Be The Church

Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others.

WHAT IS A CHURCH? Most people in America associate the word church with a physical building. But when we turn through the pages of the New Testament, we find a very different picture of the church. Instead of a building, we see a body made up of people who share the life of Christ with each other on a day-by-day, week-by-week basis.

This is the pattern that was set by Jesus and his disciples from the beginning. Jesus loved these twelve men, served them, taught them, encouraged them, corrected them, and journeyed through life with them. He spent more time with these twelve disciples than he did with everyone else in his ministry put together. They walked together along lonely roads; they visited together in crowded cities; they sailed and fished together on the Sea of Galilee; they prayed together in the desert and on the mountains; and they worshiped together in the synagogues and at the Temple. During all this time together, Jesus taught them how to live and showed them how to love as he shared his life with them.

In the same way, the New Testament envisions followers of Jesus living alongside one another for the sake of one another. The Bible portrays the church as a community of Christians who care for one another, love one another, host one another, receive one another, honor one another, serve one another, instruct one another, forgive one another, motivate one another, build up one another, encourage one another, comfort one another, pray for one another, confess sin to one another, esteem one another, edify one another, teach one another, show kindness to one another, give to one another, rejoice with one another, weep with one another, hurt with one another, and restore one another.^a

All these “one anothers” combine to paint a picture of people who don’t just come to a building filled with customized programs, but who have decided to lay down their lives to love one another. Simply put, the church is a community of Christians who love one another and long for each other to know and grow in Christ.

Pray for the spiritual health of your church. Ask God to shape it by his Word and to use it for the spread of his gospel.