who are we...

Last night Anthony and I were talking - not that we don't talk any other time- about something near and dear to us...our call to ministry.  He is in the process of completing his Masters of Divinity through New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary (NOBTS).  Several months back he came home and handed me a piece of paper.  On that paper was information about classes offered for wives of current NOBTS students.  After weeks of trying to decide if it was worth it, I decided to jump in.  So here I am in week 6 of my first 8 week course.  Studying about "What Baptist Believe".  

During the last few weeks I have really began to feel the press of the Holy Spirit on me, reminding me that I too am called to ministry.  There are days it feels that my heart has turned in my chest...anxious over what He is telling me.  Lately my focus has been on the church - it was our study focus in class last week.  What is "church"?  This word is often misunderstood.  My sweet little 2 year old always points and says "church" when we pass by the building where our church meets.  Is the building the church?  Not quite.  My perception of "church" has been a little out of sort also.  For several years, I too had the same idea as my 2 year old.  Church is just a building where we go to worship God.  After the first few years of full-time ministry, I caught myself thinking, "Well, this is just where God has us for now."  Because of that attitude I did not allowed myself to function within the "church" as is necessary.

What is "church"? 1 Corinthians 12:12-13a, "The body is a unit, though it is made up of many parts; and though all its parts are many, they form one body. So it is with Christ. For we were all baptized by one Spirit into one body."  The church is the body of Christ - those who've been identified with Christ through salvation and baptism.  Now, there may be people who attend worship services, fellowships and Bible studies who have never accepted Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior - they are not part of the church.   The church is an extension of Christ on earth.  We follow His leading - prompting through the Holy Spirit who lives within the believer directing them back to Christ.  Just like hands and feet have their function within the body, so every believer has their function within Christ's body.  It is our responsibility as the church to reach those who do not know or believe and share Christ's love and salvation with them.

The church is not a democratic body.  Just like my hands and feet have no say (and can't vote) on what my head tells them to do, the church has no say on what Christ has commanded them to do!  We must live out His commands - they are loving and not demanding.  We must take care of other believers within our local fellowships.  It is so easy to become social groups within the fellowship that we leave others out - this is not what Christ would have us do or be!  It is easy to allow 20% of the fellowship to do 100% of the "work".  Again, not how Christ has set it before us - we ALL have a function, every believer has a function!

Within the body we must be reaching out to nonbelievers, supporting the ministries of the fellowship, educating each other in Biblical truth, and taking care of the needs (physical, emotional, spiritual) of the fellowship.  So, who are we?  The church or just a building...