The Local Church: A Necessary Entanglement

​​Today’s article is the third installment in our series Discipling our Children, contributed by Erin Bridges.

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What you need to know from the outset is that I am the statistic Amanda has put before us. I grew up in the local church, our family would’ve been considered “regular attenders” by the statistics, and generationally my family is one of a Christian background. And yet, from ages 17-22 I quit attending church. 

Motherhood shifted my drifting away from faith.  It wasn’t long after our son was born that my husband and I had a strong pull that something was missing.  It started with opening my bible daily and grew into a desire to return to church.  But church hadn’t always been a safe space for myself or my husband.  It felt risky to go back, but it also felt like the only way forward.  A decade later, God has drawn me back into the local church and given me a depth of love for His people that is now unshakeable. 

Through heartache and hope, I am convinced that our lives are necessarily entangled in the local church.

The Way Forward

Our personal relationship with Jesus should compel us toward the local church.  I wholeheartedly believe our personal commitment to a local body will be a seed God uses not just in our life but in the life and faith of our children.  It comes back to where Amanda has already pointed us: we must know and show that the local body is a priority in our lives, believing that God will use that for His glory and our children’s good.

Being a part of a local church body gives us the opportunity to know God fully, serve His people, serve our neighborhoods, and use our gifts and glorify our Father in Heaven.  The local body holds us accountable to faithfulness as we wait for Christ’s return that we may each be found holy and blameless (1 Thes. 5:23). 

It is within the local body we find brothers and sisters with shared values and goals.  It’s here that you’ll find others locking eyes on eternity and desiring God’s glory.  It’s here that others can empathize with the difficulty of taking up the cross, of dying to self, of living counter-cultural.  So when you go into your day -to-day life, you’ve got others linking arms to run the race of faith. We can’t do it alone.  God knew.  Christ knew.  The Spirit knew.  We need other believers, and we find them in the gathering of a local church. 

Steadfast in Affliction

We hit a season of deep hardship with our local church several years ago.  It was this season that God kindly rooted in me a deep and abiding love for His people and His bride.  This abiding love came even in the face of affliction with other believers.  I’ve been hurt by the church, like many.  Sadly, but honestly, I’ve likely caused hurt in the church, too.  And yet, that doesn’t mean I run away; rather, I lean in, knowing the bridegroom (Jesus) will return for His bride (the Church) and I will not forsake her.

My birthday fell on a Sunday that year, and my heart ached thinking I wouldn’t be stepping into the church we called home for so many years.  The words of my son that morning shifted my perspective.  He said, “you’re so lucky your birthday is on a Sunday because you love spending your day with God at church.” 

Of all the things my child could think of when considering the local church after that season, I’m so thankful he still equated it with our joy and our privilege.  He was right, I love spending Sundays at church but it’s not just because of the presence of God, it’s because of the presence of God through His people.

But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. 1 Peter 2:9  

Gathering of Believers

The body of Christ, the global grouping of believers, will one day be gathered as every nation, knee, and tongue confesses the name of Jesus. While we wait, we’re given the opportunity to gather as local bodies.

Statistically, in recent years there’s been a falling away from the faith, but I don’t have to look deep into new stats to tell you God is changing that.  I’ve looked side to side the last couple years after the pandemic, and I can see God drawing His people back to him.  Much like it did for me, it may likely look like you pursuing reconciliation in your personal relationship with God first.  And then, He will grow in you a desire for the local church.  

A recent study by Barna showed that since 2019 the percentage of Millennials reporting weekly church attendance has increased from 21 percent to 39 percent.  That’s God’s faithfulness on the move, friends.  The Lord is fanning into flame faith of the generations. 

If you’re part of a local church, I encourage you to be sensitive to others who are in process of sorting out what it looks like to be a part of the church.  If you’re in a church transition, trust God will move you to a place that you can be established again among His people. If you haven’t been to church ever or for some time,  I put before you the opportunity to show up somewhere in the next two weeks and ask God to do a new thing in your heart and mind about the local church.

As messy as the church may be, there’s nowhere else I’d rather find myself as I wait on the Lord.  I hope you will view the local church as a privilege and joy even if you find yourself facing adversity and affliction.  I pray you’re willing to show up again and again knowing God will honor your willingness to prioritize the local church both in your life and in the generations to come.

Make a Move

How would you describe your current relationship to the Church?  What about to a local church?

If you’re not a part of a local church, what next steps do you need to take in order to connect with one?

If you’re committed to a local church, what could you do to go deeper in serving the people in your body?

Do your children know why you are part of a local church or do they see it as another weekly obligation? 

List three ways God has sanctified (matured) you through the local church and share them with your children.