Day17: A Place to Belong

 A Place to Belong

You are members of God’s very own family,

citizens of God’s country, and you belong in

God’s household with every other Christian.

Ephesians 2:19b (LB) 

God’s family is the church of the living God,

the pillar and foundation of the truth.

1 Timothy 3:15b (GWT)

You are called to belong, not just believe.

Even in the perfect, sinless environment of Eden, God said, “It

is not good for man to be alone.” 1 We are created for community,

fashioned for fellowship, and formed for a family, and none of us

can fulfill God’s purposes by ourselves.

The Bible knows nothing of solitary saints or spiritual hermits

isolated from other believers and deprived of fellowship. The

Bible says we are put together, joined together, built together,

members together, heirs together, fitted together, and held together

and will be caught up together.2 You’re not on your own anymore.

While your relationship to Christ is personal, God never

intends it to be private. In God’s family you are connected to

every other believer, and we will belong to each other for eternity.

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The Bible says, “In Christ we who are many form one body, and

each member belongs to all the others.” 3

Following Christ includes belonging, not just believing. We are

members of his Body—the church. C. S. Lewis noted that the

word membership is of Christian origin, but the world has emptied

it of its original meaning. Stores offer discounts to “members,”

and advertisers use member names to create mailing lists. In

churches, membership is often reduced to simply adding your

name to a roll, with no requirements or expectations.

To Paul, being a “member” of the church meant being a vital

organ of a living body, an indispensable, interconnected part of

the Body of Christ.4 We need to recover and practice the biblical

meaning of membership. The church is a body, not a building; an

organism, not an organization.

For the organs of your body to fulfill their purpose, they must

be connected to your body. The same is true for you as a part 

of Christ’s Body. You were created for a specific role, but you

will miss this second purpose of your life if you’re not attached

to a living, local church. You discover your role in life through

your relationships with others. The Bible tells us, “Each part

gets its meaning from the body as a whole, not the other way

around. The body we’re talking about is Christ’s body of chosen

people. Each of us finds our meaning and function as a part of his

body. But as a chopped-off finger or

cut-off toe we wouldn’t amount to

much, would we?” 5

If an organ is somehow severed

from its body, it will shrivel and die.

It cannot exist on its own, and

neither can you. Disconnected and

cut off from the lifeblood of a local

body, your spiritual life will wither and eventually cease to exist.6

This is why the first symptom of spiritual decline is usually

inconsistent attendance at worship services and other gatherings

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We discover our role 

in life through our 

relationships with others.

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of believers. Whenever we become careless about fellowship,

everything else begins to slide, too.

Membership in the family of God is neither inconsequential nor

something to be casually ignored. The church is God’s agenda for

the world. Jesus said, “I will build my church, and all the powers of

hell will not conquer it.” 7 The church is indestructible and will

exist for eternity. It will outlive this universe, and so will your role

in it. The person who says, “I don’t need the church,” is either

arrogant or ignorant. The church is so significant that Jesus died

on the cross for it. “Christ loved the

church and gave his life for it.” 8

The Bible calls the church “the

bride of Christ” and “the body of

Christ.” 9 I can’t imagine saying to

Jesus, “I love you, but I dislike your

wife.” Or “I accept you, but I reject

your body.” But we do this

whenever we dismiss or demean or complain about the church.

Instead, God commands us to love the church as much as Jesus

does. The Bible says, “Love your spiritual family.” 10 Sadly, many

Christians use the church but don’t love it.

Your Local Fellowship

Except for a few important instances referring to all believers

throughout history, almost every time the word church is used in

the Bible it refers to a local, visible congregation. The New

Testament assumes membership in a local congregation. The only

Christians not members of a local fellowship were those under

church discipline who had been removed from the fellowship

because of gross public sin.11

The Bible says a Christian without a church home is like an

organ without a body, a sheep without a flock, or a child without

a family. It is an unnatural state. The Bible says, “You belong in

God’s household with every other Christian.” 12

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The church will outlive 

this universe, and so will 

your role in it.

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Today’s culture of independent individualism has created many

spiritual orphans—“bunny believers” who hop around from one

church to another without any identity, accountability, or

commitment. Many believe one can be a “good Christian”

without joining (or even attending) a local church, but God

would strongly disagree. The Bible offers many compelling

reasons for being committed and active in a local fellowship.

Why You Need a Church Family

A church family identifies you as a genuine believer. I can’t

claim to be following Christ if I’m not committed to any specific

group of disciples. Jesus said, “Your love for one another will prove

to the world that you are my disciples.” 13

When we come together in love as a church family from

different backgrounds, race, and social status, it is a powerful

witness to the world.14 You are not the Body of Christ on your

own. You need others to express that. Together, not separated, we

are his Body.15

A church family moves you out of self-centered isolation.

The local church is the classroom for learning how to get along in

God’s family. It is a lab for practicing unselfish, sympathetic love.

As a participating member you learn to care about others and

share the experiences of others: “If one part of the body suffers, all

the other parts suffer with it. Or if one part of our

body is honored, all the other parts share its honor.” 16

Only in regular contact with ordinary, imperfect

believers can we learn real fellowship and

experience the New Testament truth of being

connected and dependent on each other.17

Biblical fellowship is being as committed to each other as we

are to Jesus Christ. God expects us to give our lives for each

other. Many Christians who know John 3:16 are unaware of

1 John 3:16: “Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to

lay down our lives for our brothers.” 18 This is the kind of sacrificial

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DAY SEVENTEEN:

A PLACE 

TO BELONG

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love God expects you to show other believers—a willingness to

love them in the same way Jesus loves you.

A church family helps you develop spiritual muscle. You will

never grow to maturity just by attending worship services and

being a passive spectator. Only participation in the full life of a

local church builds spiritual muscle. The Bible says, “As each part

does its own special work, it helps the other parts grow, so that the

whole body is healthy and growing and full of love.” 19

Over fifty times in the New Testament the phrase “one

another” or “each other” is used. We are commanded to love

each other, pray for each other, encourage each other, admonish

each other, greet each other, serve each other, teach each other,

accept each other, honor each other, bear each other’s burdens,

forgive each other, submit to each other, be devoted to each

other, and many other mutual tasks. This is biblical

membership! These are your “family responsibilities” that God

expects you to fulfill through a local fellowship. Who are you

doing these with?

It may seem easier to be holy when no one else is around to

frustrate your preferences, but that is a false, untested holiness.

Isolation breeds deceitfulness; it is easy to fool ourselves into

thinking we are mature if there is no one to challenge us. Real

maturity shows up in relationships.

We need more than the Bible in order to grow; we need other

believers. We grow faster and stronger by learning from each

other and being accountable to each other. When others share

what God is teaching them, I learn and grow, too.

The Body of Christ needs you. God has a unique role for you

to play in his family. This is called your “ministry,” and God has

gifted you for this assignment: “A spiritual gift is given to each of

us as a means of helping the entire church.” 20

Your local fellowship is the place God designed for you to

discover, develop, and use your gifts. You may also have a wider

ministry, but that is in addition to your service in a local body.

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Jesus has not promised to build your ministry; he has promised to

build his church.

You will share in Christ’s mission in the world. When Jesus

walked the earth, God worked through the physical body of

Christ; today he uses his spiritual body. The church is God’s

instrument on earth. We are not just to model God’s love by

loving each other; we are to carry it together to the rest of the

world. This is an incredible privilege we have been given together.

As members of Christ’s body, we are his hands, his feet, his eyes,

and his heart. He works through us in the world. We each have a

contribution to make. Paul tells us, “He creates each of us by Christ

Jesus to join him in the work he does, the good work he has gotten

ready for us to do, work we had better be doing.” 21

A church family will help keep you from backsliding. None

of us are immune to temptation. Given the right situation, you

and I are capable of any sin.22 God knows this, so he has assigned

us as individuals the responsibility of keeping each other on track.

The Bible says, “Encourage one another daily . . . so that none of you

may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness.” 23 “Mind your own

business” is not a Christian phrase.

We are called and commanded to

be involved in each other’s lives. If

you know someone who is wavering

spiritually right now, it is your

responsibility to go after them and

bring them back into the

fellowship. James tells us, “If you

know people who have wandered off from God’s truth, don’t write

them off. Go after them. Get them back.” 24

A related benefit of a local church is that it also provides the

spiritual protection of godly leaders. God gives shepherd leaders

the responsibility to guard, protect, defend, and care for the

spiritual welfare of his flock.25 We are told, “Their work is to watch

over your souls, and they know they are accountable to God.” 26

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Jesus has not promised to build

your ministry; he has promised

to build his church.

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Satan loves detached believers, unplugged from the life of the

Body, isolated from God’s family, and unaccountable to spiritual

leaders, because he knows they are defenseless and powerless

against his tactics. 

It’s All in the Church

In my book The Purpose-Driven Church, I explain how being

part of a healthy church is essential to living a healthy life. I hope

you will read that book, too, because it will help you understand

how God designed his church specifically to help you

fulfill the five purposes he has for your life. He

created the church to meet your five deepest needs: a

purpose to live for, people to live with, principles to

live by, a profession to live out, and power to live

on. There is no other place on earth where you can

find all five of these benefits in one place. 

God’s purposes for his church are identical to his

five purposes for you. Worship helps you focus on God;

fellowship helps you face life’s problems; discipleship helps fortify

your faith; ministry helps find your talents; evangelism helps fulfill

your mission. There is nothing else on earth like the church! 

Your Choice

Whenever a child is born, he or she automatically becomes a

part of the universal family of human beings. But that child also

needs to become a member of a specific family to receive nurture

and care and grow up healthy and strong. The same is true

spiritually. When you were born again, you automatically became

a part of God’s universal family, but you also need to become a

member of a local expression of God’s family.

The difference between being a church attender and a church

member is commitment. Attenders are spectators from the sidelines;

members get involved in the ministry. Attenders are consumers;

members are contributors. Attenders want the benefits of a church

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without sharing the responsibility. They are like couples who want

to live together without committing to a marriage.

Why is it important to join a local church family? Because it

proves you are committed to your spiritual brothers and sisters in

reality, not just in theory. God wants you to love real people, not

ideal people. You can spend a lifetime searching for the perfect

church, but you will never find it. You are called to love imperfect

sinners, just as God does.

In Acts, the Christians in Jerusalem were very specific in their

commitment to each other. They were devoted to fellowship. The

Bible says, “They committed themselves to the teaching of the apostles,

the life together, the common meal, and the prayers.” 27 God expects

you to commit to the same things today.

The Christian life is more than just commitment to Christ; it

includes a commitment to other Christians. The Christians in

Macedonia understood this. Paul said, “First they gave themselves to

the Lord; and then, by God’s will, they gave themselves to us as well.” 28

Joining the membership of a local church is the natural next step

once you’ve become a child of God. You become a Christian by

committing yourself to Christ, but you become a church member

by committing yourself to a specific group of believers. The first

decision brings salvation; the second brings fellowship.

Day Seventeen

Thinking about My Purpose

Point to Ponder: I am called to belong, not just believe.

Verse to Remember: “In Christ we who are many form

one body, and each member belongs to all the others.” 

Romans 12:5 (NIV)

Question to Consider: Does my level of involvement

in my local church demonstrate that I love and am

committed to God’s family?

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