You Are Not Your Own: Belonging to God in an Inhuman World

by Alan Noble

The same may be said for the body of Christ. To follow Christ, to acknowledge that you belong to Him and that He died for your sins, requires accepting the obligation of belonging to the church. And if you have been in a church long enough, you know that this commitment is not an easy cross to bear. People disappoint. It is much easier to cut and run when belonging is unpleasant, painful, or uncomfortable. While belonging to the church, you will be hurt. You will have to learn to love people who look different from you, who have different interests, passions, and languages. You’ll have to give sacrificially to support people who in a strict meritocracy don’t “deserve” your compassion or aid. You’ll have to submit to the right leadership of elders. You’ll have to get over yourself and get out of your head. Maybe hardest of all, you’ll have to do all this while rejecting the lie that it is your love and service that makes you righteous or important or justified. You are righteous because Christ is righteous. You love and serve because He loved and served you.