What do I do when there’s no God-fearing church near me?
As I journeyed across the Anabaptist and Reformed churches of Boston and Pennsylvania, looking for the church that does not fall short of the Word, I grew to realize that every (institutional) church falls short in one way or another – perhaps some are too liberal in the wrong areas, others are conservative but too overbearingly focused in the wrong areas, either one or the other unable to fulfill all of Jesus’ commands – and I was disappointed. Where is the one God-fearing church that loves God in all the areas?
But as I realize, that as in Romans 8:19,
All creation awaits with eager longing for the revealing of the Sons of God.
The New Heavens and New Earth (as reflected upon in All Things New by John Eldredge) is not here yet. But we are longing for the day to come, when all is made new, and there is the one God-fearing Church of all believers that loves God in their all, in their fullness.
And this is a good sentiment to struggle with:
The Lord wants us to love Him with all of us. The Hebrew מאד (“me’od”) from Deuteronomy 6:4, otherwise known as Shema Israel (“Hear, O Israel”), in NIV is translated as “all your strength”, and in the KJV is translated as “all your might.” But scholars argue that it should be translated as with “your all“, as מאד (the Hebrew word) is not strength, nor might, but very much. The awkwardness of “love the Lord your God with all your very much” results in a unfulfilling attempt to bring this into the English language. But because the difficulty of articulating מאד in proper English, I consider the Word of God over our limited grammatically valid English constructions, and question, instead, do you love God with all of your very much?
When Jesus was questioned what the greatest command was, He quotes Deuteronomy in Mark 12:30, with מאד translated as strength in the NIV to
Love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ This is the first commandment.
Jesus tells us to love the LORD our God with our מאד. This is why it is good to long for the Church to love God with our מאד. But no church today can reach the fullness of God’s Church in the New Creation, and it is okay to struggle with this, as we are unable to currently attain that New Creation, as all creation is bearing the pains of child-birth in struggle-filled longing until that day comes.
But it should cause us to love the church all the more, just as Christ loved us. He loved us to the point of death on the cross. He desired reconciliation with us, through His death on the cross. He reconciled us to Himself. Through Him, we are reconciled with God. Thus, He gives us a ministry of reconciliation.
What does it look like to become reconciled to one another, recognizing that we are reconciled by Christ to God? What does this look like in the church that is struggling towards the Church in the New Creation?
What does humility in approaching this look like? Realizing that I, too, fall short in fulfilling all of the Lord’s requirements, to love Him with my מאד. But that one day, too, I will love the LORD my God with all of my very much.