephesians 2:19b LB)

Today's culture of independent individualism has created many spiritual orphans - "bunny believers" who hop around from one church to another without any identity, accountability, or commitment. Many believe it is possible to be a "good Christian" without joining (or even attending) a local church, but God would strongly disagree.

The church is so significant that Jesus died on the cross for it. "Christ loved the church and gave his life for it." (Ephesians 5:25 GW)

Except for a few important exceptions referring to all believers throughout history, almost every time the word church is used in the Bible it refers to a local, visible congregation. The New Testament assumes membership in a local congregation.

A church family identifies you as a genuine believer. I can't claim to be following Christ if I'm not committed to any specific group of disciples. Jesus said, "Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples." (John 13:35 NLT)

When we come together in love as a church family from different backgrounds, race, and social status, it is also a witness to the world. (Galatians 3:28)

We cannot be a Christian without being in God's place. In order to be a Christian, we have to belong in a group with other believers. Otherwise, we will be like a part that is separated from the body, and that doesn't last long. God sacrificed so much for the church, even his own son. This is showing that in God's eyes, the church is a really important thing. And that means it is really important to us. So, we must be with other groups of believers to learn from them, and to become a step closer to God. After all, we have to belong to God's people, as we would be just a part that is lost.

Umm.. I'm not sure about this devo.

I've noticed that whoever writes these uses many different and unpopular versions of the bible to imply a slightly different meaning than what the verse originally intended. For example, the main verse that supposedly proves how important it is to stay in one church has been cut and an unfamiliar version without context has been given.
Ephesians 5:25 (NIV) goes: "Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her,"
I don't think that such a weak argument can prove that "God would strongly disagree" (that all Christians must attend a local church in order to be "good"). Yeah I also don't like how the person assumes that there is such a thing as being a "good" Christian based off of something that we do.
Then the writer quotes Jesus in John 13:35, a verse with almost no correlation to belonging to a church. The verse is Jesus telling (Simon) Peter a new commandment: to love one another as He loved them. The entire chapter does not even mention church.
Finally, the writer closes with Galatians 3:28, this time without even a translation type, while the New International Version goes:
"There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male, nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus." The passage is not talking about a church that you must attend, but reveals later that it is talking about how we are all God's heirs when we belong to Christ, no matter what our position or background is.
So yeah, that's enough ranting.

In general I agree that it is important to have a church-type community to have fellowship with and grow through and upon one another in Christ. Attending church is important for fairly obvious reasons, and it is important to dedicate yourself to the church, but not officially joining a church doesn't make you a "bad Christian".

I think I used to be a "bunny believer". I was always going from one church to another after I went to one church where I particularly didn't really find pleasant. I never felt like I belonged anywhere, or I never really felt the presence of God there either. Even if there was potential for all this to happen, I didn't really stay at a church long enough to allow for it to happen. My hopping from one church to the next didn't help me develop a good perception of church either. I disliked it immensely and always found going to church somewhat tedious, useless, and unnecessary. Fast forward to where I am now, I appreciate church a lot more especially of what various people do for the church and their ample contributions that keep the church functioning.
Even though some people may not admit it or are stubborn to believe it, we do need others for our spiritual growth. I don't think that we should depend on others COMPLETELY for our spiritual growth and not take responsibility to strengthen ourselves. However, we do need to know that we need to be consistent in going to a community to grow spiritually. We need to support and love each other to uplift each other. We need to help others spiritually if they're struggling. We have to love and honour each other, with genuine hearts, and we need to love ourselves and one another as God loved us.


11 Therefore encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing.
1 Thessalonians 5:11 (ESV)

Sorry I didn't post yesterday, I was having trouble fully understanding the devos about convictions.

To today's devo:
Do not seperate yourself from the church for negative and "positive" reasons.
What I mean by this is that people may not want to because they are not committed or too lazy. That's the negative excuse. This is what people will think of as "positive": They say that they want an independent life in faith.
No matter what position you are in, stick with your family. As I've mentioned before, the congregation is like a body. Each part is necessary and is there for a reason. What good is a hand when not connected to a body?
Contribute what you have to the church, God has given you unique and special skills, use them to glorify him.
Once you have your job straight, be committed. Some look for alternatives hoping they will eventually find a better place. Lets use "bunny believers" as an example.
They stay at a church that they like but thence on when they think theey have discovered something better. If you have tht mindset, you will never be satisfied. There is always something that is going to appeal to you more if you are not involved with where you are right now.

Instead of searching for something better, work with what you are given and make it better than anything else you will find.

~Audrey~