Blake Long

“To the church of God that is in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints together with all those who in every place call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ,” (1 Corinthians 1:2)

Once you finally understand that being a part of a vibrant, biblical local church is essential to your walk with Jesus, then the question becomes: How can I do my part faithfully?

There are many ways to get involved in your church, but specifically as it relates to congregating with other members, how can you serve them? Here are three.

Pray for Them

The best thing you can do for fellow church members is pray for them. Do so sincerely, earnestly, and faithfully—hopefully they’re doing the same for you. If we believe in the providence and power of God, then we must pray for those who we “do life” with.

And certainly don’t be afraid to ask them if they are in need of prayers—specific prayers. Be intentional about showing that we all rely on prayer; it’s also a great way to display that God uses our prayers to accomplish His will.

If you’re prone to neglect this—like I am—take the necessary steps to remedy that. Make an alarm clark for when you can pray. Jot down a list of names and things you know they are enduring. Make it a priority to intercede on their behalf before the Lord!

Check in on Them

This goes back to praying for their particular situations. You can’t know about what’s going on in their lives if you don’t check in on them. This is why pastors place such an emphasis on not being mere consumers in the local church, but active participants.

In order for Christians to thrive in the local church, not only do the pastors need to be faithful in shepherding and preaching, but other members need to be faithful in coming alongside you. God wants us to care for and love our fellow members.

God also wants us to care for other members maybe without them even knowing. And we should be perfectly fine with that.

Ed Welch said this:

There are people dotted through every single church who love Jesus and love other people in ways that aren’t seen by everybody.

It doesn’t matter if they see you care for them in ways that aren’t visible. God sees. We must care and love other members because of our love for God and our desire to be faithful to His gospel.

Correct Them

We go to church with sinners. Sinners redeemed by the blood of Christ, yes, but still sinners. Sinners who will lie, fabricate, and do things that may be unheard of. Your fellow church members will need correction on occasion—including yourself.

This is vital. Not only must we be willing to correct others in biblical love and truth, but we must be willing to accept correction from others. Correction means the person cares enough about you to see you change—whether changing your views or behavior. The most loving and caring thing you can do for a brother or sister in Christ is to correct them when they are displaying a pattern of sinful behavior. The purity of the church matters, and this is one way to do that.

But we must be careful not to correct others over petty things. There might be things you can disagree over, but doesn’t warrant a formal or informal correction. There’s a line we shouldn’t cross; for if we do, that will breed unnecessary conflict within your local church. If a fellow church member disagrees with you over if Christians are permitted to drink alcohol, for example, let them be. That’s not a hill to die on. (If they are saying Christians are permitted to get drunk, for example, that is a need for correction.)

Together

The next time you attend church, make sure to look around you. By and large, those will be people you will spend eternity with. Pray for them. Check on them. Correct them. Be a part of their lives and let them be a part of yours.

The local church functions as God intended when brothers and sisters in Christ come together to pray for and with each other, check on each other, and correct each other.