By Laura K. Springer, Th.M., Ph.D.
Supplemental Passages: Ephesians 5:18-20; Colossians 3:16-17
Jesus loves us. So, if we are to glorify God, loving one another is not optional. What might it look like to love one another in the context of our regular church practices?
Church-wide Rituals. Rituals like baptism, communion, and musical worship, have been and continue to be practiced by the church across time and culture. They teach God’s truth in pictures and offer instruction to those who may not yet get it. They help us participate in the life of faith alongside fellow believers who may not be like us.
- Baptism proclaims trust in Jesus and testifies to his death and resurrection in the company of our fellow believers.
- The Lord’s Supper proclaims Jesus’ death until he comes again, forming us as one by focusing our hearts on Jesus’ broken body and shed blood.
- In musical worship, the gathered church declares God’s worth to God under the direction of the Spirit, acting with one mind and one love through an infinitely cross-cultural practice.
Congregation-wide Events. In worship gatherings, business meetings, service to the community, and other types of events, we work together in this place, focusing on Jesus and honoring our life together as a work in progress. As one Body made up of different ages, cultures, and perspectives, we practice putting the preferences of others first, valuing participation, and working alongside those who are different.
- Worship gatherings focus on God alone under the leadership of the Holy Spirit and declare who God is and who we are in him through clear language and loving action.
- In business meetings, believers decide how to carry out God’s mission through our shared work.
- As we serve the community, we become Jesus’s hands by putting care first.
Life Group Activities. Conversation, Bible study, prayer, and shared meals help us form relationships of accountability and grace. Here we make ourselves available outside of the designated times on the church calendar and often away from the church campus. We learn to put others first, speak the truth, and patiently accompany one another as we become more like Jesus.
- Conversation brings us soul-to-soul as we hear and care for one another.
- By studying the Bible together, we help one another grow toward right belief, right practice, and right valuing.
- Praying together aligns our hearts as we hold one another up before God in love.
- Eating together, we learn what is left unspoken and build relationships in which we are free to call one another out and hold each other up.
In gatherings large and small, Christians practice rituals that have lasted centuries. We come together to worship and work and share life. We talk and cry and laugh and pray and dine. In all this, we glorify God. Beloved, let us love one another.
