I love all the local churches, both small or large, where I have had the opportunity to worship and serve. Many believers in those churches were not only formative to my own growth in Christ, but they also displayed, in their own ways, the beauty of the gospel shown in and through the local church. My affection for two specific churches is particularly strong because I grew up in one and currently serve in the other.
The church where I grew up demonstrated an incredible amount of love towards me as I was converted, answered the call to ministry, and prepared to leave and train for ministry in college. The church I attend now has a deep love for unbelievers and is always ready to care for those who need help. Moreover, they care about the truth of Scripture and its faithful application to their everyday lives.
I work at Welch College, where we encourage students to participate in acts of Christian service throughout the week and to be involved in their local churches. Often, their service relates to a local non-profit or parachurch organization. Many are involved in after-school programs, English classes, and similar opportunities. My hope is that students (and readers) would not put these various outlets at odds by affirming a false dichotomy between their everyday practice as believers and their involvement in their local church.
All of us can (and should) demonstrate our Christian faith in our workplaces, in volunteer opportunities, in our families, and in every situation so we are salt and light in the places we inhabit (Matthew 5:13-16). Nor should we forsake the assembling of believers (Hebrews 10:25), where we worship and commune with brothers and sisters in Christ.
To be clear, I have a high view of the Christian’s involvement in culture. However, I want to offer a corrective. As Christians in the wider world, we should seek to bring about healing and hope for those affected by sin by using God’s gifting in the opportunities He provides. God calls us to participate in the spheres He has ordained, as Abraham Kuyper once put it. At the same time, Christians should be radically committed to their local churches, caring for and serving those with whom they covenant together. We should care deeply about those in the world and those in the church. For faithful Christians, the church plays a pivotal and necessary role in their lives. For that reason, I want to encourage readers to be about the task of cultivating churchmen and churchwomen.
The Importance of the Church
Regardless of your views on how Church relates to culture, we should all agree God is doing something unique in and through the universal and local church. Only in the local church do people covenant together as a body of believers to spur one another on toward righteous living; to join together corporately to worship the triune God in spirit and in truth and to hear others do the same through psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs; to be fed on the Lord’s Day by the preaching of His Word; and to participate in the sacred ordinances of baptism, the Lord’s Supper, and feet washing.
By being part of a church, we have the unique opportunity to glorify God, focus on the Word, be gifted and empowered by the Spirit, and covenant together. We confess our beliefs, commit to a singular mission, and look forward to our ecclesial future...together.
Put another way, the church provides and promotes things not available anywhere else. For Christians who seek to be faithful in their practice, they must rightly acknowledge the importance of the church. They must know the church offers not only opportunities for ministry but also a community of saints they cannot find anywhere else. Therefore, I encourage believers to recognize the importance of the church and seek fruitful participation.
Participating in the Church
If the church is important — and Scripture clearly states this — then believers must participate in their local church. Faithful participation is more than attendance on Sunday morning. It requires involvement in the many facets of church life. Christians should seek to worship together and to take opportunities to fellowship through Bible study groups and small group meetings. The local church member should give to missions and be involved in the evangelistic outreaches the church is seeking to facilitate.
I hope readers have a right understanding of the priority of participating in their local church. To be sure, God has called us to myriad vocations. Yet the local church garners much attention in the New Testament. Many New Testament letters were written not only to individuals but also to churches. Those written to individuals were eventually read in churches. And, of course, Christ died for the Church.
Another reason to make church participation a priority is the confidence we can have in our church work. We can be confident in our church work because of how it corresponds to our eschatological reality. Our current participation in our churches is, in many ways, a rehearsal for eternity. As we join in worship on Sundays, we are reminded we will sing in Heaven with every tribe, nation, and tongue: “Salvation to our God which sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb….Amen! Saying, Amen: Blessing, and glory, and wisdom, and thanksgiving, and honour, and power, and might, be unto our God for ever and ever. Amen” (Revelation 7:10, 12). Corporate worship — alongside other aspects of church life — is a formative exercise to prepare for our eschatological lives. Moreover, we will serve one another, in unity, as the covenant community bought by the blood of Christ.
Cultivation
Because the church is important and we want to encourage significant participation in the church, we must begin cultivating right sensibilities among Christians regarding their churches. We must cultivate “churchmen” or “churchwomen” — people known for regard for and participation in their churches. To be sure, this emphasis and participation requires cultivation — long, tedious work to help them care for and love the church in a manner that is consistent and right.
This cultivation certainly begins with recognizing the importance of the church and encouraging more participation. However, pastors, deacons, and ministry leaders bear the additional responsibility of creating a culture where loving the church is regarded as a beautiful, wonderful, and natural thing. We must communicate to our congregants through our speech and behavior that the church is Christ’s Bride, and she is profoundly beautiful. Moreover, let us cultivate a mindset that anticipates the coming gathering in the assembly of Heaven, made perfect by Christ, where we will worship Him together forevermore (Hebrews 12:21-24).
About the Writer: Tecumseh, Michigan, native Chris Talbot now resides in Gallatin, Tennessee, where he teaches at Welch College.
