Articles
The Church: Who Needs It?
Since before I can remember I’ve been closely associated with the church. I am now 73. I’m so thankful that my parents taught me to love and appreciate the church. The church was their life, and is mine as well.
While being actively involved in the church can sometimes be painfully difficult, I would hate to think what life would be without it. The positives far outweigh the negatives.
The longer I live, the more obvious it is to me that Christ knew what He was doing when He founded the church (Matthew 16:18).
Christ’s wisdom as seen in His church
Christ brings people together from a wide variety of backgrounds—economically, educationally, culturally, ethnically, etc. (Galatians 3:28; Ephesians 2:11-22). It’s good when we can learn to love and appreciate people we would otherwise never know. This broadens our horizons and reduces our prejudices.
Christ unifies in His church our various talents and resources to accomplish wonderful things for the good of many, both inside and outside the body of Christ (Acts 11:27-30; Galatians 6:10; 1 Peter 4:10).
Christ intends for us to be mentored by those with more understanding of Scripture and longer experience in dealing with hardships and temptations. We have so much we can learn from one another! (Acts 11:21-26)
Christ provides in the church the help and encouragement we can receive from and provide for one another. Life is hard, but the burden is eased by the mutual fellowship, prayers, hugs, and supportive words of our brothers and sisters in Christ (Galatians 5:13; 6:2; Ephesians 4:29).
So who needs the church?
I know I do.
Do those who think otherwise know what they’re missing?
