Jesus and His People

We should think a lot about Jesus and His people. We call Jesus and His people, the church. But when we speak of the church, we should be careful to not simply mean the broader church, out there somewhere. That is a church that we belong to, one holy, catholic and apostolic church, but one in which we are not able to participate with at any meaningful level. Many Christians lay claim to their inclusion in the Universal Church while at the same time resisting inclusion in the local church. This ought not to be the case.

         Christ’s body has particular members, hands, arms, legs, eyes, ears. The local body is the representation of Christ’s universal body. It is here in the local body that we find our identity in Christ, who is the head of the body. There is not a more important organization or political structure that you belong to than Christ’s body as represented in the local church. In fact, your own blood family is not so vital as Christ’s body. This may come as a shock to some of you but it is at the heart of what Jesus revealed to us as He taught us to hate father and mother, sister and brother, in comparison to our love of Jesus and His people. It is those who do the will of Jesus that are our brothers and sisters, mothers and fathers and we find them in Christ’s Church.

         Our call is to commit to Jesus and His people. To the extent that you have not submitted to Christ in His Church, then the Lord would have us confess our sins and walk in newness of life in and among Christ and His people.