fundamentals revisited

I think I was in third grade Sunday School when I remember my teacher telling me that the church is not a building but people. I even remember singing "I am the church, you are the church, we are the church together." (I've been singing that song all day today, thanks to this recalled memory). Anyway, I remember how that was such a huge learning for me. I was the Church that Jesus talked about...and you....and all of God's people, all around the world, yes, we're the church together....okay, enough singing already. Anyway, what I want to say is that this is pretty fundamental....Christianity 101, really. We learn early that the Church is people. That we are to be Christ's hands and feet and voice and truth and love out in the world.

We also learn early on about the importance of kindness and how kind words and actions have powerful impact and influence. This too is a fundamental.

How easily we can stray from these fundamentals, though! At least, I can! And I just need reminders in front of me from time to time. I need refresher courses in the basics to recalibrate in case I'm veering or steering down some other path.

Love Cedar Valley (www.lovecedarvalley.com) is one such event that serves as a reminder to the fundamentals that the church is not a building but rather God's people, unified as one Body in Christ, and that kindness is remarkably powerful in both the lives of the giver and the receiver. I spent tonight in a meeting where there are currently 28 churches planning to serve our community and worship together on April 25. We prayed, and we caught a glimpse of the unified Body of Christ. We shared ideas of how to reach out in the lovingkindness of our God to touch our Cedar Valley neighbors.

What a great reminder this was to me of what is to be normal in our Christian walk. It helps me ask myself questions. Questions like, "How am I being kind in my home these days? Am I noticing people around me and speaking words of kindness? Have I offered gestures of kindness to people I come into contact with in a given week? How have I been unkind to people to close to me?" Questions like, "How is Christ living in and through me these days? Am I staying connected to the Vine so that I can truly be His Church? Do I work toward unity? How am I reaching outside of myself to serve and share Christ with my neighbor?"