Another view is that some churches today are in error and are not following God’s word but charismatic leaders, social and cultural trends. Your writer may have experienced one of these false churches and has reason to be hurt, angry, and disillusioned. I would encourage her that there are churches who have dedicated Christ followers who cherish Christ, His Word and love people.
I would encourage her not to give up, to Pray for those who are caught up in deception, and to pray for God’s guidance to find a good church. They are there.
Help this dear writer to Remember Elijah felt he was the only believer left but God assured him there were more.
Thanks for this piece and for the compassion and teachings you bring to us through it.
I'm going to give you a little pushback, as you bring up something (church membership) I've been thinking about lately. I think specifically about this part: "But one cannot study, know, and obey God's Word without being a part of the body of Christ. Nearly 5 dozen times in the Scriptures we are commanded to do life with 'one another' (the church). We can be in the Scriptures all we want. But if we aren't being with other believers (the church), we are being disobedient."
If we were to ground these arguments in Jesus's own words, I find there is little in His teachings that would point us to "disobedience" for not being part of a local church. The church as the community of believers (I believe this is the sense in Matthew 16:18) is another story, and we are all part of it when we profess our faith in Jesus. But I wouldn't go so far as calling out someone as lacking or insufficient in their faith for not being part of a local church.
What, then, of converts in places where another religion (or state-enforced lack of religion) is predominant? What of those Jesuit missionaries who traveled the world and lived in places where there was no local church? Are these converts and those missionaries disobedient as well (or lacking in some sense)?
I've been leaning, without ire or pain or hurtful experiences in my own church life (blessedly), toward the belief that we can care for "one another" in social life without necessarily being a member of a local church. Isn't church membership a wonderful complement to a faith-driven life—but not a requirement without which our church life is lacking? Can one really not establish a full Christian life through faith in Jesus, study of the Word, and faith-driven spiritual practices, even without local church membership?
I appreciate your post and where it comes from, even as I've given voice to these questions I've been pondering. Thanks for your insights here.
Another view is that some churches today are in error and are not following God’s word but charismatic leaders, social and cultural trends. Your writer may have experienced one of these false churches and has reason to be hurt, angry, and disillusioned. I would encourage her that there are churches who have dedicated Christ followers who cherish Christ, His Word and love people.
I would encourage her not to give up, to Pray for those who are caught up in deception, and to pray for God’s guidance to find a good church. They are there.
Help this dear writer to Remember Elijah felt he was the only believer left but God assured him there were more.
There are more!! 😊
So many distractions…..keeping your eyes/ my eyes on Jesus has become difficult. Thank heavens for prayer and Bible…
Thanks for this piece and for the compassion and teachings you bring to us through it.
I'm going to give you a little pushback, as you bring up something (church membership) I've been thinking about lately. I think specifically about this part: "But one cannot study, know, and obey God's Word without being a part of the body of Christ. Nearly 5 dozen times in the Scriptures we are commanded to do life with 'one another' (the church). We can be in the Scriptures all we want. But if we aren't being with other believers (the church), we are being disobedient."
If we were to ground these arguments in Jesus's own words, I find there is little in His teachings that would point us to "disobedience" for not being part of a local church. The church as the community of believers (I believe this is the sense in Matthew 16:18) is another story, and we are all part of it when we profess our faith in Jesus. But I wouldn't go so far as calling out someone as lacking or insufficient in their faith for not being part of a local church.
What, then, of converts in places where another religion (or state-enforced lack of religion) is predominant? What of those Jesuit missionaries who traveled the world and lived in places where there was no local church? Are these converts and those missionaries disobedient as well (or lacking in some sense)?
I've been leaning, without ire or pain or hurtful experiences in my own church life (blessedly), toward the belief that we can care for "one another" in social life without necessarily being a member of a local church. Isn't church membership a wonderful complement to a faith-driven life—but not a requirement without which our church life is lacking? Can one really not establish a full Christian life through faith in Jesus, study of the Word, and faith-driven spiritual practices, even without local church membership?
I appreciate your post and where it comes from, even as I've given voice to these questions I've been pondering. Thanks for your insights here.