What does the church look like?

During my summers as a boy I spent time in a cabin on a lake. Often storms would blow in from the West and wreak havoc on our little motor boat. We kept it tied to a pole in the water but with each big storm, either the rope would come untethered or the pole itself would be pulled out of the sand and the boat would be tossed down the beach. My routine after such a storm was to get in our little rowboat and row off in search of the motor boat. When it comes to our relationship with God, we are often like that motor boat as we are tossed to and fro “by every wind of doctrine” as we search for truth and something to quench our discontentment. While we may easily be tossed about on our own, God provides a tether for us to remain secure upon the rock of Christ. That “tether” is the church.

So what does this church look like? When the Bible speaks of the church, it speaks of it in two different senses. It speaks of it as a whole - every one of God’s elect throughout the world and the age; and it speaks of it in a local, particular sense. We can’t see the universal aspect of the church. Theologians have thus labeled this “the invisible” church. But we can see it visibly expressed in the local church. As such we see it with Christ as its head, an organizational structure that orders and equips it, and the organism itself engaged in the work of ministry. Every member is important as every member is called to service. As the whole body of this organism works together, the body grows. Since God has provided this visible church as the means of maturing his people, it is absolutely critical that we connect ourselves to a local church.

 

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