A Shelter of Faith: Walls of Community and the Roof of the Local Church (Part 3)
Welcome back to part three of our four-part series about building a shelter of faith! In part one, we explored the value of prayer as the blueprint for our shelter. In part two, we investigated the importance of the Bible as the foundattion of our faith. This week, we’ll dive into the importance of Christian community and the local church.
The Importance of Community
Some of the best examples of Christian community are seen in Acts. On the day of Pentecost (when the Holy Spirit manifested amongst the believers), the believers gathered together in prayer (Acts 2:1-4). When the Apostles were sent out to share the good news, they were often sent out together (Acts 13:2-4, 18:18). When a teacher mistakenly taught values that were inaccurate, Priscilla and Aquilla approached and lovingly corrected him together (Acts 18:26). More than that, this early community of believers lived life together (Acts 2:42-47). They are sharing meals, serving together, and making sacrifices for the broader community of believers.
As we build a shelter of faith, we need to have sturdy framing around us, bolted down to the foundation of the Word. By journeying through life with individuals grounded in the Scripture, we are fortifying our shelter with beams of truth. When we are feeling low in the valley, we need someone to point our eyes towards the mountaintops. When lies start to creep into our lives, we need spiritual 2x4s to recognize the lies and guide us towards the truth. Our family is surrounded by men and women who are securely rooted in the Word. As I write these words, I am struggling not to brag about the community God has given us. When the storm arose, I witnessed His body of believers surround us, protect us and provide for us. I saw His prayer warriors take up their battle gear and camp out around our family. I watched them pray on our behalf and serve like Jesus.
The Importance of the Local Church
A waterproof roof becomes immensely more valuable when the rain starts to pour. A solid roof won’t stop the rain from pouring, but it will keep the rain from saturating us. The local church is like the roof of our faith; the local church is held up by spiritual beams, who are bolted into the foundation of the Word. We see throughout Acts the example of the blossoming local church as the “home base” for local spiritual activity. We see the churches portrayed in Acts organizing missions, directing local outreach, encouraging community, praising God’s goodness and teaching biblical truth to the members. The same efforts are continued in modern day churches.
Our family has walked through tough seasons, and I can’t imagine what our family would look like without our local church. The cliché phrase “it takes a village to raise a child” is not only true of children, but of us. It takes a village to teach me how to walk in the footsteps of Jesus. It takes a village investing in my life to encourage me towards truth. When my life is broken, it takes a village to pick up the pieces. A local church provides opportunities to serve, worship, participate in local outreach, support global missions and to learn biblical truth.
What to Look for in a Local Church
As with the concept of reading our Bibles, the task of finding a godly church can be overwhelming. An oversimplified statement would be “just go to church,” but where does one go amongst all the options? When our family moved to Los Angeles a few years ago, we ran a Google search for a local church and found thousands of options. We ran the search again and added a filter by denomination, which brought the results down to a few hundred. We then started to tediously scan over the church websites, looking for statements of faith and assessing if the doctrine was in line with Scripture. With the advent of the digital age, many churches post their core beliefs and stances on foundational doctrine on their church website. When comparing church doctrines, we have used the Apostle’s Creed as a starting point. Many churches also post their most recent sermons, which is helpful to review before physically attending the church. After researching a list of local churches, start visiting a few churches! Pray that the Holy Spirit would guide your search and that He would provide wisdom in choosing the best fit.
Who to Look For
It can be easy to go through the motions of attending church without developing deep relationships. So where does one find godly friends in a sea of churchgoers? My personal recommendation is to look for the spiritual beams who are serving like Jesus. Throughout the years of serving in various capacities within the church, I have met so many godly brothers and sisters in Christ by serving together. This is where we have an opportunity to exercise our God-given gifts and talents for the church and find godly friends.
Whenever my husband picks out 2x4s for his next project, he turns the board from side to side to see if the wood is crooked, warped or cracked. When assembling the spiritual framework which will hold the weight of your shelter, look for individuals rooted in biblical truth. Hear me loud and clear: we are all broken and in desperate need of redemption. No one who walks on this earth is perfect or without sin (Romans 3:23). The key difference is how each one of us responds to that sin. Does our sin grieve us and point us back to God for forgiveness? Search for the people deeply chasing after Jesus and seeking to shed the sin that clings to us all.
Why Should I Go to Church?
As with reading the Bible, many of us know that we should go to church-- but why should we?
The last few verses of Exodus 17 detail a battle scene in which the Israelites fight the Amalekites. The Israelites were gifted with supernatural victory whenever Moses raised his hands. Whenever Moses lowered his hands, the Amalekites would gain the advantage. Moses eventually grew tired, so Aaron and Hur stepped in to physically support Moses. In verse 12, Aaron and Hur found a stone for Moses to sit on while they both physically held out his hands. What a beautiful picture of community! Have you experienced that scene in your life? I have. When my knees gave way and I couldn’t hold up my head, my metaphorical Aaron and Hur came to my aid. When I ran out of words to pray, our community held out my arms and prayed the words for me. When my knees started to shake and my faith was tested in the battle, our community sat me down on the foundational rock and surrounded me with the truth.
Perhaps it’s your turn to be an Aaron. Perhaps it’s your turn to be a Moses. Either way, the connection with a local church will plug you into a community of people.
Encouragement to Try Again
Friends, if you haven’t “tried church” in a while, could I encourage you to try again? Because “the church” is made up of sinful human beings, many walk away from the church with wounds from “church hurt.” To quote a beloved friend, don’t allow this broken world to steal your Jesus. You are His and He is yours. Throughout the gospels, Jesus refers to the church as His bride. When we say that we don’t want anything to do with the church, we’re saying we don’t want anything to do with Christ’s bride. Try again, friend. Try again.
Have you experienced a complicated past with the church or a group of friends? When the battle ensues, how have Aaron and Hur held up your arms? Or, how have you held up the arms of someone else?
Next time, we’ll close out our Shelter of Faith series investigating the interior design of the shelter: theology, service, and ministry!
