From last month’s article outlining the general points of discussion from Francis Chan’s work, Letters to the Church, we continue the analysis.
How then do we “retune”? What are the areas that we need to reconsider if we are to get back to place where God truly wants us as His Church? How are we to “rethink Church” and apply these truths so that they are not merely concepts but are put forth into actions that really make a difference?
Here then is a synopsis of what I have gleaned from Chan. This is what I believe God would have of us as His people to restore His Church to the place of rightful service and worship:
1. …We should commit purposefully to approach the worship of God in an attitude of sacredness and holiness and to treat the place of worship as a holy place.
2. …We should commit ourselves to proactively seek ways to serve and love others.
3. Because God sacrificially gave His only Son to be the means of our salvation (rf. Jn. 3:16), taking away our sin so that we could have entrance into God’s family (rf. Heb. 2:17; I Jn. 4:10), we should commit ourselves to resolutely give with a sacrificial and generous attitude of our time, finances, abilities and spiritual gifts for the benefit of Christ’s Church and His Gospel to reach the world, with the full understanding that the mission work of Jesus begins at the doors of our own church. Since being a part or member of the Body of Christ, His Church, should be understood as the greatest of privileges, we, as recipients of salvation by His grace, should, then, view His Church as a major priority in our lives. As a result, there would be a willingness on our part to do whatever was necessary to make sure the efforts of His kingdom, not only continued, but were successful, even to the point of sacrificing the things that, by comparison to the desires, wants and dreams of our own, seem pitifully miniscule.
4. Because God has revealed Himself to His people through the written Word (rf. II Tim. 3:16-17)as well as the Living Word, Jesus Christ (rf. Heb. 1:2), He desires for His people to seek after Him to know Him better and more deeply in a personal relationship (rf. Is. 1:18; Eph. 1:18-23); therefore, to that end, we should commit ourselves to devotedly be students of God’s Word as individuals and as a fellowship of believers. We should be seeking more opportunities to learn more about God and how to be better equipped to fulfill His will in our time, while finding grace and strength by His Spirit through more numerous expressions of our fellowship together, our time of Holy Communion with Him, and seeking His Face through concerted prayer.
5. Because God has covenanted with His people to be their God and they, His people (rf. Dt. 7:6; I Pet. 2:9) and to provide to them a new covenant with them in Jesus (rf. Jer. 31:33; Lk. 22:19-20), we should likewise desire to covenant with each other and with God to mutually uphold one another in this quest to fulfill our commitments as stated above. We should want our worship of and service to God to be pleasing to Him, our reflection of Christ to our community and world around us to be loving and accurate regarding of the teachings of Jesus in the way we act as His followers, and our love toward one another to always be authentic, open, truthful, peaceful and desiring the best for one another and for the cause of Christ.
If anything, our world needs a truthful depiction of Jesus. It is not getting this in what we are showing them by our corporate portrayal of His Church. We must get back to these basic truths as outlined above if we are going to be effective in the mission to which He has called us and His holy Bride and Body which He has called us to be. It is a high bar to attain, no doubt. However, by His Spirit as our resource, we will without question reach it. It simply remains to discover whether or not we have the will to take up the challenge and do it.
