How do I choose the right Church? How do I choose the right Church Community? What is the Church Community? Is my church community transforming lives?
I know you clicked onto this blog, because you may be interested in finding the church God wants you to attend or you want to know if your church is on the right path. What I would like for you to do is think of the word community. I’m serious! The church that you choose may very likely be based on its community. Some folks think that community is backyard picnics, well appointed living rooms with poured copy and open Bibles, caring for one another during sick times, A pasture that is engaged, or accountability groups. It seems that we each have our own idea of what a community is and how it functions.
The truth is none of our thoughts are really what community is. We are confused about what a community is primarily supposed to be in our lives. The goal of a community is to reveal Christ in us. A church community should never be about us or others. It should be about the transforming presence of Christ. It should be about all that we are and all that we do is Christ working in us. For example, do you remember the road to Emmaus. The story commences with today’s disciples. It was a Sunday, and Jesus had just been crucified and humiliated. The travelers on the road had their own ideas of what the new community would be like. They were waiting for Jesus to set up an earthly kingdom. They had the wrong idea about community and so do we most of the time. Another example to consider is the story of Abraham. Remember, when he left his home country and his fathers house. What did he think about his community? What kind of dreams did Joseph have when he was in the pit? What did Jonah picture as a church community and the belly of a fish?
Choosing my home church is a crucial choice. Do you need a church community willing to walk together and speak honestly. You need this church community to open up a space for Jesus to draw near. The essence of the Christian community is the presence of Jesus. So, who can be members of the church community? Anyone who has excepted Jesus Christ, because Jesus called us to be with him. The Christian community began with the invitation to be with God. A church community is not a place where we go to find friends. Relationships with each other should be on the back burner and a relationship that is life transforming should be focused on Jesus first. You do not choose a church by basing it on social status you make the priority to recognize and respond to the transforming presence of Christ.
The main goal of the church community is to come together to be in the presence of the Lord. hanging around the community of Christ does not make you a member. Believe me, consider Judas Iscariot. Judas was one of the 12. He was chosen and excepted by Christ, but in the end he betrayed Jesus. Perhaps, he chose to be around good righteous people, but his heart wasn’t in the right place; which, made him a non-member.
The next verse for us to consider is Romans 12:2. Paul was writing to the church in Rome and he said, do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. This transformation is primarily an intellectual process, but studying hard will not give us a transformation. Only multiple encounters with the living christ will give us transformations. A church and its community should be described as a place that’s concerned about identifying ways that we can engage in life transforming encounters with Jesus Christ. Paul says that this is a good and acceptable work of the Lord.
Finally Colossians 1:15 tells us that this transformation forming community already exists. The church that we are all looking for is in existence. We just need to find ways to open it up in our reality and live in it. We must realize that it is breathed in our lives by the Holy Spirit.
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