The Blessing of the Local Church
Living in a post-COVID-19 world presents some interesting challenges. We are back together without restrictions, but we will also never be the same. In some ways we are all still getting back to normal, whatever that means. One of the many important decisions that needs to be made is whether and how we will be attending church.
If COVID has taught us anything, it’s that amazing preachers and amazing worship bands are readily available, at our fingertips, for us to consume, watch, and enjoy, from the comfort of our own homes. There are preachers out there who are dynamic, have great stories, and can keep our attention like no one else. There are worship bands that are Spirit-filled, musically gifted, and incredibly talented. In fact, when compared to our local churches, it can seem like our church is boring and bland by comparison. It begs the question, why go to our local church at all when we can have it so much better at home from the comfort of our pjs?
The spiritual is alive through the physical
When God created the world, he created the physical along with everything else. The physical creation is part of what He called “good” (Genesis 1:31). He had a relationship with Adam and Eve in the physical world, not in some ethereal plane of existence. Later in history, after choosing a people for Himself, He sought to live among His people through a physical manifestation of His presence, first through the Tabernacle, and then later through the Temple in Jerusalem. All of those modalities were pointing back to the perfect, intimate, in-person relationship God had with His people in the Garden of Eden before the Fall. In a much greater sense, God became flesh by sending His Son to be born of a virgin, into a broken, physical world, to redeem the lost from sin and grant to those who believe eternal life through His Son. God Himself came into the physical world as a physical being to redeem what was lost. In the end of time, although we don’t know exactly how things will look, we know that God will create a new heaven and a new earth, where we those who have trusted in Him will live eternally with Him, in a very real, physical space (Revelation 21:1-4).
The blueprint is regularly gathering together
Christ organized His church as a group of believers who regularly gather together in a physical place. On a much larger scale, all believers are called the bride of Christ, making up the body of Christ, the Church, for whom Christ died, but that body is made up of many, many local gatherings of local churches. We are called to be intimately involved in each other’s lives, so that we can encourage each other, rebuke each other, and sharpen each other in our journey of sanctification towards Christlikeness. This can only happen well as we are regularly gathering together in a physical place. While it may be convenient to sleep in a little extra, grab a cup of coffee just how we like it, and tune in (and out) of a message on a screen in our jammies, we are called into the messiness of relationships with broken people at our local church. Real life happens with real people in a real place, as God has called us to do.
A warning
The Bible is so relevant to our lives today! Maybe in part with the view to how COVID has affected our church attendance habits, Hebrews 10 addresses this whole issue with a warning. After calling believers to confidently draw close to God because of the blood of Christ, the author commends believers to live godly lives in a few specific ways:
“Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful. And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.” (Hebrews 10:23-25 ESV)
Growing up, I had always been one to attend church no matter what, unless I was sick. I knew it was important to attend church but maybe not why it was important. I readily admit that during COVID, my church attendance and participation (or at least paying attention to the livestream) fell off a cliff. I showed up but I wasn’t all there. After a while, sleeping in or being on my phone seemed a lot more appealing than awkwardly singing along to a screen and following along a message from my couch. But as I began to prioritize my local church less, my relationship with God suffered. I wasn’t living into what God had called me to as a believer. Eventually, I felt convicted by passages like the one above, in Hebrews, and I not only started going to church again, but I started truly investing in my local body.
If you are struggling with going to church, whether, like me, it’s a bad habit that developed since COVID, or something else, consider the price Christ paid for His church. He shed His blood so that we might call the fellow sinner in the pew next to us “brother” and “sister.” Yes, church is messy, but that’s the very reason we are called into it. We are called to shine the light of Christ not only to people who are outside the church and don’t know Jesus yet, but also to our fellow believer who is sitting right next to us. We are called to sharpen one another, encourage one another, and to “press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 3:14 ESV) together. So join me and my family this weekend at Cornerstone as we live out Christ’s calling to live together in community as a local church.
I used material from Collin Hansen & Jonathan Leeman’s Rediscover Church for this blog post. It’s a good read and I would highly recommend it!