Loving God Means Loving His Family
I’m not really a fan of the satire news website, Babylon Bee. But once in a while they publish a parody that contains a very positive message that rings true. Here is one:
TORONTO—Local man Tim Rubidoux has refused to join a local gym, claiming instead that his membership in the “invisible, universal gym” should be enough to get him into shape.
“Yeah, I’m not really into the whole ‘organized fitness’ thing,” he told reporters, stating that he’s been “burned a few times” by gyms that didn’t cater to his every whim. “I’m into fitness, but I’m not religious about it.”
He also launched into a long diatribe about the hypocrisy of other people he sees at the gym, who are working out but aren’t perfectly fit yet. “That really turned me off of the whole institutional exercise thing. It’s just not for me.”
Rubidoux states that he simply exercises on his own time whenever he feels like it, with no disciplined routine or partners to keep him accountable. “Nature is my gym.”
At publishing time, sources had been able to confirm that Rubidoux hasn’t exercised in 14 years.
I’ve grown weary of common statements lampooned in the above article. People love to excuse walking away from Christianity with quips like, “I love Jesus, it’s his followers I can’t stand.” But Jesus made it abundantly clear that to love him means you will also love his people, even with all of their flaws. He said that the world will know that you belong to him by the love you show his people. Our attitude towards the local church, the visible body of Christ, reveals our real attitude towards him.Life in the church is Christianity with skin on. Joining, engaging with, and unconditionally loving his family, is far more about Jesus than it is about “organized religion.” But bear in mind, Jesus was all about organizing his followers in the church. It was his idea. To follow Jesus is to be in his church. To reject being in a local church is to reject his instruction, and that means to reject him. Anyone can say whatever they want to about supposedly loving God, but real community participation in the Body of Christ moves us out of the vague clouds of our good intentions, and into the clear light of committed reality.Rather than repeating things we’ve heard other people say that make us feel better about our non-involvement, let’s take Jesus’ teaching seriously, and commit ourselves to joining others who do as well.