Pew Ponderings {Having a Heart for the Church}

 

As I type this post, I'm reflecting on the introductory sermon to Bro. Gary's new Sunday night series from Revelation 1-3 titled, "What Does Jesus Think About the Church?"

I've realized in the weeks since I started thinking about this series that I'm a bit defensive when it comes to the church.  I think I've been so disturbed over the last few years by the disdain (and sometimes downright anger) that some professing Christians show toward the church that I struggle with admitting to some of her weaknesses. 

In that, I've done what I so hate to see others do in other areas: I've swung the pendulum much too far the other way (and in that,  become a too-subjective cheerleader.)

I've lost my objectivity and come to see the church through my own eyes rather than Christ's (which is exactly what I would caution others against.)

As I've counted the blessing of godly friends and true church families during this series, I am realizing anew that not everyone has those blessings.  For some that may be because they have shut themselves off from close, transparent, accountable relationships, or because they've succumbed to negative attitudes toward the church in general.

However, I know that there are others who have prayed and sought out diligently a "living and functional" church (as Anne Ortlund describes them) and deep, healthy, intimate friendships, only to find themselves lonely and hurting when those things seem completely out of reach.

Please know that this series doesn't flow out of my having it all together in these areas, being some sort of super-friend (just ask mine...I have a LONG way to go!), or being part of a perfect church. 

Instead, it flows from my having a passionate heart for the church, having been blessed with some pretty incredible super-friends over the years, and having also been blessed to be part of churches which were in no way perfect, but definitely "living and functional" parts of the body of Christ. 

God has given me a deep love for the church.  Not just the church families I've been part of (although they are definitely part of that and I love them dearly!), but the Church as a whole...the Bride of Christ, whom He cherishes. 

My hope and intention as we progress through this series is to share that love with others, and to encourage and challenge each true believer to be a vital part of a living and functional church.  We need to love the church, be encouraged and encourage others in obeying Christ and ensuring that our local bodies are what He wants them to be, and be challenged and challenge others in that pursuit.  

Are you part of a living and functional church body?  I'd love to hear about it in the comments or via the contact widget in the sidebar!  Are you blessed with heart-friends...those iron sharpens iron friends?  Tell me about them! 

Or are you struggling in these areas?  Praying for deep heart friendships, seeking a true Bible-teaching church family?  I'd love to pray for and with you.  Please leave a comment or message me through the contact me form. 

Need some encouragement or perhaps a bit of a challenge in this area?  Sign up for our email list or follow me through any or all of the social media links below so you don't miss any of this series.

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Welcome to Ponderings of an Elect Exile!  Whether you are new here or a faithful friend and regular reader, I'm glad you're here!  If you aren't already following, I'd love to have you join us for the 2014 Ponderings.  It's easy to do, in a variety of ways!  You can follow via  Facebook, Twitter, and/or Pinterest, or  find me on Instagram as Jenbh68. You can also sign up in the sidebar to receive new posts by email. 

 

{Pew Ponderings} Unexpected Friends

There is just a bit of irony in the fact that as I write a blog series on the church, I've missed more church in the last six weeks than I've missed since our three girls had the chicken pox several years ago. (They succumbed consecutively, rather than concurrently, so that we had someone with the pox for seven weeks straight.  Not the best fall ever. ;-))

However, I'm pressing on with the series, and praying that this season, as those crazy weeks of chicken pox, will also pass.  If anything, missing as much as I've had to recently has made me realize even more the importance of the church.  It's hard when we miss! 

(Author's Note: This is another post that has been sitting in draft for a month or so. :) We've actually made it to church as a family for most of the last month. Yay!  Again a bit of irony...I was home again this morning after waking up with a horribly sick headache. I've finally had enough Excedrin that I can do something other than sit with my head in my hands, and I'm looking forward to getting back to church tonight!) 

In Placing Ourselves Deeply, we stopped in the middle of chapter 1 of Anne Ortlund's Love Me With Tough Love.  As I pick up there now, the first thing I see are these underlined words:

We need to learn to love!

Yes! We do!  I do!

I tend to feel as though this is something I'm pretty good at, and then I am hit with reminders of how far, far, far I have to go in this area. 

I can definitely say with Anne, however, "Thank you, Lord! You have made me rich in friends.  They're friends who know me well--my sins and failures, too--and they still love me."

She goes on to pray for her readers to be given the tools to forge this kind of Christian friendships, the kind that make us courageous to live for Him as we could never otherwise do.

Then she talks about Paul, a writer and traveler who "could easily have been a loner".  She points out that in spite of this, Paul "made his way deeply into the lives of many other believers."  He talks about some of them by name in his epistles. 

Paul talks about all kinds of people, and it is obvious that he was deeply involved with them.  He knows their strengths and weaknesses, and he talks about his great love for them. 

Although I know from other writings that Anne and her husband Ray put a priority on family time, they also felt strongly that serving the Lord in front of and alongside their children was a vital part of raising them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.  Anne tells of her encouragement to a young wife who was hesitant about her husband being involved in a certain area of church work.  Anne said, "Let your husband go....let him plunge into all the church life he wants to.  His heart may need it.  Encourage lots of exposure to godly people.  He'll be a far better husband and father as a result!"

(She is careful to say here that she couldn't have said that if their church wasn't "living and functional"-- being in the right church is crucial here. )

The input of our brothers and sisters in Christ should make us better spouses and parents.  It shouldn't take away anything from our families, but should add richly to them.

"The miracle of the church! Who can explain it?  We need all the relationships God will give us.  Each believer represents a different facet of Jesus Christ, and as we are baptized into a life of fellowship in the Spirit, we are plunged into Christ Himself.  Doctrinally, we are baptized into Christ at the moment of our conversion.  Experientially, you might say that we are 'baptized' into Christ as we are daily immersed in our fellow believers."

Years ago, I was exposed to some teaching that I unfortunately didn't check carefully against Scripture.  It was teaching that elevated the family to a place far above the church, and which encouraged a type of isolationism for families within the church.  It discouraged close relationships within the church with those who weren't "like-minded" in even minor areas. 

God has done much in my life to show me how wrong (and even dangerous) that teaching was.  I still believe strongly that parents have ultimate authority and responsibility for their own children.  I still believe strongly that a measure of sheltering, especially in the early years, is important.  I still believe that our very closest relationships should and will of necessity be with people who have very similar standards and beliefs.

However, God has blessed us tremendously with relationships  with those in the church with whom we agree on the "majors" (salvation and major points of doctrine), but from whom we may be worlds apart in other ways.  He has filled the gaps in our ever-shrinking extended family with people who have become very precious to us over the years....people who in earlier years I would kept at a distance. 

What blessings we would have missed if I had! 

He has also blessed us abundantly with people who've become "unexpected friends" in other ways.  People of different generations...older and younger...and people from all different walks of life have entered our lives and hearts in amazing ways. 

What blessings we would have missed without those unexpected friendships! 

How have you seen God work through unexpected friendships within the church?  How have you seen God make you a better spouse or parent through relationships and service within the church? I'd love to hear in the comments! 

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If a post or posts on Ponderings of an Elect Exile has been a blessing to you, would you do me a huge favor?  Please share the link to Ponderings with your friends using the social media share buttons below or the "pin it" button above.  Thank you!  

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Welcome to Ponderings of an Elect Exile!  Whether you are new here or a faithful friend and regular reader, I'm glad you're here!  If you aren't already following, I'd love to have you join us for the 2014 Ponderings.  It's easy to do, in a variety of ways!  You can follow via  Facebook, Twitter, and/or Pinterest, or  find me on Instagram as Jenbh68. You can also sign up in the sidebar to receive new posts by email. 

I LIke to Go to Church! {Pew Ponderings}

"Do you know how exciting it is to be here this morning?"

Those were Bro. Gary's words just before the sermon on a recent Sunday, and as he said them, I couldn't help but nod and smile.

I'd been excited all morning. It was the first Sunday, if I was calculating correctly, since June 1 that all six of us had actually made it to Sunday morning worship together. That's a highly unusual situation for us...an odd combination of illness, my mom having a minor accident, and our "big kids" needing to be at our "old church" one Sunday. 

Most of those weeks, I was among those absent.  My main goal for the weekend was to get to church all day Sunday myself, and for the entire family to make it as well. 

And we had.  And I was excited.

Bro. Gary wasn't referring it being exciting just to those of us who'd been out for a while, though. And he wasn't referring to what many would think of as an "exciting" church service.

We're a small church. We sing hymns with piano accompaniment. There is no smoke, no light show, no "entertainment".  We don't even have a choir (yet! :))  Our focus is on true worship, and the preaching of Truth from God's Word.

So where's the excitement, you may ask?

True worship, even in its simplest form, is exciting.  Hearing the truth of the Word preached and sung is, in and of itself, exciting.

Or it should be. 

That same morning, I had posted this quote from Paul David Tripp on Facebook:

Corporate worship is not meant to be a burdensome duty, but a gift from the God of grace who welcomes us to come to Him again and again.

The God of the Universe invites...commands...us to come into His presence and worship, together, in fellowship with other believers.

That's exciting!

The God of the Universe has given us a letter...His very own words to us...and charged preachers to preach and Christ-followers to listen.

That's exciting!

Many years ago, I learned a little song in preschool Sunday School..."I like to go to church. I like to go to church.  I like to learn of Jesus there, I like to go to church."  

And then "I like to go to church.  I like to go to church.  I like the happy songs we sing, I like to go to church."

And I have liked to go to church ever since. :) 

(And I just have to say...recently I saw on Facebook a photo of my 2-year-old class Sunday School teacher and my 3-year-old class Sunday School teacher doing mission work together in Romania!  These two dear ladies had such a huge impact on my learning to love church and God's Word, and now so many, many years later they are serving the Lord doing missions on the other side of the world!  What beautiful examples of a lifetime of faithful service. :))

I know you may be saying, "That's a sweet little song, but..."  I know, it's not always quite that simple.  Churches aren't perfect, and things get complicated.  But really and truly, I think in some ways, we just need to get back to that little song.  We need to decide that Christ loves the Church...His bride...and gave Himself for her....and we are going to love her, too.  

Because that's exciting. 

Do you like to go to church? Is it exciting to you to be in God's house? 

Please tell us about it in the comments!

If a post or posts on Ponderings of an Elect Exile has been a blessing to you, would you do me a huge favor?  Please share the link to Ponderings with your friends using the social media share buttons below or the "pin it" button above.  Thank you! 

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  Welcome to Ponderings of an Elect Exile!   Whether you are new here or a faithful friend and regular reader, I'm glad you're here!   If you aren't already following, I'd love to have you join us for the 2014 Ponderings.  It's easy to do, in a variety of ways!   You can follow via  Facebook, Twitter, and/or Pinterest, or  find me on Instagram as Jenbh68. You can also sign up in the sidebar to receive new posts by email.   

More on the Church...

In follow-up to last week's post about loving or hating the church, I thought this video was well worth sharing: 

David Powlison: Can I Grow in Holiness Without the Local Church? 

I'd love to hear your thoughts on his answer in the comments below! 

On Loving the Church...

Hate the Church?

It has long grieved me...very deeply...that "church" has become almost an ugly word in our culture. Several years ago, a local "church" put out signs all over our area that read, "Love God but Hate Church? So Do We!" It almost made me physically ill every time I saw one (which was every time I went anywhere...they were everywhere!)  

I wanted to scream...HOW do you love God and hate His church?? 

I'm sure I know where they were coming from. I know that there are people who have had bad experiences with churches. I know that there are organizations that call themselves churches that are not, in any way, shape, or form doing the work of Christ. I know that no church is perfect, and I know that sometimes people in the church who don't act like Christ followers can cause pain and confusion. 

I also know that I have been incredibly blessed to have been in good, solid, Bible-believing churches all my life. I know that in some areas those are few and far between, and I hurt for people who long for a true church family and have trouble finding one.  

But variances from one end of the spectrum to another aside, how can one possibly say they love God but hate His church?  

What is the Church?

The church, as we know, is not a building.  The church is not an organization.  The church is people...people who have been chosen by God according to His purpose and who have accepted His free gift of eternal life. The church is Christ followers who together make up the body of Christ, both globally (all Christians around the world) and locally (individual local groups of believers).  (For more information on the global church and the local church, listen to the Fundamentals of the Faith podcast linked below.) 

Aside from the fact that churches are made up of people, and therefore churches aren't perfect because people...even saved people...aren't perfect, there are two other things that factor in to problems in the church: 

First, there are organizations who call themselves "churches" that have nothing to do with the Biblical meaning of "church".  One example of this would be the notorious "Westboro Baptist Church".  There is nothing "Baptist" or "Church" about Westboro.  Just because an organization calls itself a church (and perhaps meets the legal definition of a church) does not mean it is a true Biblical church. 

Second, there are people within solid, Bible-teaching churches who are not true Christ-followers.  There are all kinds of statistics on this...in a quick web search I've seen anywhere from 50% to 90%, based on all sorts of  factors that may or may not be accurate.  However, the fact remains that whatever the percentage, there are people in the church who have walked an aisle and been listed on the church rolls who have never truly accepted Christ's gift of salvation.  The Bible itself tells us that there will be people in the church who profess to know Christ but don't.  

Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves. You will recognize them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? So, every healthy tree bears good fruit, but the diseased tree bears bad fruit. A healthy tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a diseased tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Thus you will recognize them by their fruits.Not everyone who says to me, "Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, "Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?" And then will I declare to them, "I never knew you;depart from me, you workers of lawlessness." ~ Matthew 7:15-23

So Why Love the Church?

Since the church is filled with sinners (and sometimes lost people), and there are people and organzations masquerading as churches that truly aren't, why love the church?  

Because Jesus does.  And we love Jesus.  The church is precious to Him; therefore, it should be precious to us. 

Josh Harris says," We love the church because we love the Savior who redeemed the church." (Josh's article "Wrong Reasons to Love the Church" points out why people often have trouble loving the church...because they are loving it for the wrong reasons.)

Christ's love for the church is pointed out as an example of the way men ought to love their wives:

Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her  to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word,  and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless. ~ Ephesians 5:25-27

He gave Himself up for the church, to make her holy, and He will present her to Himself as a radiant, perfect, holy church.  Those words indicate that the church is a treasure to Christ...and therefore, as His followers, it should be a treasure to us. 

Christ Himself established the church, and guaranteed that it will remain standing when all else falls:

And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. ~ Matthew 16:18

I love this video by David Platt!  He says: "A radical commitment to Christ inevitably results in a radical commitment to the church...There is no question that if we are surrendered to Christ, that will automatically mean that we are in love with the church and we want to be a part of it, joining together in churches that are spreading the good news of Christ to the ends of the earth."  

Here are some excellent resources on what the Bible says about the Church:

Fundamentals of the Faith: The Church ~ Podcast by our former pastor, Bro. Kent Sweatman.  This is long but excellent. 

The Church - A Display of God's Glory ~ Article by Mark Dever in SBC Life on displaying God's glory by being a Biblically sound church. 

Wrong Reasons to Love the Church ~ Article by Josh Harris on the wrong...and right...reasons to love the church (and how the wrong ones get us into trouble!)

And I really appreciated this short and simple but thought-provoking post by fellow Everything Launch Team member Julie Sanders: How Dirty Is This Word to You? 

Linking up with Better Mom Mondays...