Loving the church: {Day 21} Friday food for thought

Chuck Colson on the church (as quoted by Ted Kluck in Why We Love the Church):


...there's an organic connection between faith in Christ, and being part of a church.  The relationship is spelled out so beautifully in Ephesians 5.  Just as a husband and wife at the altar become one flesh, you meet Christ at the cross and leave as one with His church.


I've seen much of the world where people could not get together for worship, and I've seen how desperate they were for fellowship, and how desperate they are for teaching and learning.  Church isn't something to be endured, it's something to be entered into joyfully.  Maybe you don't like the sermons, or maybe the music bothered you one Sunday, but those things are trivial compared to the very act of committing yourself to being part of the body of Christ, and participating joyfully.


We live in a therapeutic age where everything is measured by how much I get out of it...we live in an era of rampant individualism.  So in a very individualistic culture, the whole idea of being part of a community is counter cultural.


It's easy to be down on the church, and it's easy to find its faults; but when you become a believer, you are the church. 


I've always resented the phrase, "Where do you go to church?"  I don't go to a church; I'm a member of a church.  You don't ask where somebody "goes" to a country club.  I'm not talking about where you're going, I'm talking about where you plant your flag and say, "This is where I'm a Christian."


What are your thoughts?  Reactions?

This is the 21st part in a series.  Go here to read the series from the beginning.  Go here to read over 700 other 31 Day series on all kinds of topics.