WHO NEEDS THE CHURCH?

That question was asked by some believers in Corinth, and the apostle Paul answered them in the 5th chapter of 1 Corinthians. While his response covers the whole chapter,  verses 14-17 could especially be written to the Church today and be just as relevant.  

“I do not write these things to shame you, but to admonish you as my beloved children. For if you were to have countless tutors in Christ, yet you would not have many fathers, for in Christ Jesus I became your father through the gospel. Therefore, I exhort you, be imitators of me.” (NASB) 

Never has the Church had more access to teachers than it does today. And, like the Corinthians, many believers seem to think relationships with spiritual “fathers” are not all that important. Church hopping and skipping have replaced faithful investment in the Church. Covid hasn’t helped, but we all know the trend has been increasing for some time. The song title “I Did It My Way” reflects many people’s approach to following Christ. We would do well to realize that the Proverbs that warn about following the ways that “seem right to a man” (16:25, 14:12) speak to believers and not just to those who reject the gospel outright. 

 

We know that mature spiritual formation only develops in committed relationships because that is where character and faith are tested and learned. (Ephesians 4:11-16) 

The passion to be free of Church commitments and spiritually-based relationships in many ways parallels the passion of youth to move out of the house and away from the constraints of parental authority. But like youths moving out, believers who depart from the Church eventually discover their “freedom” is also costly in many ways. 

If we prayerfully revisit passages of Scripture like this one perhaps we can help some people renew or develop a new relationship with the Church that will not only be to their benefit, but also to reaching people who do not know the Lord with the welcoming love and grace that a healthy church shares with the world. (John 17) 

What kind of extremist are you?

A couple quotes worth sharing and contemplating:

Amy Peikoff01/18/2021@AmyPeikoff 

"But though I was initially disappointed at being categorized as an extremist, as I continued to think about the matter, I gradually gained a measure of satisfaction from the label. Was not Jesus an extremist for love ... Was not Amos an extremist for justice: 'Let justice roll down like waters and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.' ... And John Bunyan: 'I will stay in jail to the end of my days before I make a butchery of my conscience.' And Abraham Lincoln: 'This nation cannot survive half slave and half free.' And Thomas Jefferson: 'We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal....' So, the question is not whether we will be extremists, but what kind of extremists we will be. Will we be extremists for hate or for love? Will we be extremists for preservation of injustice or for the extension of justice? In that dramatic scene on Calvary's hill three men...were [all] crucified for the same crime--the crime of extremism. Two were extremists for immorality, and thus fell below their environment. The other, Jesus Christ, was an extremist for love, truth, and goodness, and thereby rose above his environment. Perhaps the South, the nation, and the world are in dire need of creative extremists." 

-- Martin Luther King, Jr., "Letter from Birmingham Jail" 
 

Might this be the year that all of us, regardless of political belief, become extremists for freedom of expression and privacy? Wouldn’t that turn 2021 on its head? 

 

John Maxwell once said, “A leader is one who knows the way, goes the way, and shows the way.”