Church congregations around the world can look very different. They may meet in a single room in an apartment building, or in a multi-million complex. They can range from 2 members to thousands. Throughout the World Race, one encounters everything from Orthodox to Pentecostal. From country to country the worship looks different, the attire on Sundays has no similarities, the pews in some nations are replaced by dirt floors in another; yet we all join for one purpose. This is something I have been blessed to see amongst churches in Asia and Eastern Europe. The Church overseas is aware that there is only one Church. From the words of our new friend Judy, “the only thing that separates us is the names of our organizations.”
Throughout the New Testament, the Church is described as the Bride of Christ. The image of the ‘wedding’ in Genesis is described:
23 The man said, “this is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called ‘woman,’ for she was taken out of man.” 24 That is why a man leaves his father and mother and is united to his wife, and they become one flesh.
In these verses we see that two become one. In reality, the metaphor of the Church, as the Bride, is hard to imagine. For a bride to walk down the aisle, her feet, hands, spine, and head have to be in agreement of where they are heading. She must know the purpose and strength of each member, and in that, command them to function as one. She is so passionate about the walk ahead that there is no question of the importance of each member. There is no question of where she wishes to be. In her heart, she is already down the aisle.
With the Church as the Bride, and Christ at the end of the Aisle, we must walk forward as ONE Body. Language, worship style, attire, and building have little importance, as they are comparable to different styles of a wedding dress. All are beautiful, but they are not the central focus. The central focus is the unification of two souls into one.
“Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word…He who loves his wife loves himself. After all, no one ever hated his own body, but he feeds and cares for it, just as Christ does the church- for we are members of his body. “ (Ephesians 5: 25-26 &28-30)
If we walk as one, we will continuously walk with Christ, and He is, by no means, confined by a building, a sect, or the limitations we place on ourselves. He is wholeheartedly devoted to His love for His Bride, and we, the Church, as His Bride should be so focused on Christ that the disagreements we have within ourselves will have no consequence as we all seek to be with Him.
Church, where are WE headed?
Characteristics we should seek as the Bride of God!
Proverbs 31: 10-31
Galatians 5: 22-23
