Biblical Essays
REMEMBERING WHO WE ARE
The biblical notion of fellowship presumes we will come to understand that we need one another. The business of being a Christian is not finished instantly by being baptized or eating the Lord’s Supper or even in achieving some notable victory over a besetting sin. It takes time and cultivation, setback and renewal, effort and maturity. Bringing all these things to completion in the context of a functioning church is the work of God. The church is God's crucible for refining those who come to Him through Jesus.
A friend told the story about being invited to speak at an inner-city church during America’s depression some years ago. The service that day lasted about two and one-half hours. When finished, the exhausted preacher asked the regular minister, “Why do so many people stay in church so long?” The answer he received is revealing about the nature of the church and what it means to be part of the body of Christ. “Unemployment is high here,” he was told. “This means that when many of our people go out during the week, everything they see, everything they hear tells them ‘You’re a failure; you’re nothing because you don’t have a good job; you don’t have a nice car; you have no money.’ So I must get their eyes focused on Christ. Through the hymns, prayers and preaching, I say to them ‘That’s a lie! You’re royalty! You are citizens of the kingdom of God!’ It takes a long time for me to get them straightened out because the world perverts them so terribly.”
It’s true. In one way or another on every day of your life, the world is trying to squeeze you into its mold, wanting you to adopt its world-view that refuses to acknowledge God and rejects the authority of the Word of God. It wants you to think its thoughts, adopt its values, and live its lifestyle. And the world has dominance over many of the delivery systems that carry our culture’s messages – movies, music, literature, internet, etc.
So what is the hope of Christians? The church must exist as a counter-culture that preserves its identity while surrounded by a hostile empire ruled by an evil prince. Sunday assemblies should provide a comprehensive experience of celebrative worship and small-group sharing; uncompromising truth and unrelenting grace; shared struggles and common triumphs. We should tell and tell again the sacred narratives that speak of our origins and carry our beliefs. We need to lovingly initiate our children into these stories, explaining their meaning and application to them. Reminding ourselves in lessons, songs and prayers that the world's account of reality is a lie and Christ’s Gospel is the truth.
By staying faithful to the Gospel, we remember who we are.
