On How the Church Community Keeps You in Reality

Verses:

John 15:12-14: My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. You are my friends if you do what I command.

1 Peter 2:9-10: But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.

Hebrews 10:24-25: And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.

Matthew 4:16: the people living in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned.

Thoughts: 

This past year I have been immersed in the secular world through going to college. Growing up, I was homeschooled, and somewhat sheltered. But, being in college has shown me the way the world lives. It has highlighted how the church allows us to experience life that our current american world separates us from. 

The world does not have the community of the church, which inhibits the world from being grounded in the reality of where it is in life, and also allows it to not be faced with the reality of death. For example, one of my classmates had never been to a wedding, and from the sound of it quite a few others had not also. The world is also in many ways separated from children and the older generation. Many view children simply as just extra mouths to feed and many send them to public schools where they cannot interact with them. Regarding the older, the nursing homes take older people out of our lives. Since they don’t likely get much elderly interaction outside of family, nursing homes essentially remove their one source of the aged. The world also likely doesn't have the option to go to many funerals, or often hear about them. All in all, separation from the church cuts off the world from the facts of life, disconnecting many from the reality of their condition.

On the other hand, In the church, you are surrounded by the married or those aged in years of marriage, the young and old, life and death. This allows you to be grounded in reality and look at your life objectively.  

Take advantage of the fact that in the church, you are not only a peer, but also a student and a teacher. 

As a peer, encourage your friends. 

As a student, learn from those around you.

As a teacher, be mindful of those you are teaching and seek to show God’s light. Teach His truth.

The church blesses us with a community that is under God’s word every Sunday, and Lord-willing the majority of which are strong christians. 

Summary: Without the church, the world is isolated in its specific point in life and is not rooted in reality. It does not have easy access to the knowledge of the community, much less the true wisdom of God. For those who are in the church, we are able to more clearly connect with the reality of where we are in life and our own struggles. I beseech you to be active in the church. Be mindful even in the little interactions, like making a point to say “hello” on Sundays. God has blessed us with a community of godly believers.

Ask Yourself: What things do I maybe take for granted in the church? How can I show godly love to those around me? How can I encourage? What can I learn from those around me?