Worship #3

How would you respond to people who said they had stopped going to church because they did not 'get anything much out of it anymore'?

The New Testament makes it very clear that the Christian life is all about a new, corporate identity as the people of God. People are not just saved on an individual basis, but to belong to God's heavenly assembly of the saints (see Revelation 5). The local church is a manifestation of this heavenly assembly. However imperfect local churches can be, if ultimately they are led by people who love Jesus, then they are part of this great global network.

The church is not a building, it is the people of God- therefore every believer IS the church and is part of it. And it thus follows that it is right for every believer to become involved with a local church- it is the natural conclusion to reach. When you get married, you live with your spouse. When you become a Christian, you become part of the church, so you make every effort to find a local church to belong to.

The New Testament speaks of the gathering of the people of God in many contexts (Acts 14:27, 1 Cor 5:4), and the church in assembly not only approaches God, but provides encouragement to its members (Carson). Eph 5:19 tells us to speak to one another with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. Col 3:16 says 'Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God.' It seems that an essential part of living as a Christian is to live as part of the wider Christian community. Faith is not a solo pursuit, but involves mutual encouragement and teaching and growing.

Whilst Christian worship happens throughout the week in a Christian's life (we are told in Romans 1:1 to offer our bodies as 'living sacrifices' to God and in Col 3:17 to do everything 'in the name of the Lord Jesus'), corporate worship is still important. It is in corporate worship that we pray together (1 Cor 14:16), Scripture is read and expounded in preaching (1 Tim 4:13). We sing together to praise God and encourage one another (Eph 5:19). We give money towards work of the gospel (2 Cor 9:11-15). We confess faith publically (1 Tim 6:12). The sacraments of baptism and the Lord's Supper are explicitly provided for. (Clowney)

Carson writes: 'Corporate meetings of the church, however much God is worshiped in them, have the collateral responsibility of educating, informing, and transforming the minds of those who attend, of training the people of God in righteousness, or expanding their horizons not only so that they better know God (and therefore better worship Him) but so that they better grasp the dimensions of the church that He has redeemed by the death of His Son (and therefore better worship Him)'.

Ashton helpfully summarises: 'The church service provides a special foretaste of the experience of heaven. In Heb 12:18-29, the way Christians experience the presence of God is contrasted with what the Israelites experienced at Mount Sinai. Significantly, it is a corporate experience. So when we come together, we can know God and relate to God and worship God in ways that we cannot do when we are alone.'

And finally Kent Hughes writes that 'Corporate worship is intended by God to inform and elevate a life of worship' and it 'regularly functions to intensify our consecration to service'.

It is very difficult to follow the teaching of the New Testament to continue as a Christian, to keep walking in God's ways, reaching out to non-believers around us and stand firm until the end if we are not part of a local church.

And how can the church fulfil its mission to make disciples of all nations (Mt 28) if Christians are not part of it?

Belonging to a church is so much more than just going for what you can get out of it. God has given each Christian particular gifts with which they can serve the church and get the gospel out to the local community.

So, to summarise:

You need the church, and the church needs you.

Is Christianity about being good? Part 2

Having established that we are saved by God's grace through Jesus, not by anything we do ourselves, it is important to look at the place of 'being good' in the life of a Christian.

After taking that step of faith to trust in Jesus, and giving your life over to Him, the way you live as a Christian is vitally important for yourself, for others and for God's glory.

When you become a Christian, you essentially undergo a complete transformation of identity. Before, you were a sinner, trapped in darkness. After, you are perfect in God's sight through Jesus, in the light. Before, you had no power to stop sinning. After, you now have the ability to say no to temptation, with the empowering of the Holy Spirit within you.

To become a Christian involves a realisation of how awful sin is. Believing the gospel message means believing that your sin is terrible and deserves God's judgement. Therefore it makes no sense for a Christian to go back to living life the way they want it, regardless of God. As Paul writes,

'Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it?' (Romans 6:1-2)

Peter argues that we should 'make every effort to add to your faith goodness... knowledge... self-control... perseverance... godliness' (2 Peter 1:5-6). These qualities prevent us from being 'ineffective and unproductive' in our knowledge of Jesus (2 Peter 1:8). This is a crucial point: if we as Christians carry on sinning without any repentance, we are not allowing God to change us, and we are being a very poor example to others of what being a Christian really means. How can you tell people that they need God's forgiveness if you're flouting His gift of grace by deliberately rebelling against His Word? The gospel message becomes 'ineffective' in us if we refuse to let it change every aspect of our lives. We can't just give God Sundays and then use the rest of the week however we want to.

The Christian life should revolve around giving God glory. He is not glorified when we live against Him. He is glorified when we praise Him for His grace in Jesus, and when we seek to live as Jesus did.

'This is how we know we are in Him: whoever claims to live in Him must walk as Jesus did.' (1 John 2:5-6)

Notice the first part of that verse. John's basically saying that anyone can say they're a Christian. The real proof is in how they actually live life. Christians will still mess up and struggle with sin and their 'old self' (Rom 6:6, Eph 4:22), but the key word there is 'struggle'. Someone who isn't a Christian will not 'struggle' with sin. They'll just do it, without caring what God thinks.

In the light of Jesus' imminent return, we should live 'holy and godly lives' (2 Pet 3:11) to be found 'spotless, blameless and at peace with Him' (2 Pet 3:14). Imagine the embarrassment of Jesus returning and finding you doing something you shouldn't be doing!

And the key to fighting sin is really in replacing it with godly pursuits. Jesus says we should 'abide' in Him and bear fruit (John 15), so we should be seeking to use our lives to get to know Him better by reading His Word, share the good news of the gospel with others, and serve Him in everything we do by doing it whole-heartedly and for His glory, not our own.