Mystery Ownership Seminar (Member Classes) begin next week. In anticipation Pastr Nate has written Big C little c…
1 Peter 2:4,5
As you come to him, a living stone rejected by men but in the sight of God chosen and precious, you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.
When we become a Christian, when we come to Jesus, we become a part of Christ’s bride, the Church – with a big C. Our union with Jesus makes us part of God’s family; we have brothers and sisters all over the world! We are also connected to men and women in the very town or city we live in. 1 Peter tells us, we are built up as a spiritual house as we come to Christ. That is why it is important for us as believers to be a part of a church – with a little c. To be “built up as a spiritual house” means we are connected to one another. We are dependent on others, and they are dependent on us. As Mark Dever says in What is a Healthy Church?, “By identifying ourselves with a particular local church, we are telling the church’s pastors and other members not just that we commit to them, but that we commit to them in gathering, giving, prayer, and service. We are telling them to expect certain things from us and to hold us accountable if we don’t follow through. Joining a church is an act of saying, “I am now your responsibility, and you are my responsibility.” Our life as a part of the big C Church gets expressed in our life as a part of the little c church, and so that is why we join a local body. Within that local body, we care and are cared for, we love and are loved, we support and are supported, and we encourage and are encouraged. To not join or be committed to a local church is to withhold those things from others as well as ourselves. A solitary stone is not a building, it becomes part of a building as it is connected and bonded to other stones.
So live out your life as Christ’s bride and part of the big C church within the context of a little c church where you live. It pleases God, brings glory to Christ, and blesses both you and others!
- Nate Karnes
