Finding And Joining The Church God Has For You Might Make You Feel Uncomfortable. Series

Introduction

When we look for a church to attend and to make it our home church, we wants something that feels right; a place that we are made to feel comfortable. And what we are saying to ourselves is that we want a place where the people are more like us than different from us.

Think about it. People who do not have the same political viewpoint as you, makes you feel uncomfortable discussing politics with them. We would much rather talk politics with someone who agrees with us. People who do not see the workings of a church just like you makes you feel uncomfortable in a business meeting. We would love if everyone agreed with us as to how to do the business of the church, so business meeting went off without a hitch. Anne and I do not have children or grandchildren; and so, when we are around people talking about their children or grandchildren sometimes it makes us feel uncomfortable because it is not a conversation we can contribute to. We are different then them, we do not have any children or grandchildren to talk about.

And so, to avoid the uncomfortable, we pick our friends by choosing people who are more like us than different from us. To avoid, the uncomfortable, we pick the church we will membership with by how much the people are like us. If you do not think that is true; look at how many churches have older congregations and they can not get young people to attend and then there is the opposite group- the younger church that has a difficulty attracting older people. Now, you cannot tell me that God is not calling younger people to older peoples’ churches and older people to younger peoples’ churches. Rather we are choosing our church membership on what feels comfortable rather than what God may desire for us.

Here is the problem. God did not intend to base membership in the local church based upon how comfortable you are in that fellowship. God based membership upon where you were to be the most effective in His service. In case you forgot, we are called to serve Him.

Let look at that and make some conclusions. Turn with me in your Bible to 1 Corinthians 12:13- 18.

Scripture

1 Corinthians 12:13-18 (NIV)

13 For we were all baptized by one Spirit into one body--whether Jews or Greeks, slave or free--and we were all given the one Spirit to drink.

14 Now the body is not made up of one part but of many.

15 If the foot should say, "Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body," it would not for that reason cease to be part of the body.

16 And if the ear should say, "Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body," it would not for that reason cease to be part of the body.

17 If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be?

18 But in fact God has arranged the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be.

POINT #1

WE MUST OVERLOOK THE NEED FOR COMFORTABLILITY IN WHERE WE ESTABLISH OUR CHURCH MEMBERSHIP BY LOOKING BENEATH THE SURFACE AT THE JESUS IN OUR FELLOW CHURCH MEMBERS’ HEARTS.

13 For we were all baptized by one Spirit into one body--whether Jews or Greeks, slave or free--and we were all given the one Spirit to drink.

Let me tell you that Jews and Greeks in the first century had nothing in common. They were two entirely different lifestyles. In fact, I think it is a fair statement to say that these two people groups didn’t like each other. They saw the world differently. But God put them together. It says that they were given the same one Spirit.

And then there was the slave and free. Once again, two entirely different lifestyles. They too would have nothing in common. And most likely, the slaves resented being held slave by the free people. And probably the free persons would dislike going to church with their slaves. But God put them to together. And it says that they were given the same one Spirit.

Why did God set up church this way? In the natural world, the differences between us divide us. For example, instead of calling ourselves all Americans; some will call themselves Italian Americans, African Americans, Caucasian American. What happened to: we are just Americans.

In the spiritual world, God says those differences do not need to divide us, instead they can unite us; they can even make us stronger. And He did that to show the power and wisdom of our God. Let me read you a Scripture. 1 Corinthians 1:22-25 (NIV)