What is church to you? Is church an obligation, a commitment, is it about religion? So many of us think of a church as a building we go to worship our Lord. God never intended for the church to be a building. The church is the people; every man, woman, and child who come together to grow in his word and worship him. His word tells us in Matthew 18:20 “For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them.”

 When you stand before God, he is not going to ask you what church you went to or what denomination you are. He is going to ask you what you did with Jesus, did you follow his law, share his word, and love one another.. So I ask you, do you understand what it means to BE THE CHURCH?  Have you ever experienced someone BEING A CHURCH?   It starts with loving GOD and sharing his love, his word and his way with others. The last two churches I have attended were really big churches, but I worked to make it my church home and family, to BE THE CHURCH.  I smile when I hear people say that the church is too big. Have you ever thought it might just be that your love for people is too small? If the people are BEING THE CHURCH ,they are following God’s instruction to spread his word and to love one another as Jesus loves us.  Big churches may present more challenges but it also presents  bigger opportunities  to serve our Lord.  I love the challenge of touching more and more lives and sharing God’s love with the multitudes. When people are being touched by the word and love by each other; they are BEING THE CHURCH.

Many times it is not the church you dislike. It is the cliques, the rigid and structured corporate mentality of the church. I have seen the enemy at work in church and I have been an enabler on more than one occasion. I have been hurt by rejection, felt unaccepted and even angry but that is not of CHRIST…that is the enemy placing distractions in my path. Satan does not want one more person “BEING THE CHURCH”. It is not one religious affiliation or one church this happens in…It is everywhere, because we are all flesh and blood and we all misstep or make mistakes, even our leaders. Our only protection against the enemy is the Armor of God. God gave us the belt of truth, the breastplate of righteousness, the helmet of salvation, feet prepared with the gospel of peace, the shield of faith, the sword of the spirit, and the power of prayer. God has provided us with everything we need to “BE THE CHURCH”.

One of my favorite stories about disappointment in a church was my granddaughter at the age of 10. After several years of attending a parochial school she was upset because of a policy in the Catholic Church. She wasn’t Catholic but she attended mass with her class every week. She loved the school, her friends, and she loved learning about Jesus, the bible and the biblical foundations, but she didn’t understand why she could never read the gospel out loud during mass.  She questioned this practice with the administration, the Father of the church, and even the Arch Diocese. She was told that it was the policy of the Catholic Church that you must be a practicing Catholic to read the gospel during mass. She clearly stated that she felt it was a bad policy because GOD’S  WORD was for all God’s people…not just the Catholics and that respectfully they should think about changing the policy.  At the very young age of 10 this young girl knew that it was about sharing GOD’s WORD ….not about one church or one religion.

As a new member to a church, I wanted to get involved, to start BEING THE CHURCH. It was not easy. I ran up against resistance, felt unaccepted, even rejection a few times and I would find myself complaining about the way I was being treated to my husband, my sister, and even to the Pastor of the church.  One day, during prayer, I realized that I was enabling Satan to take hold and use me. To disrupt my ability to serve the Lord, to discourage by growth in a closer relationship with God, even to the point of sometimes not want to go to church events.  Oh wow, I prayed hard…really hard. GOD make me a mighty servant, do not let me be distracted, dishearten, or discouraged by others, but let me LOVE them as you would have me love them.  So, I stopped trying so hard, I just pray over the church, the people, I smile, I serve when asked and sometimes even when I am not asked. If I feel GOD is calling me to do something in the church….I am obedient to GOD…not the building, not the staff, but to GOD because after all it is GOD’s house. Now, I really focus not on what is not being done or what is being done negatively, but on how I can love those involved, or what suggesting might I make for a positive outcome. God is much more forgiving and accepting than man.  But I told a person just the other day that I am going to love you more than you could possible hate me….His reply was “I don’t think so”…my reply was “do you know my GOD…he is POWERFUL.” And he was. After being absent from church for several weeks, that same man who was always negative and hatful to me, told me he was glad I was back and feeling better. God is in Control….we need to follow his lead.

If you are in a church who is BEING THE CHURCH, you will see GOD everywhere. In the smiling face, the helpful opening of a door, sliding over so someone can sit next to you, and offering of prayer to someone in need.  Today’s church seems in need of a refresher course on BEING THE CHURCH. Have you ever tried to sit down in a pew and had someone tell you that is their seat? Have you ever heard someone make negative remarks about another person in the church? Have you seen someone excluded from an activity?  Sure you have, because we are all human and we make mistakes.  Take a minute to ask yourself. What am I doing with JESUS?  Am I walking beside him, touching lives?  Do I have a compassionate and caring heart and does it show? Do I love on others and overlook the pitfalls? If you can’t say YES to these questions….then you need to take a good hard look at where the problem lays….and it lays within each and every one of us. Until we start being a CHRIST CENTERED CHURCH and loving as Christ does;  not segregating anyone because of what they look like, what they think, who they may or may not be, and we must stop thinking of the church as OUR CHURCH…the CHURCH is JESUS CHRIST and his followers.  We must be accepting with unfailing love, respectful of others. We need to make every follower know that he is important not only to JESUS but to us. We can’t BE THE CHURCH until we do. There is room for all…because with Christ there are no limits. All Things are possible with GOD.

Ephesians 6:10-13, 18

Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. For our struggles is not flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.

And pray the spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all of the Lord’s people.

Heavenly Father,

We just thank you for our relationship with you that allow us to ask for forgiveness, guidance and wisdom when we falter. We are not perfect and we make mistakes. We are humbled by the might of your love. We ask your protection against the negative thoughts that creep into my heart and mind. Lord, help us to never feel rejected, unaccepted or hurt by others actions but instead help us to love them as you love us. Guide us to be disciples of love. Lord, may you touch the hearts of our leaders helping them to lead with compassion and understanding and accepting love. Let there be unity and peace in every person who enters your house to worship and serve. We ask, you, Our Lord and Savior for healing of our hearts, protection and growth of our church body, strength to live as brother and sister in love and peace and guidance to Christ centered unity and wisdom to help us BE THE CHURCH.

 In the name of Jesus Christ……AMEN.