Walking in the Light, August 23, 2009

Walking in the Light

Last week we began a series entitled Reclaiming Our Identity.  For some years now the church of Christ has been suffering from an identity crisis. Some have reacted to what they have perceived as outdated and archaic practices and, thus, irrelevant and undesirable. Therefore, they have sought to create a new image for the church. Some became unhappy with who we were, so they recoiled and began to reinvent the church in an effort to be more appealing to the world. As a result, we lost our distinctiveness. We lost the foundational principles upon which the church was established. We became embarrassed and ashamed of who we are. Instead of embracing our distinctiveness and standing firm, we wilted and gave in to the desire to be like everyone else.

Who are we? Over the years our identity has been dismantled; it has been lost to some degree. It is vital for us to be who God expects us to be. If we’re not striving to be all that God would have us to be then how can we be considered true followers? And, if as a body of Christians, we are not striving to follow God’s will in all things then how can we consider ourselves the Lord’s church? If we are not seeking Jesus according to His will, are we really seeking Him at all? If Christ set up a church and purchased it with His own blood, shouldn’t we be doing everything in our power to make certain that we function as that church? Let us always remember who we are and whose we are. We belong to God. The church belongs to Christ, and God is glorified in it when it exists as He designed it.

As members of the Lord’s church, we are an undenominational body of believers who hold fast to God’s word as the authority for our lives and His Son as the head of the church. There is no other distinction to be made, no further category to place us in, no broader definition. We are Christians and Christians only. We are also God’s family. as we discussed last week, the church is referred to as the “Household of God” in 1 Timothy 3:14-15. Household implies family. We already know that God is our Father (Matthew 23:9), and that we are His children (Romans 8:14-17; Galatians 3:26; 4:6-7).

We also know that, as Christians, we are all brothers and sisters in Christ. Therefore, as the church we are also a family—the family of God. The question then becomes, “How does one become a part of this family?”

Scripture clearly shows us that those who obey the gospel by believing (Heb. 11:6), repenting (Lk. 13:3 & 5; Acts 17:30), confessing their faith in Jesus (Rom. 10: 10 & 11) and being baptized (Acts 2:38; Acts 22:16) not only had their sins forgiven, but were also added to the church. We do not join the church like one joins a civic club or a country club. Rather, when one obeys the gospel he or she is added, by God, to the church. When one is born again he or she becomes a member of God’s family. Members of the Lord’s family are those who have become one with Christ, who have been washed with His blood and who have been born again. Just as we become a member of our physical family through physical birth, we become a member of our spiritual family through spiritual birth. God’s family consists of those who have been washed in the blood of Christ and saved from the burden of sin. The only way to have that blessing is to be born again.

Chris McCurley