The God-Life Blog: YOU MADE THEM UNCHURCHED

Many have sought a place where they would be accepted, a place they can call home, a community that would help them do and be better and that’s the church.

What does the church mean to you and are there certain qualifications to be a member of the church?

Some years ago, while on campus. I was talking with a friend, when he asked me, why does your fellowship welcome sinners? The question took me aback for a very long while but I’m glad my friend listened to what I had to say and I pray it blesses you also.

The church is a place where people come to experience fellowship, where the broken gets fixed, where salvation is gotten, where people get to meet the man on the cross.

When people come to church, they’re not looking for the rules and regulations that make up religion. They’re looking for God, they’re in search of love and that’s the greatest encounter ever – the encounter of God (love)!

The church is the body of Christ (with Christ being the head) and every part of this body is indispensable. One Christian cannot form the Church, the Church is a community of Christians (1 Corinthians 12:14-23).

One of God’s intentions for the church is that those who love and seek Him get to fellowship together, care for one another, uplift themselves, share each other experiences and be each other’s support system (1 Corinthians 12:25).

My friend had secluded himself from some other members of the church; he had judged them sinners, from the traits he could see. He counted himself a Christian deserving of being a member of the Church but not them.

That was absolutely a wrong perception of the Church; the church isn’t meant for “Perfect Christians”. You become a member of the Church when you allow Jesus Christ Lord over you (be the head of your life).

When you accept Christ’s supreme lordship, you’re then being transformed to become a perfect reflection of Him daily. The Christian’s growth is continuous. When you accept Christ, you don’t become like Him in one day but rather, you’re given the ability to become like Him. The shaping and conversion into His perfect image are dependent on you; and that beloved, is the essence of the Church, to help you become Christ-like in every ramification.

Just like Jesus did, you must learn how to rebuke sin and love sinners. It is possible to hate sin and still bring sinners to the light and the most effective way to do this is through love.

“We show the world Jesus, by walking in His love.”

Jesus told the Pharisees who when they saw him eating with the publicans and sinners asked His disciples, why does your master eat with such class of people?

He simply said; “they that are whole (perfect) need not a physician, but they that are sick. Matthew 9:11-12.” – Jesus didn’t come for the righteous, He came for the imperfect!

A very flawed ideology that has crippled the fellowship amongst brethren in the church is the belief that ‘I am better than the other’, the failure to acknowledge one’s own flaws and weaknesses! Lots of believers struggle with different factors and because of this flawed mentality; they deny the church its power to transform their lives.

We are meant to become better Christians by fellowshipping with other believers. The Church is the best place we can get all the assistance and help needed to be shaped like Christ.

There is no one who’s immune to temptation. When placed in a difficult situation, you and I are capable of any sin (1 Corinthians 10:12). God knows this! And that’s why He has assigned us, the responsibility of keeping each other on track.

The Church is a family far more important than your earthly family. It’s a family meant to be concerned about your spiritual growth, your life as a whole even! There’s no such thing as ‘minding one’s business’ in the body of Christ. When something is wrong with a member of the body, then something is wrong with the entire body (1 Corinthians 12:26). It is thus, the duty of all members to help that part get better. You don’t help that member by shying away from him/her or by driving him/her away with murmurs and insults neither do you help them by making them feel unchurched but by reaching out, praying for them and actually helping them out of that phase (Hebrews 3:13).

Beloved, don’t be like brother Diotrephes, who refused to welcome members and puts them out of the church (3 John 1:9-10). Rather, help them grow, don’t leave them hanging.

You don’t throw the dirty water in the bath with the baby? You remove the baby and throw the dirty water.

James 5:16 tells us to “Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed.” That’s exactly the essence of the church!

I beseech you to make the decision today, to be your brothers’ and sisters’ keeper, to correct them in love and to help them walk in the light of the Father.

And I pray that as you do that, the good lord continuously shapes you to become a perfect reflection of Him.

God bless you immensely!

Tsalla Emmanuel