Commitment to the Church

The church universal includes believers worldwide, ranging from the suburban North American communities, comprised predominately of Christians, to the persecuted Middle Eastern residences, sparsely sprinkled with believers. The church is not a building, or even a place of worship, but rather "a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light" (1 Peter 2:9). But if the church is comprised of believers worldwide, rather than being an establishment with strictly defined membership, one might ask then, what is the purpose of such an institution and why should it authoritatively systematize a set of beliefs.

Good questions, indeed, but perhaps the average believer, living in the midst of Christian culture, does not ask such questions, but instead casually assumes that some incidental benefit might come from the institution, but certainly not perceive it as a crucial means of spiritual sustenance. But faith, I would argue, is not an incidental benefit, but rather an imperative means to an end; that is, that God might receive glory through its manifestation in us. "We ought always to thank God for you, brothers, and rightly so, because your faith is growing more and more, and the love every one of you has for each other is increasing" (2 Thessalonians 1:3). If growing in our faith were an accessible feat for us to accomplish on our own, then there would be no need to thank God. But Paul in this passage is clearly attributing growing in faith and love to the benevolence of the Lord, for which we are to be thankful, however insufficient our appreciation.

The purpose of the church, therefore, is to be the communal means by which God increases faith and amplifies love. We find no better example than in the roots of the apostles themselves:

"They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.... Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved" (Acts 2:42,46-47).

Teaching...fellowship...prayer...sharing lives... Are these not the very things God would have in store for us through the body of believers so that we might be encouraged!? Encouraged by joy, overflowing in thanksgiving, through the pursuit of a hope greater than ourselves! "And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us" (Romans 5:5).

If we were, indeed, competent enough in ourselves to invariably pursue such hope, then perhaps any notion of institutionalizing the church would seem causeless at best, but otherwise wasteful. But alas, man is not yet blameless, neither in thought nor action. Even the regenerate man, indwelt by the Holy Spirit, retains his defective flesh and must, therefore, "fight the good fight, holding on to faith and a good conscience" (1 Timothy 1:18-19). So perhaps the organization of doctrine, the appropriation of authority, or simply the practical imitation of scripture would serve well to equip us with the weapons of spiritual warfare and the promise of eternal victory.

Why, then, do we go to church only when the time is convenient, no other work remains, and a full previous night's rest is secured? If God would grant us the fervor of the persecuted believers abroad, who covet the opportunity to corporately worship, then we would see that surrendering ourselves to God through a commitment to the church is not a matter of sacrifice that may be inconvenient to our schedules, but alternately one of sustenance that is life-giving to our souls.

Admittedly, though, no church is perfect, and many are downright messy. People bring their selfish motivations and erroneously contrived suppositions into a group of similarly defective people, and sin is bound to occur. This is what causes divisions between churches, denominational arrogance, and spiritual apathy. Would this now be our excuse for trying to grow in our faith privately, apart from other believers; or is it just an opportunity to embrace a "tolerant" and "open-minded" congregation that proclaims a "different gospel—which is really no gospel at all" (Galatians 1:6-7)? Should we, then, abandon the notion that the benefits resulting from our commitment to the church far outweigh the inconveniences of "carrying each other's burdens" (Galatians 6:2)? Or in an attempt to avoid such a dilemma, should we simply continue to delicately shop for just the right church, no matter how long it takes, so that we might satisfy our comfort criteria rather than earnestly join others in their pursuit of holiness?

A Bible-believing, God-exalting body of believers, committed to faith and repentance, is all that is needed for any individual to grow in the church. This is, however, a tall order, and no church is capable on its own; only by the ordination of God may a congregation aspire to such an ideal. Sinful people lead churches; sinful people make up its membership; sinful people share the gospel of Jesus with nonbelievers so that the Holy Spirit might show them how the Father no longer sees them as sinful; the righteousness of Christ now covers them. "For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will" (Ephesians 1:4-5).

Thankfulness

The virtues of a believer should be many and varied. "Faith, hope and love" are among the chart-toppers, and being that "the greatest of these is love," we can understand that it is right and proper for the believer to pursue love not only as an inward trait of their personality, but also as an evidenced approach to the way they live (1 Corinthians 13:13). It's importance cannot be under-emphasized among believers, but especially to those outside the faith because "By this all men will know that you are [Jesus'] disciples, if you love one another" (John 13:35).

Perhaps there is, on the other hand, an altogether understated virtue among others for the Christian: thankfulness. Believers are commanded to be virtuous, whether it is by being loving, faithful, obedient, or humble, to name a few. But I believe thankfulness is too often merely assumed to be a part of the Christian's life rather than a trait worth pursuing, equally as much as others, if not more. Agreeably, it would seem to benefit all believers to be thankful, but should such an assumption be based on intuition or rather intention?

"And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him" (Colossians 3:17). Whether we are working at the office, sharing our faith, eating, or sleeping, we are commanded to do it with thanksgiving. And by pursuing a heart of thanksgiving, we will more assuredly avoid the temptations of sin and the licentiousness of the world. As addicts to our vices, we may find greater success in our sobriety were we to enthrall our attention with the pursuit of virtue rather than to arrest our minds by an avoidance of fault. Overwhelmed with thankfulness, therefore, for having been blessed with "every spiritual blessing in Christ" we can further pursue holiness and faith: "Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him, rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving" (Ephesians 1:3, Colossians 2:6-7).

The following example comes from Luke 17:11-19:

Ten men who had leprosy...called out in a loud voice, "Jesus, Master, have pity on us!" When he saw them, he said, "Go, show yourselves to the priests." And as they went, they were cleansed. One of them, when he saw he was healed, came back, praising God in a loud voice. He threw himself at Jesus' feet and thanked him—and he was a Samaritan. Jesus asked, "Were not all ten cleansed? Where are the other nine? Was no one found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?" Then he said to him, "Rise and go; your faith has made you well."

This former leper was aware of his uncleanliness, perpetually conscious of his state of exclusion from society. The Lord had enabled him to understand his need not only to be cleansed of his physical condition, but also to be made right with his Master. Upon being healed, the man, overcome with thankfulness, was driven back to his Lord so that he might bow down at the feet of Jesus and ever so profoundly utter the words "Thank you." It was in this act of faith, motivated through thanksgiving, that Jesus met the man's needs, healing him of his leprous state and, even more importantly, giving him a saving faith.

An actively growing faith in God, I would argue, is dependent on--or at the very least, co-existent with--an authentic practice of thanksgiving for the person of God and his continual provision. But, lest we fall into a works-based mode of sanctification, a wrong thinking that we might somehow muster enough thankfulness to grow ourselves in the Lord, we must duly note that thankfulness does not necessarily result in a closer walk with God. Faithful obedience is not manifest from our thankfulness alone, but rather through God's intervening grace, transforming our thankfulness into a closer walk with him. "But thanks be to God that, though you used to be slaves to sin, you wholeheartedly obeyed the form of teaching to which you were entrusted" (Romans 6:17). Rightly so, our thanks for our own obedience goes still to God alone.

Take for example the pharisee who, not recognizing his own sin, prayed aloud about himself inside the temple, thanking God that he was not like the other sinners, even particularly referencing a tax collector also present in the temple at the time (Luke 18:9-14). Although demonstrating a sort of thankfulness (however unaccompanied by faith), this pharisee did not see his need for the Lord; rather, the lowly tax collector saw his need for a saving God, and left that day equipped with thanksgiving in his heart--a gifted virtue that enables many to "worship God acceptably with reverence and awe, for our 'God is a consuming fire'" (Hebrews 12:28-29).