We’ve heard the three hardest words in the English language are “I love you,” but for modern Christians it’s perhaps “that’s my church.” And the words are hard because we know longterm that may not be our church, that we may leave or they may leave us.
Disciples have baggage with churches, which is ironic in its own way. We have no hindrance to knowing God through the atonement (or forgiving work) of Jesus, but we have all sorts of roadblocks with local communities of faith.
My church, LifePoint, is going through a series on the church, and our co-lead pastor Kile is looking at four ways people relate to a local church (i.e. a church, that church, their church, my church). And this grid helps us see our view of the church is not everyone’s view, and the goal of every church is to build enough trust for men and women become part of it.
So how do you create belonging for those who feel they don’t belong? The Apostle Peter once told disillusioned believers who were being rejected from synagogue worship and service that they constituted a better temple and priesthood than the one they lost. 1 Peter 2:4-5 says:
“As you come to him, a living stone rejected by men but in the sight of God chosen and precious, you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.”
As we come to Jesus we become The Church and are built up. We don’t first come to a local church and see if this could be my church (which isn’t a bad idea), we first see we're already part of a spiritual house and royal priesthood. So how does this change finding “my church”?
It means rejection isn’t an anomaly but the experience of our King, and that church is in fact a place for rejects. It means that while rejection does not equate to godliness, it does lay the groundwork for finding our church home. How? Because it shows us a church is not about customer service or affinity but truth and the tangible love it manifests.
Jesus didn’t die for side-hugs but the message he proclaimed and sin he exposed and freedom he brought. When we walk in truth we shouldn’t be surprised if we experience rejection, even from churches and leaders who claim his name. In those moments we should understand most deeply Christ and the reactions of his brothers and sisters.
It was their spit he bore, their slander he endured and their death he experienced. And not just theirs, but ours. The crucifixion is the one event we can’t avoid because if we claim this Jesus we also claim our own ignorance and guilt. No one beats their chest at the foot of the cross for how they would never treat anyone like that church has treated them, they lament their role in the death of God’s son.
Christians are the only ones who are at fault for killing their own God, and the only ones who benefit from it. If we want the rejected “living stone” we must be open for rejection ourselves and offer love in its place. When looking for “my church” we need to see any church can be our church and that in Christ we are already living stones.
Take a chance and risk being built up together into a spiritual house with other wounded sinners and learn to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God, perhaps beginning with your own broken and precious heart.
