Do I Love Church…Or Do I Love The Lord’s Church?
I really enjoyed this months Brotherhood meeting. We had twenty men in attendance, a good crowd considering we haven’t met in a while. After dinner during our time in the word I asked the men a pointed question: Do you love the church? There is so much confusion today over why the church exists. One of the greatest tragedies of believers today is the mindset that the church of the Lord Jesus Christ somehow exists for the individual’s gratification. We act as though the ministries of the church should be developed in such a way as to make our lives easier. This philosophy of church is a shadow of the world around us. Think about it; it's how we feel about the government, about McDonald’s, about our health club. For these entities that mindset is great, but when it concerns the church of the Lord Jesus this is simply un-biblical.
Being a member of God’s church certainly has privileges. The Apostle Paul shows us many of these privileges. These privileges include the following; as members of the church, we are adopted as sons; we have the forgiveness of sin; we have been given an inheritance, all of which is sealed by the Holy Spirit. What a list of privileges that are ours as members of the body of Christ the church! Just like anything else in life, where there are privileges there are responsibilities. Far too often we like to focus on the advantages of being a part of the church while dismissing the responsibilities. The truth of the matter is you can’t have one without the other, as a child of God privilege is inseparable from responsibility. “To whom much has been given much is required.”
When we begin to understand the love of God toward His church and that we are His children how can we not, in return, love the church? A clear and accurate understanding of why the church exists will help each of us become increasingly passionate about the ministry of the church. My prayer for each of us is that God will grow our love for that which He loved so much that He gave His only begotten Son: the church.
Pastor Barry
