Title: Let's Love the Church
Contents
Colossians 1:24 Let's love the church
When you immigrate or study abroad in Calgary from Korea, there are quite a few places you can visit while visiting and exploring. To the north is Edmonton, said to be the world's largest shopping mall, and to the south is Waterton Park. And it's very far to the east, but there's also Niagara Falls. And there are plenty of places to go to the west, including Banff National Park, the Rocky Mountains, and furthermore, Kelowna Resort, Vancouver, Victoria Island, and Nanaimo Island.
However, if you live here in Calgary, Canada, and visit quite a few places that you can go to, it is there and this is it. As a famous Korean monk once said, “A mountain is a mountain and a water is water”, there is no special place. King Solomon also confessed to this. “There is nothing new under the sun. What can be said, ‘Behold, this is new?
When I come to a foreign land, I go here and there at first, but now I have almost decided where I want to go. Home, school, work (business), shopping mall, and church. Of course, people who don't believe in God don't always go to church on a regular basis, but at least those who truly believe in God cannot go to church even in a foreign land. Of course, there are agnosticists who believe in God but do not go to church because they view visible churches negatively. However, normal Christians go to the church, the body of Jesus, to worship, praise and pray, give offerings, do various services, and share fellowship with the saints, enjoying the joy of cultivating the kingdom of heaven.
Obviously, there is no one who loves Jesus but hates the church. But these days, there are times when there are people who say they love Jesus and criticize the church too harshly. Moreover, when he sees himself going to church and criticizing the church, he says, “Ah, that gentleman! Church life is unsatisfactory now!” Moreover, when I see him openly criticizing the church he attends, it makes me sad to say, “Ah, that nobleman can easily leave the church at any time!”
Today, we are going to share grace with the church, which plays a big role in immigrant life. The only thing that Jesus left on this earth when he went to heaven is the church. The term church is used more than 150 times in the New Testament, and the Greek word 'ecclesia' is used. This word means ‘a set apart, a group drawn out’. In other words, the “community of people who believe in Jesus Christ” is the church.
More specifically, the church is the body of Jesus, a place where God worships, a house where all people pray, a place where the word of truth is proclaimed, a place where God's glory appears, and a place where God's full blessings are delivered. It is a place, the heavenly point of heaven. Therefore, Tertullian, the first church father, expressed the importance of the church in these words. “Those who have God as their father should think of the church as their mother.” In other words, it means that God's children can receive love and comfort and be brought up properly through the same church as Mother.
However, for some reason, there are many people who have been caught up in a negative view of the church as I myself go to church. In particular, one of the characteristics of heresies is that they are very bold in accusing the church. In a book called 'Study on Heresy Pseudos' from the Korean Christian Federation, which our church continues to distribute free of charge, an elder named 'Yoobin Lee' appears. This yangban is causing a scandal due to the idea of 'public confession', so the religious circles are cautioning that he should be vigilant and banned from participating in his meetings.
Of course, when we hurt or harm others, confessing our wrongs with our mouths, asking for forgiveness, and even paying the corresponding compensation is a wonderful form of repentance. Sometimes we need the courage to openly confess our sins. However, being forced to confess one's sins publicly out of necessity can be a great fear from the person's point of view, like self-criticism in a communist country.
Moreover, accusing us of not receiving God's forgiveness if we do not confess our sins publicly can fall into the folly of hitting those who have already been forgiven by the blood of Jesus again with the rod of the law. And if we claim that if we do not confess our sins publicly, we will lose our precious salvation through faith in Jesus. In the end, it is legalism that puts the condition of works as salvation. It becomes an idea.
And let's think more realistically. If someone believes in Jesus and wants to be saved and go to heaven, please say this. “In order to be saved, you must disclose all your sins in front of everyone and make a confession to be saved.” When they hear this sound, probably many people will say, “Hey, where is this bloody thing to be saved?” and will run away.
And we live with so many sins and transgressions that we cannot confess to them every single time. Moreover, the sins of the heart are greater than the hairs of the head. If we can be forgiven only by publicly confessing each and every one of these sins, we must confess our sins in front of people, even missing the time to eat. Of course, it is really important to repent of our sins, but it is a principle to do it before God who forgives our sins, not publicly in front of everyone.
If we confess our sins in front of a certain person and their sins are forgiven, we don't need God to forgive our sins, and we don't need Jesus who died on the cross for our sins. There can be a logic that only humans confess their sins to each other, receive salvation, and go to heaven. Therefore, the idea of “public confession” becomes a dangerous idea that can go against the truth of God.
Ladies and gentlemen, if you look at the reality of the church in a negative way, you can't help but look infinitely negative. The reason is that the church is not a place for angels to gather, but a place for sinners. So, in the 2000 years of church history, there has always been talk about the corruption of the church. And there has always been talk of reforming the church in any age. However, the church has such a negative side, but because the head of the church is Jesus, not a human being, God's economy has been accomplished through the church.
The church is the body of Jesus. And we are the members of that body. Therefore, when a believer insults the church, he falls on his face and spit on it. I'm hitting my body. And what hurts the body of Jesus is the act of hitting, spitting, cursing, stabbing, and nailing Him to the cross. Therefore, it is absurd to curse the church by saying that you love Jesus. It's ridiculous. Such a person never loves Jesus.
When we love others, we cover the faults of that person, but we do not expose the faults of that person. If you love the real Jesus, you will not expose the faults of the church or criticize the church. If you love Jesus, you should love the church. True Christians condemn the church and do not leave the church, even if it does not agree with them. Rather, the weakness of the church is the reason why I have to bear the suffering of Jesus Christ and serve the church. Just as parents take pity on and take care of their poor children, the more difficult the church is, the more we should cherish and take care of the church.
Ladies and gentlemen, the Apostle Paul was a man who, at one time, especially persecuted the church and tried his best to destroy it. He criticized the church and thought that getting rid of the church was the best way to believe in God. However, while he was on his way to Damascus, he met the resurrected Jesus. I heard his voice. “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?” “Lord, who are you?” “I am Jesus whom you are persecuting.” That is, to persecute the church is to persecute Jesus, and to love the church is to love Jesus.
However, today's Christians do not have such tender love for the church. Statistics tell us that. According to a report by the Church Growth Research Institute in 2003, 76.5% of Korean Protestants have changed churches, and according to another statistic, 1 in 6 Christians do not register and wander from one church to another every day. and to live a life of faith. Even more surprising statistics show that 58.4% of people of non-Christian religions confessed that they had previously believed in Christianity, but changed their religion because they could not find a suitable church to attend. In other words, more than 10 million Koreans did not fit into the church properly, wandered around and gave up believing in Jesus.
Ladies and gentlemen, it is difficult for your faith to grow properly if you do not have a proper view of the church while you are living your life of faith. How much God cares for and loves the church, he has given the church the blessing of filling all things. In other words, through the church, He made our members to receive blessings. In other words, the church is the channel through which we receive great blessings from God in this foreign land. Therefore, the church is really very precious to me, and the church is very precious to my family.
God has granted us various gifts of the Holy Spirit and commanded us to build up the church without fail. And God has given us this and that blessing and told us to use it to build the church. There is a secret that we Koreans receive blessings from God. Koreans build churches wherever they go. However, we should not be satisfied with just building the church, but we should cherish and love the church and nurture the church more. That is to love Jesus and to please God greatly.
Conclusion. We love Jesus. Therefore, I love the Church, the body of Jesus. And by the power of that love, we are happy even here in a foreign land. I feel happy. In the name of Jesus, I pray that God's overflowing love and the Lord's grace will be full through the love of the church.