Go to Church

“Technically, I really don’t need church”

^^ that’s a statement I recall repeating to myself, many times when I initially became a Christian.

Other things I said were,

“ I can just watch sermons online”

“I can pray and read the Bible on my own”

“If I have questions, I can look online to find the answer”

Little did I know I was doing myself a great disservice, greatly misinterpreting what God truly intended the church to be.

This post is simply my attempt to convince you of the importance of church and why you should be a participant.

A very simple way for me to complete this blog post would be to say:

“Read 1 Corinthians 12:12-31”

I would then proceed to say

Soli Deo Glo…

Jk, I won’t be lazy lol.

But for real in all seriousness, 1 Corinthians 12:12-31 has all the answers you’re looking for. I’ll simply be attempting to highlight portions from this passage to draw concrete conclusions.

 1) Every Christian is a member of the Church

Let me begin by saying, if you identify with the Christian faith,

If you’re a true believer of Jesus Christ…got some news for you

You’re a member of the church! 

Yaaayyy 😀 (That’s the reaction we’re going for by the end of this post)

Let’s do some fact check before moving beyond this point

 Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it

1 Corinthians 12:27 ESV

From 1 Corinthians 1, we clearly see that Apostle Paul is speaking to believers, specifically those in the Corinth church. The “you” in this passage may then be associated to believers of Christ.

Scripture then affirms that “the body of Christ” and “the church” possess the same meaning:

And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent.

Colossians 1:18

If we go back a few verses to Colossians 1:10, we see that the “he” referenced in the scripture above is Jesus Christ.

In other words,

“the church” = “the body of Christ” = you + bunch of other Christians

(assuming you’re a Christian)

Not a building with 4 walls where people gather to worship every Sunday

But the people themselves make up the church.

If you forget everything in this post, at-least remember this ^^

Oh yea and another thing…

I don’t want to be the bearer of bad news (or good news depending on which end you’re on), but as long as you remain a Christian, you will forever be a member of the church.

Here’s what I mean:

¹⁴ For the body does not consist of one member but of many.¹⁵ If the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body.

1 Corinthians 12:14-15

Basically, if we catch ourselves saying stuff like

“I’m a Christian..but I’m not really about this whole church thing”

We’re basically “the hand” in the scripture above. We can’t take ourselves out of it

Like ever lool

Next thing to consider is that…

 2) The Church is made up of MANY members

¹² For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ

1 Corinthians 12:12

The verse is pretty much self-explanatory. A body would not be complete without eyes, hands, feet, etc.

Despite its oneness, each member has a unique function in order to better serve the body as a whole.

We ALL need each other

¹⁸But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as he chose. ¹⁹ If all were a single member, where would the body be? ²⁰ As it is, there are many parts, yet one body. ²¹ The eye cannot say to the hand, “I have no need of you,” nor again the head to the feet, “I have no need of you.” ²² On the contrary, the parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable

1 Corinthians 12:18-22

How can someone smell without a nose? Hear without ears? (1 Corinthians 12:17)

God intentionally made the church to be diverse, so that even the “weakest” of members would be considered needed. This need promotes unity within the body of Christ whiles preventing divisions from forming within the church (1 Corinthians 12:23-25).

There’s a reason why only some (not all) Christians are apostles, teachers, workers of miracles, able to speak in tongues (1 Corinthians 12:29-30).

Not to idolize each other, but to serve and to be served by one another.

3) A Call for Empathy

²⁶ If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, all rejoice together

1 Corinthians 12:26

The church is a place, where we’re literally all united through the blood of Christ.

Therefore, if one of us suffers, whether it be loss of life, persecution or anything else, we all suffer.. together as if it happened to us.

Learn to actively share each other burdens (something I seriously need to work on myself!)

More importantly, if ONE is honoured, ALL rejoice.

Or in “today’s term”.

Don’t hate when someone else is winning..or better yet when another church group (that’s not yours) is winning.

At the end of the day

We’re all trying to attain the same goal.

To inform the world about Jesus Christ, and display His nature throughout all the earth

(This song by Collision records, puts things into perspective as they collaborate with various Christian artists celebrating each other’s success).

Finally,

To the individuals who are tired of going to church every Sunday, frustrated by the lack of love displayed among Christians and deeply hurt by offensives experienced in church

I’ve been there.

I hear you.

Are there legitimate reasons to leave a church group? Absolutely! (Click here to see some)

But don’t be so quick to dismiss a church fellowship over a few mishaps that could’ve been fixed with a little communication (Matthew 18:15-17)

God intentionally made us to serve one another and never intended for us to be alone.

It’s time to truly re-think church from a biblical perspective rather than neglecting something God initially intended for us to enjoy

Soli Deo Gloria