Take Root!

While we as Christians are individually responsible, we also need to remember that we as a body of believers are connected, physically and spiritually, to other church members, locally and to a certain extent also more universally.

People sometimes say that they can worship God on their own, like maybe sitting by a babbling creek on a Sunday morning instead of attending the local church. Yes, we do need to try to see God in creation, but we also need one another. The image of the body in 1 Corinthians 12 shows that each person is important, and that he or she fills a very important part of the local church. Attending church on Sunday not only helps that person to worship God but as is pointed out in Hebrews 10:25, it also helps other people in the congregation.

Living trees often keep nearby stumps alive through their connected root system. Like the tree roots, by attending and trying to be an active part of the local church, we as Christians become connected to its root system. While we might sometimes feel small and insignificant, we also become connected with other Christians in other congregations, people we might never meet but whom we have a common bond with.

Modern forestry often makes use of clear-cutting techniques, clearing big areas of dense forest with few living trees left. Because of few, if any, living trees are left, almost all the stumps then die and decompose.

As Christians we need to remember this and to take root in a local congregation by connecting to the root system of the church. Failure to do this, like the stumps in the clearcut areas, often means we feel disconnected and sometimes experience spiritual disillusion. Thus, getting connected to the local church is a very big deal!