"Worth far more than we guessed"
Loving God by loving his church
This is the third installment in a series of posts about spiritual disciplines. Read the introduction here, installment 1 about prayer here, and installment 2 about reading scripture here.
To be completely honest, I’ve avoided writing this post because I feel a bit hypocritical.
Here’s the truth:
I was blessed to be raised in church. I was raised by a bivocational youth pastor and was in the building every time the doors were unlocked—and often when they weren’t.
That dedication continued through college. My parents moved me into my dorm at the University of Alabama on a long, exhausting, approximately 113° Saturday. The next morning—my first real day as an on-campus college freshman—I went to church. I was lucky to fall in love with a local body in Tuscaloosa and stay there as a member through all of my college years.
And then 2020 happened. The pandemic moved worship online in March, and then I moved back home in May. In July, Carson and I got married and moved to a new city yet again. In hindsight, the first six months or so of our marriage are a bit of a blur; the combination of the pandemic, my search for a job, and the challenges of navigating life as newlyweds pretty much consumed us.
For the next three years, we had many reasons that we hadn’t joined a church and weren’t attending in-person services anywhere regularly. But we knew that none of them were really good enough.
It embarrasses me to share this online. It’s not just that we felt guilty for sleeping in on Sundays—over time, we each individually and mutually began to feel the hole left by our lack of a local church family.
There were two primary challenges we faced while looking for a church home. First (and perhaps simplest to get past): We’re both pretty introverted, and the idea of walking into a church service or Sunday School class full of people we don’t know was anxiety-inducing. Second: We’re in a part of the country with a church on every street corner, contributing to a genuine paradox of choice—how could we possibly be sure we’re choosing the “right” church for us?
After many conversations, lots of prayer, and a few (but only a few!) awkward moments, we officially joined the local church we’d been visiting in August of this year.
I don’t share this because I think it’s a good idea to follow our example of waiting three years to commit to a church. My hope, though, is to provide some encouragement if you find yourself in a similar position. Gathering with other believers is an essential part of the Christian life, a spiritual discipline that shouldn’t be neglected. Read on to find out why it matters.
Acts 2:42-47
“And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. And awe came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles. And all who believed were together and had all things in common. And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need. And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts, praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved.”
You’ve probably heard this passage before, but here’s some context if you need a refresher: This short paragraph appends Acts 2, which is best known as the text that describes the event of Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit descended upon the first Christians. Peter then preached a sermon proclaiming Jesus’ victory over the grave, and 3,000 people were baptized.
The activities described in verses 42-47 are the natural reactions of these people who experienced the Holy Spirit descending like “tongues of fire.” Selflessness, generosity, unity, eagerness to learn, desire for fellowship; these things defined the early church, and though it looks far different today than it did 2,000 years ago, I’d argue that they still define the church today.
Why go?
So, what’s the use of getting up early on Sunday, putting on nice clothes, and heading down the road to sing and listen to a sermon—especially when you can watch it live online without even changing out of your PJs?
Better yet—why not just spend a little extra time reading your Bible and praying on Sunday morning? Doesn’t that do the trick?
Unfortunately for introverts everywhere, I’m afraid the answer to that last question is “no.” The reason: it’s missing on a fundamental ingredient of church, which is communion with other believers. That’s the common denominator between the activities described in Acts 2—they’re all dependent upon serving, teaching, and interacting with others.
In The Four Loves, C.S. Lewis describes the phenomenon of “Affection,” a fondness for others that’s not quite friendship, but deeper than mere acquaintance. He says the following:
“‘Dogs and cats should always be brought up together,’ said someone, ‘it broadens their minds so.’ Affection broadens ours; of all natural loves it is the most catholic (universal), the least finical, the broadest. The people with whom you are thrown together in the family, the college, the mess, the ship, the religious house, are from this point of view a wider circle than the friends, however numerous, whom you have made for yourself in the outer world. …In my experience it is Affection that creates this taste, teaching us first to notice, then to endure, then to smile at, then to enjoy, and finally to appreciate, the people who ‘happen to be there.’ Made for us? Thank God, no. They are themselves, odder than you could have believed and worth far more than we guessed.”
As usual, Lewis has hit on something far deeper here than is evidenced by his opening statement about dogs and cats. It’s the idea that you can grow to love (yes, truly love) people you know simply because your paths keep crossing.
Here’s why: every person is an image-bearer of God, created to reflect their perfect Creator. It’s obvious that we don’t always live up to that title—yet, we each carry it all the same.
You get to choose what church you attend and join, but you don’t get any say over anyone else’s opportunity to make the same decision. As Lewis points out, that’s a good thing! When you join a church, you gain a new family that you’re bonded to only by the values that made you each join that body to begin with.
Aside from that, anything is possible. You’ll find people of all ages, educational backgrounds, family situations, and occupations. There will be people you love and people who love you—people who challenge you to grow, people who test your patience, people who look up to you, people who you call late at night for advice, people who hurt your feelings, people who pray for you daily without ever telling you. It’s messy, it’s imperfect, but it’s the body of Christ, and you (with all of your talents and imperfections) get to participate in it.
When you make the decision to commit to a local body, you’re participating in worship that transcends the songs you’ll sing and the prayers you’ll pray—you’re committing to loving your brothers and sisters in Christ, locking arms with them to do the hard work of bringing God’s kingdom to earth.
That hard work looks like a lot of different things.
It’s preparing a meal for a family that’s lost a loved one.
It’s building a ramp for a widow who’s less mobile than she used to be.
It’s donating to local crisis centers and shelters to be the hands and feet of Jesus to the community’s most vulnerable.
It’s laying hands on a brother or sister to pray for physical healing.
It’s hosting a wedding shower or a baby shower to celebrate a young family.
It’s rejoicing together when a prodigal returns home.
At every milestone throughout my life, I have been blessed to be loved selflessly by Christ’s church. They have given me advice, rejoiced in my successes, comforted me in failure, corrected me in wrongdoing, and walked beside me through the banalities of everyday life. And they have done it all as faithful servants of Christ—never perfect, but always following his example and helping me learn to do the same.
Praise God for the blessing of his church.
A recommendation:
I’ve been fascinated by this recent series of podcasts from BibleProject that talks about the idea of dragons in the ancient Near East and how they show up in Biblical texts. Listen to the first pod here: