Purpose Driven Life: Day 17

A PLACE TO BELONG



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." [Rom 12:5].


RICK WARREN'S THOUGHTS:

We are created for community, fashioned for fellowship, and formed for a family, and none of us can fulfill God’s purposes by ourselves.

A church family identifies you as a genuine believer.

“By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” [John 13:35].

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. You are not the Body of Christ on your own. You need others to express that. Together, not separated, we are his Body.

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.

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.

God created the church to meet your five deepest needs:

i. A purpose to live for;
ii. People to live with;
iii. Principles to live by;
iv. A profession to live out; and
v. Power to live.

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.


D-MONK'S THOUGHTS:

Day 17 poses some challenges for D-Monk. As a very independent thinker, it is hard to consider life in a church as a key purpose for life and a key component of salvation. This is especially true when living in a culture that promotes rabid individualism. I have been conditioned to think of those things which set me apart, not to integrate myself into a larger community.

But it is clear that God has called his children to be part of the church and that the church has been called to be holy. To grow as a Christian and to grow closer to God, I am called to be part of a community of believers. This is where I will be tested and where I can grow.

And I DO believe that it is together that we as Christians form the body of Christ, not as individuals.

So I am challenged to become more involved in my church and to participate as a member, not as the independent personality that seems so comfortable to me.