Tried With Fire

If I could leave you with one thought, it's this: Go. Go to church. Don't go for the coffee, the presentations, the music, or the amenities. Don't even go for the feelings you may or may not get when you go because, no offense, these feelings may or may not be trustworthy most of the time. Go for the gospel. Go for the preaching. Go to be near to God's Word. Go to church this Sunday and worship there in spirit and truth, be patient with your leaders, rejoice when the gospel is faithfully proclaimed, bear with those who hurt you, and give people the benefit of the doubt. While you are there, sing like you mean it, say hi to the teenager no one notices, welcome the blue hairs and the nose-ringed, volunteer for the nursery once in awhile. And yes, bring your fried chicken to the potluck like everyone else, invite a friend to church, take the new couple out for coffee, give to the Christmas offering, be thankful someone vacuumed the carpet, enjoy the Sundays that click for ...

The church is not an incidental part of God's plan. Jesus didn't invite people to join an antireligion, antidoctrine, anti-institutional bandwagon of love, harmony, and reintegration. To be sure, He showed people how to live But He also called them to repent, called them to faith, called them out of the world, and called them into the church. "Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things" (1 Cor. 13:7). If we truly love the church we will bear with her in her failings, endure her struggles, believe her to be the beloved bride of Christ, and hope for her final glorification. I still believe the church is the hope of the world - not because she gets it all right, but because she is a body with Christ for her Head. Why We Love the Church ~ Kevin DeYoung, Ted Kluck, Moody Press, page 226

Relationships are indispensable, but not enough. No matter what the teachers of tickling ears say, we do have rules to follow. Jesus didn't say if you love Me you'll feel close to Me. He said if you love Me, you'll keep My commandments. The church, as the gathering of those who love Jesus, should be pure, holy, loving, and true - both as an indication of our obedience and as a reflection of the character of God. That's why discipline has traditionally been a mark of the church. Discipline promotes the purity of the church and vindicates the honor of the Lord Jesus Christ. Yet how can there be discipline without a church? How can there be accountability if church is not in any way an institution with standards and dogma, but only a gathering of two or more Christians in the park? Christianity is not whatever we want it to be. It is, whether we like it or not, organized religion. And the church is what gives it its organization shape and definition. That's why people ...

I started reading Why We Love the Church on Friday. It has been a fascinating read, and I'm almost done. I had to force myself to stop reading last night so I could get some sleep. If you knew my spiritual history, a book subtitled In Praise of Institutions and Organized Religion would be the last book you would expect to find on my shelf. A book like Brethren, Hang Loose or Pilgrim Church would be more in keeping with my upbringing. I was taught that all organized religion, denominations, etc. were wrong. The church, as God wants it, is to be found outside of institutional Christianity. I was taught that the true expression of the church "went outside the camp", was free from "its Babylonian captivity", and other (probably) misused Biblical metaphors. I was taught that the torch of the testimony was passed down through history to those who did not succumb to the organized church. That's why it's almost hilarious (at least to me) that I'm readin...