Grace Baptist Church of Arlington

Yes, we desperately need the church.  I’m delighted that a couple of weeks ago we welcomed new members into the fold of Grace Baptist Church of Arlington.  When they united with our church those new members declared that they needed help following Jesus (that’s humility in action) and that they wanted to help others follow Jesus (that’s love in action).  We were not made to live alone, and we were not made to follow Jesus alone. Think about the “one another” commands.

The gathered church helps us (very practically) to be with one another — to know one another — to have relationships with one another.  That seems to be increasingly important as technology allows us more and more to be separated from one another.  27 years ago John Stott made something of a prediction.   Here’s what he said:

John Stott, I Believe in Preaching, p. 69:

It is difficult to imagine the world in the year A.D. 2000, by which time versatile micro-processors are likely to be as common as simple calculators are today.

We should certainly welcome the fact that the silicon chip will transcend human brain-power, as the machine has transcended human muscle-power.

Much less welcome will be the probable reduction of human contact as the new electronic network renders personal relationships ever less necessary.

In such a dehumanized society the fellowship of the local church will become increasingly important, whose members meet one another, and talk and listen to one another in person rather than on screen. In this human context of mutual love the speaking and hearing of the Word of God is also likely to become more necessary for the preservation of our humanness, not less.

It was an amazing prediction then, and the world is an amazing place now.  Still, just as the church was needed then, it is needed now.  We need the church to help us love and follow Christ.  Technology can be helpful in our pursuit of Christ (I hope that this blog is helpful to some in their pursuit of Christ), and yet more than technology, we need the ordinary means of grace: the preached Word, the gathered church, and Christians pursuing the spiritual good of each other in the context of a visible community.  To put it simply, we need the church.

HT: JT on the John Stott quote.

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Under Church, Grace Happenings, Reflections