Church in Life

No matter what we are in Christ, it can never replace who we are in Christ.

I got this expression—church in life—from a dear friend in Australia, Mark Setch. Three little one-syllable words that say so much! My heart aches today for people I know whose gifts have elevated them to some level of prominence within their particular institutions. Even if they intellectually understand the three little one-syllable words, they enjoy little to none of the reality.

Those who do not know how to live life as fellow-members of the body of Christ have no recourse or outlet for expression other than the exercising of their gifts—wrongly elevating their gifts above those of others in the body. Hiding behind pulpits can be a very lonely life. Finding our identities in titles and positions is impossible. Yet, these people whom I carry in my heart are deceived and settle for being what they do.

We are who we are by the grace of God, not according to what we do. The doing is to come forth out of being; being does not come out of doing. I am. Therefore, I do. Those who don’t know who they are apart from their performance are robbing themselves of life’s most precious treasures that are only discovered by “one anothering.”

If we could get down inside of men’s hearts and go back far enough in history, my guess is that we would find that the present institutional religious systems were founded by people who were doers, but did not know church in life. Doers have certainly perpetuated and catapulted these systems, perhaps because these systems perpetuate and catapult them.

Many doers—even those who are very good at what they do—have baggage that keeps them from church in life. Hiding from others behind what they do usually means that their baggage is never dealt with. And they go through life bound by their baggage rather than being loosed to love.

The fruit of their doing is usually a people who spend life in church rather than as vibrant parts of church in life.