This is a brief departure from the raising-a-family-in-Kenya series of blogs I have been writing, in order to talk about something that’s been on my heart a lot lately. You see, our neighborhood Bible study group has been studying 1 & 2 Corinthians, and we keep coming across all the divisions and apparent strife that seemed to be characteristic of that particular church in that time. Nevertheless, nearly 2 thousand years later, I see pretty much the same issues today. I guess the writer of Ecclesiastes knew what he was talking about when he said “There is nothing new under the sun”! We read articles that state that people (particularly young adults) are leaving the church in droves. The music is distasteful. Or, the prayers aren’t genuine. Or, the teaching is shallow. A common complaint is that Christians in church are hypocrites – they say one thing but do the opposite. People come to church hiding behind masks, and no one is truly honest with anyone. Unfortunately, these charges are very true! We see all these wrongs, and more, in the church (also called the Body of Christ). But, is leaving the answer?
In the realm of biology, when a soul leaves the physical body, it is called death. When there is a clear separation of soul and body, we would say that person is dead. So, what is it when a soul (read, person) leaves or is separated from the Body of Christ, to which that person was joined when he or she became a believing Christian? Would that not be a type of death? I’m not saying that person has ‘lost’ their salvation and would not make it to heaven upon their physical death. Not at all. But I believe that many Christians are behaving like the proverbial zombie…walking and talking, going through the motions of spiritual life, without truly experiencing the joy, peace, love that Jesus promises His people. They neglect nourishing their spirit, begin to feel discontent with this spiritual life, starving it through refusing the ‘food’ God designed for the Christian (His Word), through prayerlessness (“I’m too busy”), and through neglecting fellowship with God’s people. I believe this fellowship is far more essential to our spiritual health than many realize, because fellowship is more than singing some songs together and listening to an inspirational message. It is much more than having a good time together with others – going to potluck dinners or playing fun games. If we examine the Bible, we will find multiple verses about how being together helps us to:
- Avoid sin, hold each other accountable
- Learn how to love each other
- Encourage each other when down or struggling
- Help each other when life gets burdensome
- Help each other heal and grow emotionally, relationally & spiritually
- Correct each other when we go astray or our thinking is off
The list could go on. In short, the Body of Christ (read, the church) is the crucible in which we learn how to live this life in the best way possible. We were never designed to do this life alone (and this, coming from an introvert, who loves her solitude!).
We didn’t get to choose the physical body we were given. Like it or not, it’s what we have. Many do not like what they were given, whether through genetics, life’s experiences, or choices we have made. Perhaps we feel too tall or too short. Our skin may be darker or lighter than we’d prefer. Maybe we’re overweight or too skinny. There may be physical ailments we did not choose, like diabetes, scoliosis, paralysis due to an accident or disease, blindness. Again, the list could go on and on. But most of us, like it or not, know that we’re stuck with this physical body and we try to do the best we can with what we have. Some, though, become despondent, lose hope for life, and choose to leave this body, this life they were given. It’s called suicide…choosing to separate from this life. This blog isn’t meant to deal with physical suicide and whether it is wrong, sinful, or justified…not meant to talk about who may or may not have done things different. Suicide is simply an analogy here.
And so I return to my opening comments. What is it called when a person who has been in the church, this Body of Christ that God has appointed for believers to be joined to, decides to leave, to quit this Body? Would it not be a sort of spiritual suicide…a decision to separate from this Body? Is this any better answer for that Christian than literal suicide would be for anyone of us struggling with the agonies of this life? Surely, just as most of us simply do the best with the physical bodies we are given, like them or not, we should do the same with the Body of Christ, in spite of all its many flaws! Why don’t we stay and work on making things better in the Body of Christ, just as we might try to lose weight, or learn to read Braille, or use a wheelchair to be more mobile, see a counselor when depressed, or do any of the things we do to help our imperfect physical bodies look or function better? There is a humorous saying that goes “If you ever find the perfect church, you had better not join it because you would spoil it.” It is funny, but the truth is that we are all flawed. We all have our imperfections. None of us are qualified to be judges, condemning other imperfect people in Christ’s Body, the church. Therefore, I don’t make myself any kind of judge here. I have been as guilty as anyone else of complaining about the many imperfections I see in the church. I have sometimes been tempted to leave. I am merely capturing some of my thoughts as I have pondered on this theme for some days…tossing out some food for thought, so to speak. I am still working on and praying about some answers.
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