Each Wednesday in April, we’re sharing an article from a special miniseries about how to talk to and answer common questions a new believer might ask you. Each article, written by a contributor to the Alive Bible study, will include helpful tips about how to talk to a new believer in a way that feels welcoming. Now up in the series is “Why Should You Get Involved in the Local Church?”
Four years ago, my husband and I watched Easter services from our living room couch. I tried to focus on the sermon. I wasn’t interested in singing songs even though my husband was the only one who could hear, and I felt a little irreverent eating breakfast and drinking coffee at the same time.
You might have experienced a similar scenario in your own home that day and in the weeks to come. The world had recently shut down amid a global pandemic. No one attended their local church that day—at least in our familiar worship centers and with familiar people. While I was thankful for the opportunity to worship online, I missed being in the same room with my church community.
Community. It’s a word we often affiliate with neighborhoods, government, or local associations. Yet it’s also a word we use to describe our local churches. As believers, we are part of the worldwide church, but there are important reasons we should be members of local churches. Membership in a local church isn’t joining a club but uniting around a common mission to care for one another and spread the gospel. It’s also biblical.
The New Testament describes the church as the body of Christ, a good metaphor emphasizing how churches rely on members to exercise their spiritual gifts and work together. Just as we are physically stronger when all of our body’s organs are working in harmony, our local churches are healthy when we work in unity. Another description of the local church in the New Testament is the Greek word koinonia, which describes the fellowship and contributions each person makes to a local body of believers. This type of “community” can be marked in three ways, using a part of our English word to describe why your local church matters.
First, we are joined together by something we have in common. More than that, we are joined together by Someone we have in common. 1 Corinthians 12:27 says, “Now you are the body of Christ, and individual members of it.” Local communities of faith gather because we have a common Savior, the God who came in flesh and dwelt among us. When we gather for worship, we sing about a common experience of salvation from sin and an eternal promise of heaven. When I’m singing with other believers on a Sunday morning, I’m joined with others who have a common focus on the One we worship together.
Second, we share in communion, both in our ordinances, giving and worship. Churches are known for how we gather together to hear God’s Word, give generously together, build each other up, and send out to the world. The earliest churches shared their finances, celebrated the Lord’s Supper, and studied Scripture. Sound familiar? Our local churches still pull our offerings together for the purpose of missions and ministry, study God’s Word in community, remember Jesus’s sacrifice by taking communion, and we leave each week ready to take the Gospel into our world. I had a pastor years ago who reminded our congregation at the end of each Sunday that we were prepared to be God’s mighty army, ready to face the next week because we had been strengthened by being together that day.
Third, we are communal. We may not live in a commune, but we should view our local church as a people group who live life together, serve each other, and minister to one another’s needs. Galatians 6:2 reminds us, “Carry one another’s burdens; in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.” Galatians 6:9-10, “Let us not get tired of doing good, for we will reap at the proper time if we don’t give up. Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us work for the good of all, especially for those who belong to the household of faith.” In other words, local churches pray for one another’s needs, meet physical and spiritual needs, and care for one another during times of joy and sorrow. My local church family has celebrated births, deaths, and health issues. I know I can count on people in my church to pray for me, but I am also ready to be available when I need to pray for them.
If you would like to learn more about the importance of being part of a local community of faith, I encourage you to study through Lifeway Women’s new study, Alive. Not only is this study helpful for people who are new in their faith, but it will help your church grow in their relationship with Jesus.
Read the first article in this series: “Words Matter: How to Talk to a New or Not-Yet Believer.”
ABOUT KELLY KING
Kelly is the women’s minister at Quail Springs Baptist Church in Oklahoma City. She previously served as the manager of Magazines/Devotional Publishing and Women’s Ministry Training for Lifeway Christian Resources. She is the author of Ministry to Women: The Essential Guide to Leading Women in the Local Church. Kelly is a contributor to the Lifeway Women’s Bible, as well as the Lifeway Women Advent and Easter studies. In addition, she is the cohost of the MARKED podcast for Lifeway Women. She has a Master of Theology degree from Gateway Seminary as well as a Doctorate in Ministry degree.
