being churched

In liturgical churches, there used to be the “churching of women”, a worship ceremony in which a mother was blessed upon returning to the church community 40 days after childbirth.  Its use declined in the latter part of the 20th century, about the same time that believers began to sour on the term “church”. 

With the revelation of church scandals, particularly involving church leaders, believers began to speak of their being part of a local fellowship of followers of Jesus, eschewing the terms “church” and “Christian” since the web uncovered for everyone the serious failures of church and Christians, past and present.

And so westerners have altered “church”, neglecting the NT “ekklesia”, the “called out ones”, in favor of “koinonia”, the face-to-face fellowship we share in Christ.  Although we celebrate the intimate and sustaining relationships seen in Scripture and the early church, we need to admit that we have shrunk the church.

Instead, we are those who have been called out of the darkness of this world into God’s marvelous Light and are made into a multinational, multigenerational special possession of God, His chosen People, a Royal Priesthood, a holy nation.  This “church” is called by God to declare the praises of Him Who saved us, to smash through the gates of hell to rescue those in its bondage, and to manifest His Presence in this world.  The church is, as pastor-filmmaker Erwin McManus calls it, “an unstoppable Force”, and we are invited to find our confidence in the church’s King as we become “(re)-churched”, committing ourselves to its local, global, and eternal fellowship and mission.

We are commanded to become more than attenders, believers, or practitioners of our faith.  We are invited to become disciples, belongers to God, to one another, and to the church, historic and eternal.  Like mothers being “churched”, we make public commitments to join and rejoin this Body of Christ and this Movement of His Holy Spirit.  We learn about our history, its saintly and sinful manifestations.  We join in the ministry of the church as we take our place in its call and commitments to King Jesus, eventually becoming leaders both official and unofficial in using our gifts and manifesting the character of Christ.  We develop a Way of Life which clearly identifies us with the church and its mission.

Recommitting ourselves to being “church” will focus us on our King and restore our confidence in Him as we walk side by side in the service of His Kingdom.