The Church and the church.

The Church of Christ is a complex and diverse entity meant to serve as His light in the world.  There are many different ways to understand the Church and what the Church is meant to be and look like.  A lot of New Testament literary real estate is filled with language and descriptions of the Church.  Of all of the metaphors and figurative language used to describe Jesus' relationship to His Church, one in particular stands out for its richness and theological implications: the Church as a marriage to Jesus.

To understand the Church in terms of marriage is a healthy and coherent theological determinant for the complex relationship between God and His children.  The Church is the bride of Jesus, meaning that the Church is married to Jesus.  The implications of this understanding are basically twofold.  At the onset, it means that, in the truest biblical sense, the Church is to serve Jesus.  Evenmore so, the Church is Jesus' helpmate: the one who helps Him to accomplish His purposes.  In a real sense, the Church is the earthly worker for His love and character in the world.

The second implication for understanding the Church as a marriage to Jesus is in terms of commitment.  Commitment to the Church is one of the most overlooked aspects of the New Covenant that is made in Christ. One of the reasons that the commitment to the Church is overlooked is because of what it entails.  Like marriage, real and genuine commitment requires a specific object of commitment.  In the case of the Church, the object of commitment is simple: Jesus.  Where the confusion and challenge arises is that the commitment of the Church also has a definite community aspect too: the local church.

We, as Christians, are a part of the greater Church; however, we are also to be a part of localized communities of Christians, the local church.  Additionally, we are to be committed like marriage to these local churches.  This means that leaving churches for any reason other than outright deliberate and continued sin and/or heresy should never be done lightly or superficially.

Remember, Church and church is to be like a marriage.  If a husband says that he is committed to marriage but is not committed to his wife, then he is not committed to marriage.  Thus, when we say that we are committed to the Church of Christ but are not committed to a local church, we are not committed to the Church.  We cannot be committed to Christ's Church if we are not connected to a specific church.  That would be like being committed to marriage without being committed to a single spouse.

The reality is that church is hard.  It is the place of testing and growth, but through that testing, if testing is allowed to run its full course, we will be sanctified and made more like Him.  This is the goal and purpose of church.  The local church is in many ways a microcosm of the Church.  The Church is God's mighty hand of collective believers coming together to change and transform the world.  The church is to be the local and regional equivalent of the greater Church.  Let us then commit to the Church by thoroughly committing ourselves to churches.  In this way, we will be truly living out part of what God requires of us and we will be more equipped and able to serve both Him and our communities.