The Role of Church in a Believer’s Life (Part I)

Continued Series from “The Church…The Clash of Man’s Expectation & God’s Plan Series”

Is it important for a believer to be part of a local church?

Some believe that staying in relationship with other believers and having home gatherings is all you need as a Christian. They can even support their view by quoting Matthew 18:20 which states:

For where two or three are gathered together in My name, I am there in the midst of them.

This scripture is taken out of context many times. Some who have been disappointed by the church, quote the above scripture feeling justified in not going to church. If you look at the context of this scripture starting at Matthew 18:15, you’ll find that Jesus is speaking about mending relationships between brothers and sisters in Christ. He is telling us that we should go to our brother, work out our offenses, and make things right. If/when we do this, Jesus is pleased and present amongst us!

Sometimes people stop going to church because they have tried a few churches, and they haven’t been able to find one that meets their expectations. It is not easy to find strong churches that are willing to stand for the whole truth and be balanced in truth and in grace! That’s why we need to appreciate and value the ones who do a good job in those areas and pray for them.

Have you been praying for the local churches in your area? Ministry is not for the faint-hearted, and it can be very difficult. The various churches and their leaders need our prayers to hold them up for the great task before them. This could even change a believer’s heart towards the local churches, and the Lord can guide the individuals to the right church for them. In order to settle in a church, we also need to examine our expectation against the word of God and see if there is an adjustment necessary in our perspective.

Where did the early believers gather? What did they do when they gathered together?

And they continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers. Then fear came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were done through the apostles.  Now all who believed were together, and had all things in common, and sold their possessions and goods, and divided them among all, as anyone had need.

So continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they ate their food with gladness and simplicity of heart, praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved. Acts 2:42-47

The above scripture tells us that people gathered together at the temple and at homes! They received instruction in doctrine, broke bread, praised God, and had fellowship. These are all the elements of a healthy local church and a healthy believer’s life. When the early church did all those things, God was pleased and added to their numbers.

Some claim that in order to be ready for the upcoming persecution, we need to learn not to depend on the church or its members. The truth is that persecution will come, but the answer is not avoiding the church! This would be like a middle aged person saying. “When I am 90, I will be gumming my food, so I might as well start now and get ready for it!” That would be an absurd statement, and so is avoiding the church to get ready for persecution.  The key is learning the skill in navigating through church dynamics in such a way that we don’t get trapped by the bait of the enemy and keep our focus on Jesus!

I will continue with this subject in the next devotional.