What Priority Should the Church Have in the Believer's Life?

What priority should the local church have in the life of a believer? It is given by the Apostle John in 1 John 3:16 as follows,

1 John 3:16 By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers. 

The church is not a club, a social group, a local chapter of some organization. It is the living, breathing, temple of the Holy Spirit. It is the elect from every nation. It is the very people Christ came for, lived for and died for. Matt 1:21 She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins." 

The value of the church, to the Father, is Christ, for Christ is the price he paid for it. Is 53:10 Yet it was the will of the LORD to crush him; he has put him to grief; when his soul makes an offering for guilt, he shall see his offspring; he shall prolong his days; the will of the LORD shall prosper in his hand. 


And of course, our Lord commanded that we love one another. Love for the brethren defines us as disciples (learners) of Christ. 

John 13:34 A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. 35 By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another."

(As an aside, it is the law of God which tells us how we are to love our brethren. 1 John 5:2 By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and obey his commandments.)

The extent to which we should love our brethren is found in the verse above from 1 John 3. We should be willing to lay our lives down for one another, just as Christ laid his life down for us.

This isn't a theory; this isn't a nice idea to put on some placard or wall. It's not optional for Christians. It is what the Lord desires of us. We ought to lay our lives down for the brothers.  

Now we will all fall short of this mark, and thanks be to God for the blood of Christ which cleanses us of all sin. But we should at least know and understand that this is what our Lord wants of us. 

It should also be noted that what we should be willing to give our lives for are the people in the church, not the institution of the church, not the buildings or campus or programs, not the traditions or culture of the church. It is the people who matter. It is for them that Christ died. 

This willingness to lay our lives down for one another doesn't just mean that if we get into a tight spot with some believers, we would be willing to give our life for theirs. It includes this of course, but also everything leading up to giving our lives actually. 

It includes a willingness to not forsake the assembly when the church meets. It includes praying for our brothers without ceasing. It includes esteeming our brothers more highly than ourselves. It includes exhorting, encouraging and admonishing our brothers. It includes making the church a priority with our time, energy and resources. It means laboring alongside our brethren to fulfill the great commission (Matt 28:18-20).

How can we lay our lives down for the brethren if we are not willing to do the above things? 

We should also understand that laying our lives down for the brethren means doing so in the way the word of God says, and not our own way. We naturally want to do things our own way, and this would be no exception. But the way the Lord wants us to lay our lives down for the brethren is to obey his word- to do what it actually says. 

We need to seek his grace to do this for we won't do it on our own. 

This is the priority the church should have in our lives - that is to say the people in our church - and Christ was our example. He obeyed the Father unto death and gave his life for us. He lived and died for the church. We ought to as well. 

Lord, grant us the desire and ability to love our brethren as you would have us - with our very lives.  Amen.