Christ and the Church

I can't seem to wrap my arms around what it takes to have a quality prayer time. I even struggle sometimes to be consistent with what we as Christians refer to as a “quiet time.” In all honesty I even feel a little awkward at times when I try to communicate that God has “spoken to me” as some believers are able to do, as if He is someone they go on walks with, play golf with, or just call on the telephone. With that said, the most meaningful part of my Christian life is the intimate relationship that I have with God through the life and movement of a consistent commitment to the church.

I firmly believe that when we, as believers, are found to be sold-out to the church we become closer to reflecting the heartbeat of what is the “love of Christ.” This truth has certainly hit home with me recently as I have entered into a season of my life where upon moving to New York I am getting to know a new body of believers and establishing for me a new church home. I am working to show grace and give priority in my life to people that I am still getting to know. To me it is certainly not just another gathering of people in a room. It is the church – A body of believers gathered together to be the church.

As we, the Gallery Church, learned during our recent sermon series, “The Bride of Christ,” Christ and the church are so vitaly interwoven with each other. So much so, that when you closely look at the Bible and see Christ, you cannot do so without recognizing His love and sacrificial commitment to the life of the church. We looked at the powerful words contained in Ephesians 5 and saw Christ and the church sitting there right in the middle of verses often used for marriage and relationships. We see that Christ “loved the church and gave himself up for her, so that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish” (25-27). Did you catch that? He’s not just talking about doing some nice things for the church, or even trying His best to make the church look beautiful. Paul is actually saying that Christ is giving up his LIFE for the church! The question then becomes, “If I’m to be like Christ, in what significant ways do I really need to sacrifice for the sake of the church?”

I’ll admit it is tough to commit to the church in our culture where so many people are “finding God” or “spirituality” without ever finding the church. People are assuming the church is just another man-made institution that should be put securely back on the shelves with other relics. However, we as Christians need to follow Christ's example and give to the church as if we were giving our lives. And who knows, if we do this consistently we may then be able to one day speak about God speaking to us in a way as if we just got done playing golf with him. And maybe our “quiet times” will become more consistent and our prayer life would improve. Whatever our indivual situation may be, we as believers need to be found as ones that have committed to wrapping our arms around what Christ died for – the church.

Pray that God would strengthen your and my commitment to the local church today !