Church and Fellowship

Last sunday, after the church sevice, my friends and I dined at the nearby fast food chain. One of my friends seemed to be bothered and so i unreluctantly asked him what is practically wrong and to my surprise, he dropped something i thought he would never ask.

Do you think going to church is that important in a life of a christian? My mom told me that my whole family are to be converted back and i think that will be a reason for me not to attend this church anymore. Do you think fellowship is still important? I am saved. isn’t that enough?

    And then there I was, dumbfounded. How could this friend ask such question. It was then i realized he’s been having this sort of dilemma regarding the concept of church and fellowship. I was honestly speechless. At that moment I knew the right words to say but i chose not to spill them out. I just listened to him and his insights. And at the end of the day, to my dismay i found that we share the same faith but treat it in  a different perspective. 

    Because of what happened, i browsed through the pages of the bible together with Little’s book hoping to find some of the answers. I was in dire need of proof that the church is as important as the faith. And then God gave me the way out by handing me .

21 Submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of God.
22 Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord.
23 For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church: and he is the saviour of the body.
24 Therefore as the church is subject unto Christ, so [let] the wives [be] to their own husbands in every thing.
25 Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it;

 -Ephesians 5: 21-25

    First of all we must understand the concept of the “church” and “fellowshiP”. The church as many people may use it may take the definition of a building , of a place, of a sacred sanctuary. In fact when you type ‘church’ in google and surf for possible pictures, here’s some of what you get:

But the real church is not an infrastructure. It is us, the christians, the believers who gather in His name to worship Him.

You see, God told us that whenever two or three are gathered in His name, He is in our midst. The church are the people. And it just apt for us to emphasize this difference so we may not take the concept of the church of christ to be something of material importance. God Himself talked about what the church is and how important it is to the lives of His children.

 First, the church is God’s body and He is the Head. You cannot imagine someone walking around without a head. The head directs all the body parts. Biologically speaking ,cephalization brings about the maturity when it comes to thinking and other nervous functions. God directs our ways and just as all our human body parts, we are subject to the commands and orders of the Head. We must obey.  You see, God just doesn’t want us to take the lead by ourselves but by letting us follow HIs great plans for us. All body parts, all members of the church are important. And God wouldn’t let anyone be hurt or suffer or fail for nothing. If one does, every body gets affected. As a chruch, We grow together. 

Second, the church is something that is built on a rock, that is a fatih built into something that is resistant to all possible trials and tribulations. In a parable Jesus said

Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock:
 And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock.

 -Matthew 7:24-25

As the church of Christ, he wants us to build our faith in a solid foundation. Who would want to build their own house without a foundation anyway?and this foundation is not as weak as the sand, nor the gravel but the rock. When things seem to fail and exhaustion sinks in in our everyday struggle, Jesus wants us to cling to Him. When the storms of life and winds of change try to bring out the best and worst out of us, we must be reminded that we have the strongest foundation, a solid rock which cannot be moved by any one or anything. If you want to make things lighter, try recalling the story of the three little pigs. When big bad wolf came and tried to destroy their houses, only the one in bricks stood still. That is also true in our Christian journey. No matter how many bad wolves may come to destroy, persecute or even deceive us, we shall not be moved for the church which is built upon a rock is so strong that  the gates of hell shall not prevail against it (Matt. 16:18 italics not included).

Third, the church is the bride of Christ. as the scriptures tell us in Ephesians 5, just like a wife submitted to her husband, as Christians we must also submit ourselves to Christ. The question now of whether or not the church and fellowhsip is necessary in one’s growth is addressed in this scripture. Logically and practically, when you marry someone, you will partake of all of his or her activities. You must always be involved and most importantly, you must and will see him almost every time. Nobody marries and decides to see his wife or husband a month or a year after or whenever he wants to. If you are really committed to that person, you will take time and do all your efforts to be with him or her. We are married to Christ, that is why we have to do all of these things.

Lastly, as Christians we are like coal in the fire. In the church, when all of us,coals, come together, we will maintain the fire . We will keep the fire burning just as we keep the passion for His word and our faith. Once any of us are separated, just us coals, the fire burns out and we are left cold and our spirits low. The church is the best place to refuel our faith, to keep our eyes fixed on Jesus. The church, which is basically the union of the believers is our oasis in the desert whenever we thirst , whenever we need refreshing.

I remember what Little said in his book. no christian is a lone wolf. Because once we get separated from the pack, once we go alone, just as a coal losing the fire,we will  feel the coldness growing in our hearts. This is why we need to go to church at least once a week and minggle with the church members. We need to establish an intimate connection to these people-brothers and sisters in Christ who will stay with us until we reach heaven.

He only [is] my rock and my salvation; [he is] my defence; I shall not be greatly moved.

-Psalm 62:2