Daily Devotional: Loving the Church

"And let us consider how to provoke one another to love and good deeds, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day approaching." — Hebrews 10:24-25 NRSVUE

An ancient philosopher once wrote, “I would follow Christ if He did not drag behind him His leprous bride, the church.” A cutting remark, all the more painful because those of us faithful to the church understand exactly where he was coming from. Some of our fellow-parishioners are, dare I say, difficult to be around.

But that reality does not serve as an acceptable excuse for staying out of church. The solitary Christian is a violation of the community that Christ died for. To that end, Bonhoeffer wrote that “to be in Christ ... is to be the church.”

Easter is coming soon. Perhaps this is a good time to return to the Church, if in fact we’ve been away. And for those of us who’ve been attending? Let’s check ourselves and make sure we’re not curmudgeon-like.

We are the church.

We’re all there is.

We’re as good it gets.

See you in church on Sunday. Prayer: Lord? Help me to become even more fully committed to serving You.

Rev. Dr. Michael Sanders has his books available locally at Ken’s Village Market in Indian River.

This article originally appeared on The Petoskey News-Review: Daily Devotional: Loving the Church