“You don’t have to go to church to be a
Christian.” That’s been said many times,
and there’s some truth in it because being a Christian is not first and foremost
about going to church, and sometimes people who are not Christians like to come
along to church services – all are welcome. Some people say that Christians are
people who try to live honest lives, doing good and not hurting others. Certainly Christians ought to live like that,
but so should everybody else! There are people of other faiths and people with
no religious beliefs who have high standards of honesty and integrity and who
do good to others. There has to be something else that defines a Christian. A
Christian is someone who believes in Jesus Christ. So is this just about
believing that he lived and did wonderful things 2000 years ago? That’s part of
it, but there is more. Christians
believe that the whole nature of God is revealed in Jesus, and that through
Jesus we can have a personal relationship with God. We can receive assurance that God loves us,
accepts us and forgives our sins.
In the Gospels we read of Jesus calling people to
follow him and he still calls people today.
The fishermen left their nets to follow Jesus and we are called to leave
behind anything that gets in the way of our relationship with God in order to
begin a new life with Jesus. A Christian is someone who has responded to that
call, and who has accepted Jesus as their Saviour and Lord. That doesn’t mean that Christians are better
than other people and we are certainly not perfect! It does mean that we are in the process of
becoming the people God intends us to be, through the transforming power of the
Holy Spirit at work in us.
Christian faith is not just about believing, but is
also about belonging. For some the
belonging comes first, as they are brought to church from an early age and
gradually grow in their understanding and their desire to follow Jesus. Other
people may come to faith in Jesus from a non-church background, then go on to
make a commitment and start to get involved in church life. We are at different stages and this is why we
need one another, so that we can encourage and help one another along the path
of faith and discipleship. Attending
church services is part of that. We tend to speak of going to church, but
Church with a capital ‘C’ is something we belong to rather than go to. The Church is people, not a building. We are
the Church – each one of us who has decided to follow Jesus. So let’s get away from talking about going to
church and speak instead of belonging to the Church. We belong to the Church if we belong to Jesus
Christ, and we belong together. Jesus
never meant his followers to go it alone.
With my love and prayers
Glynis
Hetherington
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