(Image: Valeria Ali speaking to Dr. Eddie Parish at Antioch’s Sunday service.)
What areas of your interior life still need to be submitted to God so that you can fully represent Christ?
A few weeks back at Antioch’s Sunday church service, I was sitting on the second row, listening to guest speakers Dr. Eddie and Judy Parish share a word. Dr. Eddie and Judy Parish talked about growing in emotional health. They both shared so much wisdom during that service that it has forever transformed my perspectives on life and the character of God.
One of the shifts in my perspective was my idea of the meaning of the word church– “the temple of God.”
For most people who have (or have not) been raised in Western Christianity, the first thing that typically comes to mind when they hear the word church is an image of a building or temple. Of course, church, by definition, according to a quick Google search, means “a building used for public Christian worship.”
But what if the word “church” meant something different to Jesus Christ (JC)?
After that Sunday morning church service at Antioch, I began believing that Jesus actually references believers as the “church,” and not necessarily a physical building. Through that lens, God is saying that being in the church is much more important than sitting in on service every Sunday at a physical church building.
When you look at Jesus’ life described in the Bible, you read more often than not, that four walls did not confine Jesus to be the hands and feet of God on Earth. People desperately ran to Him for divine healing from diseases, a heartfelt hug, deliverance from evil spirits, a warm shoulder to cry on, a word of encouragement, and so on.
Jesus was the church everywhere He walked during His time on Earth.
And in theory, so should Believers also feel encouraged to be the church.
The miracles, wonders, and revelations that happen at church services shouldn’t just happen there. It should happen in the daily lives of every believer, whether they are at the physical church building or not.
That’s what being a Christian means. But Christians have to believe that.
Now, think about this.
The majority of Western churches have multiple rooms in the building. Some rooms are used for activities such as life groups, bible study, worship, babysitting the little ones, or others. Some rooms are not used at all. Those rooms do not have the lights on; they’re filled with dust and probably have some (gross) critters hanging around. For those rooms to be used and for the church to be completely lit like a lamp on a hilltop, those rooms need a vision and a deep clean with Clorox, Fabulosa, and Windex!
I challenge you to believe that you are the church/temple of God. Then, assess what rooms in your church still need to be cleaned up and dusted off for God.
In other words, what areas of your interior life still need to be submitted to God so that you can fully represent Christ on Earth outside of the church building?
It could be pride, hurt, lust, comparison, anger, jealousy, drugs, negative thoughts, or others.
Pray about it, and ask a trusted believer to help back you in your prayer. Then consider going to therapy if you find that you need some extra support cleaning up your church.
It’s time to clean up your church, Church!
Listen to the Sunday church service I mentioned in the first paragraph:
Hi, and welcome to my ✨thought life✨ written out- think of this as @thevaleriaali’s blog. From season to season, you’ll be able to read about things that are most on my heart. You can expect to look forward to reading topics around Jesus, lifestyle, mindset, and more. There’s no set schedule as to when I’ll post. I could upload a piece weekly, monthly or every two months - heck this could be the last blog you’ll read from me, lol! Just know that when I do share, the words I write come from a convicted and sincere heart! Hope you enjoy it. XOXO! - Valeria Ali