Come, Let Us Return to the Local Church
Have you missed us?
It’s been a while since we’ve seen you. Are you streaming from the comfort of your couch or escaping on the weekends? Have you grown lukewarm in your fervor and your faith (Rev. 3:16)? Do you still long for your spiritual family “with the affection of Christ Jesus” (Phil. 1:8; see Rom. 1:11; 1 Thess. 3:6, 12)?
Then come, return to the local church.
“Sure, the church is faulty and frail and full of misfits, but she is also a Bride set apart for glory.”
Sure, the church is faulty and frail and full of misfits, but she is also a Bride set apart for glory. Where else can you dive deep into the Word, soak your roots in fellowship, and climb higher in Christ-exalting worship? Where else can you pour out love for “one another with brotherly affection” or “outdo one another in showing honor” (Rom. 12:10)? Where else can you humbly “count others more significant than yourselves” and look to their interests before your own (Phil. 2:3–4)? The church is a laboratory for love and the practice field for the “one anothers.” Therefore, seek to out-praise, out-value, and out-recognize your fellow believers in these uncertain days.
Come, return to the local church.
Strive to “live in harmony with one another” (Rom. 12:16a): humble, not haughty as you seek collective wisdom (v. 16b–c). Do not think more highly of yourselves than you ought to think (v. 3; see 1 Pet. 5:5). Instead, be grafted together though you may not share political views or socio-economic status. Let your unity in Christ break down all cultural and ethnic barriers (Eph. 2:11–22). Then “show hospitality to one another” (1 Pet. 4:9) and “welcome one another as Christ has welcomed you” (Rom. 15:7; see 14:3; 1 Pet. 5:14). Greet one another genuinely from the heart and without partiality (see James 2:1–13), for you are fellow members in the very body of Christ (1 Cor. 12:12–13).
Come, return to the local church.
Where else will you “confess your sins to one another and pray for one another” (James 5:16; 1 Tim. 2:1)? And how, if not face-to-face, are you to counsel with the Word (Rom. 15:14), comfort sufferers (v. 4; 1 Thess. 4:18), and care for one another effectively (Rom. 12:5; 1 Cor. 12:25)? How else will you “rejoice with those who rejoice” and “weep with those who weep” (Rom. 12:15)? How will you meet material needs if you keep your distance (1 John 3:18) or “bear one another’s burdens” (Gal. 6:2) unless you are physically present to notice them? How will you submit “to one another out of reverence for Christ” (Eph. 5:21) and “build one another up” in the faith (1 Thess. 5:11)?
Come, return to the local church.
“How else will you “rejoice with those who rejoice” and “weep with those who weep”?”
Apart from Christ’s church, you will drift toward unkindness and lack of love for others (Gal. 5:19–23). You will pass judgment on those who are different and take advantage of the weak (Rom. 14:13, 19). You will pridefully provoke and eagerly envy (Gal. 5:26) instead of living by the Spirit (v. 25). You will bite and devour like cobras cannibalizing their own kin (v. 15). Yet the ministry of presence will teach you to bear with one another and forgive each other (Col. 3:12–13). Such loving maintenance works like engine oil to keep the machine parts from chafing.
So come, return to the local church.
Remain in Christian fellowship (1 John 1:7) and “stir up one another to love and good works” (Heb. 10:24–25). Serve one another with the spiritual gifts (1 Pet. 4:10; see Gal. 5:13) God has graciously given each of you (Rom. 12:6–8; 1 Cor. 12:7). “Equip the saints for the work of ministry” (Eph. 4:12; 1 Cor. 14:12) as he forges you on the anvil of his church. Then humbly wash the feet of others (John 13) like those who lead as servants (Phil. 2:6–8).
Come, return to the local church.
Live at peace with one another (1 Thess. 5:13–15) by learning to converse like Jesus. Do not “grumble” (James 5:9) or “speak evil against one another” (4:11). Practice godly communication by speaking the truth in love (Eph. 4:25), guarding against sinful anger (vv. 26–27), edifying fellow believers (vv. 29–30), and responding with the kindness of your Lord and Savior (vv. 31–32). Evaluate your speech today with a spirit of confession (1 John 1:5–10).
Then come, return to the local church.
Here, you will find the merciful God who loved you while you were yet sinners and sent his Son while you were still his enemies (Rom. 5:8). He does not hold your sin against you (Ps. 103:10–12) or use it, like Satan, to accuse you (Rev. 12:9–10). He will not dwell on matters of the past for those who are his children (Eph. 1:3–7). Praise God for his forgiveness as you likewise forgive each other (4:32). Then “let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God” (Col. 3:16; see Eph. 5:15–20). May God’s Spirit and his Word make their home in your hearts.
So have you missed us?
We haven’t seen you lately. Have you abandoned your first love (Rev. 2:4)? Will you repent “and do the works you did at first” (v. 5a)? “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches” (vv. 7, 11, 17, 29; 3:6, 13, 22). As Jesus, the head of the church, declares, “Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me” (3:20).
Come, return to the local church, and you will return to Christ.
Tom Sugimura serves as a pastor in Southern California, church plant mentor, and professor of biblical counseling. He writes at tomsugi.com, ministers the gospel at New Life Church, and hosts the Every Peoples Podcast. He and his wife share stories about raising their four kids in Hope for New Dads: 40 Days in the Book of Proverbs.