Church is Where You Find It
.... As we drive to church each Sunday, most of us pass a dozen other churches along the way. So let’s think about what that means! Different churches exist because their teachings vary, yet most of those differences are fairly small. As long as our doctrine agrees on the vital subjects of Father, Son and Holy Spirit (and thus, between them, the doctrine of the Trinity,) faith, grace, and the gospel, our differences are not nearly enough to break fellowship over. We still have more than enough unity to recognize each other as part of the body of Christ, and to remain brethren and co-pilgrims in the kingdom of God..
.... Now let’s bring this understanding back to our opening thought. Does ‘church’ occur inside an official building, like the ones we pass on Sunday mornings, or does it simply appear when Christians come together? In truth, church can occur just as easily in the home, in the market, in the neighborhood or even in the work place. It emerges spontaneously whenever and where ever Christians meet. Therefore, in it’s truest sense, church is where you find it:
.... Now let’s bring this understanding back to our opening thought. Does ‘church’ occur inside an official building, like the ones we pass on Sunday mornings, or does it simply appear when Christians come together? In truth, church can occur just as easily in the home, in the market, in the neighborhood or even in the work place. It emerges spontaneously whenever and where ever Christians meet. Therefore, in it’s truest sense, church is where you find it:
.... "For where two or three are gathered together in My name, I am there in the midst of them."
(Matthew 18:20)
.... Based on this understanding, in each of my last three jobs, I’ve had a heart-to-heart talk with the other Christians who were there. We agreed to talk to each other about the Lord openly rather than privately, especially at breaks and at lunch, to openly show that we were Christians (Matthew 5:14-16). We would talk from a Christian perspective on any subject that might come up, and live out our beliefs with absolute sincerity. If others overheard us, we were always friendly, invited their comments, and tried to include them in our conversations. This cultivated a basic rapport which could lead to a gospel presentation:.... "By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another."
(John 13:35)
.... To the post-modern mind, this sort of community is an essential witness. Their minds have been poisoned against the faith through a perception of hypocricy, which has been amplified (often unfairly) through the bias of the popular media. So we must often build a bridge based on good fruits before we can earn a place for discussing the gospel with them. .
.... Sometimes, we will just have to be patient. But remember that not everyone you meet will be in this 'wait-and-see' category, so please don’t allow this exhortation lull you into a false complacency. Others will be ready to hear the gospel at once so we must always be alert, ‘in season and out of season’ for any opportunity that the Lord may bring our way (2 Timothy 4:2). Because at other times the opportunity to share will come in an instant, and completely unlooked for.
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Daily Bible Reading: Mark 16
posted by loren at 1:59 AM
4 Comments:
In the main posting I named six areas of vital doctrine, which must be held correctly. But where did I get those six areas from? That would be a posting in itself, but here’s a simplification. Through our faith, we relate to God (Father, Son and Holy Spirit) on the basis of the gospel, and He responds to us with His grace. This is a model of our essential, living walk with the Lord.
Our doctrine in the same six areas guides the living relationship itself. So a heresy in one of those six areas would lead to a broken fellowship with the Lord at some vital, integral point. Groups that call themselves Christian, but have unscriptural doctrines in one or more of those areas, are called ‘cults’. We’ll go into much greater depth in all of that, one day in the future.
By
loren, at 6/29/2005 2:13 AM
For the first three and a half months that I was a Christian, I stayed home and read the Bible on my own. I didn’t attend church until 11 months. Within that time lapses, I’d gotten a job a Texas Instruments.
Although I wasn’t going to church anywhere, I began talking to other Christians whom I worked with. I guess I became the spark plug, moving from one Christian to another, but it eventually brought us all together. We actually had a little church going on the assembly line. We led some other people to the Lord and brought some old, backslidden Christians back to a new commitment. It was one of the most rewarding things I’ve been a part of!
This was in 1979-1980, and I’ve done it again at other jobs since then, so I’m talking about a proven concept now.
Eventually I did start attending a church; but when I did, the ‘church’ at work continued as well. In effect, each of us had two churches now: the ‘official’ one on Sunday morning, and the ‘real’ one on Monday through Friday. In those days I did not yet know enough to put emphasis on our doctrinal differences, but neither did they. And you know what? Sometime the simpler model is a lot more correct, and it was certainly more fruitful.
By
loren, at 6/29/2005 2:15 AM
When I started the ‘church is where you find it’ program in other places I’ve worked, I’ve found it necessary to set a few ground rules with my fellow Christians. Not so much for our own sakes, but for the sakes of others. Because when you undertake something like this, you’ll find the adversary going berserk, in trying to torpedo your efforts.
The enemy likes to bring along someone who knows just enough about Christianity to be divisive. He’ll try to use this person to pit one Christian against another, based on their few doctrinal differences. So our primary ground rule is that it’s an okay start to agree to disagree, but we must also remain teachable. In such an event, it is our goal to take that disagreement back to Jesus, and look for the testimony of Jesus on that subject. By this, we will come to the unity of the faith (Eph 4:13).
This way also, when the devil uses an unsaved person to bring up an area of division, he gets a healthy discussion on Jesus for his efforts.
By
loren, at 6/29/2005 2:16 AM
My best friend in the world (besides my wife) is a guy named Joe Landin, who is from Corpus Christi. One day Joe and I were out street witnessing, and someone asked us what church we went to. They were shocked to hear that we attended two different churches!
This actually turned into a great opportunity. “What has that got to do with anything?” we asked him. “Who said anything about churches? We’re hear to talk about the Lord!”
By
loren, at 6/29/2005 2:17 AM
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