Wednesday, April 8, 2009

All Followers of Jesus Should Be In Church (Part 2)

In this post I'll be looking at the last two reasons why I believe all followers of Jesus should be a part of a church. I mentioned the first two reasons in Part 1. I'm sure there are more reasons that could be added, but these are just a few that I felt were important to mention.

#3 - We accomplish more TOGETHER than we do on our own

The momentum and horse-power generated by a healthy, active, living congregation can change things. When a collective group of Jesus followers put their focus and resources toward a cause, mountains can indeed be moved. We can do things as individuals that have a great impact on the Kingdom, but when we link arms with others and find our place on the team it is an UNSTOPPABLE FORCE! We have all been gifted to make the body of Christ complete for her mission. If you are not reporting for duty, it is like a baseball team with 8 players or a football team with 10. You could be the missing link that completes the team and allows for exponential impact to occur. The Church is a change agent and beacon of hope for a world in need. When the church functions and acts as it was created to, it is most magnetic movement that anyone can be a part of.

#4 - The Church is the only entity Jesus left behind

The church was Jesus' idea, not man's idea. Jesus is the one who encouraged our meeting together, sharing together, and meeting of needs for each other. It was Jesus who demonstrated and modeled community by living with the disciples during his three years of ministry. It was Jesus who declared that he would build his church and the gates of hell would not prevail against it. If the one who died for your sins and gave his life so that you would know grace, mercy, and forgiveness wanted you to meet with others who had found that same grace, why would you trust him for salvation, but not trust him when he commands you to do something? We are not called to a "Me and Jesus" mentality. It is and has always been a "We and Jesus" faith. We have personal decisions and choices as individuals we have to make, but our faith is practiced in community with others, geared toward extending the hand to those on the outside, while we grow and live life together on the inside. The church is Jesus' idea. If he thinks it is a good idea, who are we to question? How self-righteous are we if we think we know better for ourselves than the one who gave himself for us?

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