Rabi Gunaratnam's Blog - Posts Tagged "salt"
Is church relevant?
The church is not a building or an organization. Church is a community. The original church as described is Acts 2:44-47 met regularly in homes and worshipped at the Temple every day. They shared and had everything in common. Their reason for doing this was that there were many poor people among them who needed help.
Perhaps this is not necessary today, particularly in the developed world. But this is only in regard to material things. I think we still need the same level of contact with each other, time to worship God together, to help each other out, and to live as a loving and supportive community into which God would love to keep adding more believers as we freely shared the good news.
The church is also an influence for good. Jesus said that the church is the salt and light of this world. With institutionalisation, the creation of various types of hierarchy, and by neglecting to observe all what the Bible teaches, we have lost some of this ability to be a strong influence. If we get back to the basics of the faith our relevance will be immediately observable; and will be acknowledged by all.
Perhaps this is not necessary today, particularly in the developed world. But this is only in regard to material things. I think we still need the same level of contact with each other, time to worship God together, to help each other out, and to live as a loving and supportive community into which God would love to keep adding more believers as we freely shared the good news.
The church is also an influence for good. Jesus said that the church is the salt and light of this world. With institutionalisation, the creation of various types of hierarchy, and by neglecting to observe all what the Bible teaches, we have lost some of this ability to be a strong influence. If we get back to the basics of the faith our relevance will be immediately observable; and will be acknowledged by all.
Why Do People Avoid Church?
The word church is immediately associated with religion. Religion is unfortunately becoming a dirty word because of its links to violence, abuse, hypocrisy and control.
We have also made church to mean a place that we go to on a Sunday.
Actually the word church refers to a collection of people who follow Jesus Christ and not to the place where they meet. For those who have read about Jesus—His teachings, miracles, love and acceptance of all people, His love for people who are child-like and not like the religious people of His day, His compassion, etc.—following Jesus would be considered a good thing because such people will be a help and not a hindrance to enjoying life. But the followers of Jesus too have been misled by the ‘establishment’ into believing things that are not true or are half-truths. This is the real issue. Those of us who are true followers need to understand the truth, unadulterated by centuries of wrong teachings.
Once we get the truths right, following Jesus becomes a wonderful thing. The followers will enjoy a wonderful freedom that Jesus came to give us. The Apostle Paul wrote “for freedom that Jesus has freed us” (Gal. 5:1 paraphrased). That does not mean that the followers can do what they like. They are still bound by what is right. But they are no longer bound by rules, regulations, practices and rituals.
Once we get the truths right, we will know how to approach God, to worship Him and to adore Him, to receive His love and to correctly share this love with others.
I urge you to know the truth by studying the Holy Bible. The Bible can be studied and understood by the ordinary person. You do not need a degree in Theology or similar. There are many helps such as Bible Dictionaries, Commentaries and other books to help us understand the Bible and most of all we have the help of the Holy Spirit.
We have also made church to mean a place that we go to on a Sunday.
Actually the word church refers to a collection of people who follow Jesus Christ and not to the place where they meet. For those who have read about Jesus—His teachings, miracles, love and acceptance of all people, His love for people who are child-like and not like the religious people of His day, His compassion, etc.—following Jesus would be considered a good thing because such people will be a help and not a hindrance to enjoying life. But the followers of Jesus too have been misled by the ‘establishment’ into believing things that are not true or are half-truths. This is the real issue. Those of us who are true followers need to understand the truth, unadulterated by centuries of wrong teachings.
Once we get the truths right, following Jesus becomes a wonderful thing. The followers will enjoy a wonderful freedom that Jesus came to give us. The Apostle Paul wrote “for freedom that Jesus has freed us” (Gal. 5:1 paraphrased). That does not mean that the followers can do what they like. They are still bound by what is right. But they are no longer bound by rules, regulations, practices and rituals.
Once we get the truths right, we will know how to approach God, to worship Him and to adore Him, to receive His love and to correctly share this love with others.
I urge you to know the truth by studying the Holy Bible. The Bible can be studied and understood by the ordinary person. You do not need a degree in Theology or similar. There are many helps such as Bible Dictionaries, Commentaries and other books to help us understand the Bible and most of all we have the help of the Holy Spirit.
