Love Your Church - Week 2 - Chapter 1 

CHAPTER 1 — BELONGING: A GOSPEL-CENTERED FAMILY

God has given us a need for community — and he has given us the place where that need is met: the church. Belonging to a church means investing your life in a gospel-centred community of believers who joyfully serve one another and advance Jesus’ mission together. The Bible knows nothing of “lone ranger” Christianity. Jesus “gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works” (Titus 2:14). The metaphors for the church — stones in a temple, members of a family, citizens of a kingdom, members of a body — all speak to membership and belonging. You are not an independent stone; you are fitted into a building. You are not an isolated organ; you are a member of a body. The metaphors resist individualism at every angle.

Four obstacles stand between us and this vision. Sensationalism draws Christians to the dramatic — huge conferences, the latest controversy — rather than the unglamorous work of local church life: caring for the elderly, restoring a wayward member, serving in childcare. These acts may not be sensational, but they would turn the world upside down if we began to live them out. Mysticism leads people to seek Jesus in private inner experiences, when in fact you encounter him most powerfully not in a desert perch but in a church pew. Idealism — the “wish dream” Dietrich Bonhoeffer warned against in Life Together — destroys community: “He who loves his dream of community more than the community itself becomes a destroyer of the latter.” Real life together involves highs and lows, frustration and struggle. And individualism keeps us in isolated lives, where we know many people but go deep with very few. John 2 John 12 says it plainly: “I would rather come to you and talk face to face, so that our joy may be complete.” There are limits to texts and video calls. Embodied presence cannot be substituted.

The church is imperfect but indispensable to faithful Christian discipleship. Consider the picture of a rock concert: thousands of people gathered together, having purchased expensive tickets, sharing an experience in physical presence rather than through a screen. Concerts can’t be fully replicated online. Neither can the church. Being present with one another — eating together, studying Scripture together, weeping and rejoicing together — is something God has designed for physical bodies. Locally, the church is a gift to extend Christ’s welcome, to gather corporately for worship, to share life together, and to live on mission. Globally, it is a gift to stand with brothers and sisters in Christ around the world. Pray for your church regularly — its people, its leaders, and the advancement of its mission.
 

Questions - BELONGING Read Ephesians 2 v 18 – 3 v 19

1.  What images does Paul use to describe the church in 2 v 18-22? What does he want us to see about the church’s identity?

2.  Paul’s mission is to preach to the Gentiles. What is his ultimate purpose, and the purpose of the church (3 v 1-13)?

3.  What does Paul pray for his readers (v 14-19)? Why do you think he includes the phrase “together with all the Lord’s holy people”—and how does that change your understanding of his prayer?

4.  In your church, what does it look like to commit and belong? How could you encourage one another to do this? What rewards do you hope to reap?

5.  What’s the danger in not belonging to a specific local congregation?

6.  What will you pray for your church, based on this passage?