Here is the church . . .
Perhaps you learned the following chant when you were a
child:
Here
is the church
Here
is the steeple
Open
the door
And
see all the people.
Let’s look at what exactly is church? The first definition cited by Merriam Webster
is a building that is used for public,
especially Christian worship. This
definition confines church to the four walls and contains it within a building. Today,
let’s challenge that definition of “church.”
If we continue reading Merriam Webster’s definitons of
church, we find church defined as a body or organization of religious
believers. Wait, so this means church
can be a group of people, not defined by the building in which they are housed? If that is true, then we could also conclude
that church doesn’t have to happen just on Sunday morning, ending at noon? Exactly!
As Christians, we should be looking for divine appointments
and ways to serve God each and every day.
This might mean praying for an unsaved neighbor or coworker. Daily. Weekly. Monthly. Until you see Holy Spirit moving in their
lives. This might mean moving out of
your comfort zone and serving meals to homeless people instead of hosting a
dinner party or having dinner out with your friends. This might mean serving at a food pantry
instead of going out to a play or a movie.
This might mean volunteering time at a clothing ministry instead of
spending time shopping. This might mean visitng someone who is sick or dying
instead of playing video games or watching television.
Matthew 25:40:
"The
King will reply, 'Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of
these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.”
Church should be something we strive to see in our
lives. Daily. So as you move through this week, I challenge
you to find an oppportunity to have church in your life each and every day. Maybe if we rewrote the children’s rhyme, it
could be written something like this:
I
am the church
Sent
from above
To
serve God’s children daily
And
show them His love.
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