church = community + Commitment

The thing that we call church is a strange animal; sometimes we think of it as a building or perhaps as an institution; but God’s plan is that church should be a family, and a community.  Families and community take commitment, commitment takes time, effort and intentional investment of self; yet in today’s world it seems that time and commitment are some of the commodities in shortest supply.  


In the New Testament, there are two words translated ‘church’:

• “Ecclesia” which literally means - an assembly. This is talking about meeting together, like our weekly services.  
• “Koinonia”, which means fellowship, it comes from a group of words that have a root meaning of “to share something in common”. 

“Ecclesia“ can be done without commitment, but “koinonia” can not.  


Commitment is focussed, it is intentional, it is sacrificial; commitment of this type is attractive, it draws us together and points others towards God.  Commitment sees the church working as God intended, as the centrepiece of God's grace, God's love and God's eternal purpose. Every baptised believer is called upon to live out the reality of this truth through commitment to the life of the church.


Being committed means more than turning up on Sunday; its about growing together as a family; its about give and take, about forgiveness and grace, and about trying and trying again, working through disappointments and misunderstandings.  It’s about standing up, stepping out and sharing the load.  It’s about encouraging others and cheering them on.  It’s about sacrificing some of what we may like for the benefit of others, it’s about loving those that we sometimes struggle to understand, it’s about seeing people how God sees them, and loving them as God loves them.  


Being committed as a member of a church isn’t easy, Scripture tells us that this kind of commitment requires deep roots of faith like trees planted by the water, weathering storms and heat and drought (Jeremiah 17:7-8), standing together and flourishing like trees trees in Lebanon (Psalm 92:12-14).  Unfortunately today life is busy and many believers live more like pot plants than cedars, without deep roots or personal connection to the source of living water, at risk of withering and being blown away.


Let’s be committed and intentional in how we build community under God.


To His glory alone.

Grace & Peace,
Jen