What Church Has Taught Me
I don’t think there has ever been a point in my life that I wasn’t a part of a church family. I honestly love attending a church service on a Sunday morning. It’s so uplifting and encouraging to see so many other people love and worship Jesus with you. Attending church has definitely been something I want to do, rather than something I have to. It’s become a part of me rather than another duty in my routine.
Recently, I’ve been really thinking about the influence church has had on my life, not just spiritually but emotionally and physically as well. It has molded and shaped my perspectives and views on myself, others and God. So I thought I would share some of the major things that have really shifted my thinking through my experiences at church, and hopefully it will help encourage you to really re-think the way you view church.
Church isn’t just what we do on a Sunday
For many of us we think that attending church service once a week is Church. Eventually it becomes like a routine; we fulfill a duty once a week, and that’s it, live our lives per usual, forgetting everything we have heard. Growing up, it used to be like that for me. I found church absolutely boring and mundane, I only went because my grandparents were the pastors and my family had to attend every Sunday. But it wasn’t till I really made a commitment to Christ, that I realized what church really was.
You see, church isn’t just what happens on a Sunday morning - it’s an everyday commitment and participation. In 1 Corinthians, Paul calls the Church, the body of Christ, and just like our own bodies it never stops working. He talks about the different parts we play in a church; each one being very important and diverse in its purpose (1 Corinthians 12).
Some of us may be worship leaders, some pastors, some involved in youth or kids ministry, some as ushers, some as cleaners, even those who come and just sit and enjoy a Sunday service have an important role.
Through the week, we need to be working on building and strengthening the Church, through prayer, through building relationships with each other and through attending other things such as ladies fellowships, or prayer meetings and connect groups.
The congregation of church members every Sunday is like a synchronization of the multiple parts to make sure that we are all on the same track heading towards the same goal- which is Jesus and His direction. Church is an everyday thing, because we are the church, and as long as we are awake and moving, so is the Church of Christ.
The Church is made up of people, and people are flawed
I’ll repeat that again… the Church is made up of people and people are flawed.The church is filled with a lot of hurting people, and just like our physical body, sometimes there is injury. I know a lot of people who have left ‘Church’ because of how they’ve been hurt by others. People have said and done things which more often than not have turned them away from God altogether. It’s so sad to think that people have turned away from God, not because of God’s faults (which He does not have) but other people’s.
Sometimes, we impose such high standards on people, whether they are our pastors and leaders or just other members of our congregation. We expect perfection from them, but when they make mistakes and fall short (as we all do), we just pack up and leave. Sometimes we forget that we are all people, despite our titles and our spiritual responsibilities. Romans 3:23 says:
“ For ALL have sinned, and fallen short of God’s standard”.
We ALL, have fallen short of God’s standard and we still keep falling day by day, regardless of our titles. That’s why there is grace and forgiveness. When we fell short of God’s standard, He extended grace towards us. He sent Jesus as a sacrifice for our sins; He forgave us despite the hurt that we bestowed upon Him- and trust me, we hurt God in a way worse than any other person could hurt us.
As the body of Christ, we are meant to reflect this constant outpouring of grace and forgiveness. Yes, sometimes we do need to leave certain ministries and church’s, and that’s okay, but as long as we are leaving for the right reasons, and continually extending grace, even when we have been hurt.
But we do always have to remember that the Church is full of hurting people who are flawed and imperfect in many ways- and so are you.
Church is about community
Once again, as I mentioned before, church is made up of people, and a natural human nature is for people to interact with one another. Like our human bodies, each system interacts with each other and is dependent on each other in order to function at 100% capacity. Likewise, we need each other, we need strong and healthy relationships with one another in order for us to soar through life.
We all go through issues in our daily lives, we all have problems that we need to talk through, and we all need connection, and within the Church is where we can find those people who we can do life with. Now, I’m not saying that you should go and tell everybody in the church your problems, or that everyone you talk to will be a help for you, remember what I said before about people being flawed. But establishing relationships and finding your people who are Godly and trustworthy happens in a church setting.
That’s why it’s so important to put yourself out there. Join that connect group, join that bible study, go out for coffee with some of the girls. I cannot stress how important it is. All of my closest and most trustworthy and faithful friends I met through church community and they constantly point me back to God and demonstrate God’s goodness and faithfulness.
Proverbs 27:17 says :
“As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens the other.’
Friends and community within a church setting is the perfect space to grow and be strengthened so that when the world throws everything it has as you, you have the backing of true and faithful brothers and sisters (as well as an Almighty God).
Church unusual is a good thing
Who said that a church service has to be done a certain way? Nowhere in the Bible does God say that we have to begin a service with worship, and then preaching. There is no set structure or way church is conducted. Each church community is different, each community has a heart for different areas and thus, each church’s focus is different.
If one church has service on a Saturday instead of a Sunday, then that’s totally fine - Jesus never said anything about the Sabbath being on a Sunday. If one church decides to have a whole service of just worship, then that’s totally okay too; the Holy Spirit still ministers with or without a sermon.
Going back to the idea of the Church being the body of Christ, a body has different parts and each part has a different focus.
Paul talks about this saying:
Suppose the foot says, “I am not a hand. So I don’t belong to the body.” By saying this, it cannot stop being part of the body. And suppose the ear says, “I am not an eye. So I don’t belong to the body.” By saying this, it cannot stop being part of the body. If the whole body were an eye, how could it hear? If the whole body were an ear, how could it smell? God has placed each part in the body just as he wanted it to be. If all the parts were the same, how could there be a body? As it is, there are many parts. But there is only one body.” -1 Corinthians 12:15-20 (NIRV).
Each member (church) does things differently, and we can’t compare to church’s to each other, it’s like comparing the eye to the ear, and that’s such an unfair comparison.
Being a part of a church family is the best and one of the most important things you can do as a Christian. The Church is there to help us grow and work together in unity in the pursuit of God’s heart and will in our lives. But we need to start taking our eyes and expectations off the church and onto God. Instead of pointing out the faults of the church or the people in it, we need to start asking the question
“What can I do to help?”
Over these years of church attending, my perspective has really shaped and changed. Church is not just something we do, but is something that we are a part of. Church’s are full of imperfect people, but they are designed and built upon the perfect God.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Hey, I'm Melodie. I'm a 20-something year old Aussie girl, who has an intense love for Jesus. I'm currently studying a Bachelor of Social Work , and working as a Child Care Educator. I love writing, singing and exploring local coffee shops with my friends. I have a secret love for all things Jane Austen and musical theatre!