Churches of different denominations serve their members and their communities in varied ways. Worship services are primary. Yet many churches also provide Sunday Schools, counseling, soup kitchens, preschools, and cultural festivals, to mention just a few activities. Still, at the heart of any church is the love of its members for God and for each other. Taken to its ultimate extent, this love, reflecting divine Love, has the capacity to heal phsically and morally—as the authors of the articles "in focus" this week found out.
A church without creeds
When King Solomon consecrated the Temple that the people had built, he said of God, "Behold, heaven and the heaven of heaven cannot contain thee; how much less this house which I have built!" (II Chron.6:18). Though he perceived that God could not be confined to a building, apparently he thought of the Temple as a symbol of God's presence. His prayer continued by describing many situations and conditions under which his people could come to the Temple to receive help from God. He included wars and sickness, and also the needs of the stranger in the land.
From King Solomon's day to ours, people find that involvement in church support their efforts to solve all sorts of problems. I found this help myself when I first began attending the Church of Christ, Scientist.
My husband and I had moved to a new city, and I was in a very competitive profession. Most of the time I had a dull ache in my stomach. I didn't feel much love from others when I stepped outside our apartment. I did, however, feel love when I attended the Christian Science church services, and gradually the stomach pain disappeared. Assuming that their loving approach resulted from members' obedience to the creeds of the church, I remember thinking to myself, rather wryly, "These people have to love me." But I didn't really understand what was happening! I didn't know then that their love had nothing to do with creeds. I was feeling the great power of Church, based on the divine Principle, Love. This both impelled their love and healed the stomach ailment.
I was feeling the great power of Church, based on the divine Principle, Love.
A creedless church might seem an oxymoron, yet Mary Baker Eddy made it clear that in founding The First Church of Christ, Scientist, she was founding a church without a creed. She writes in Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, "Creeds, doctrines, and human hypotheses do not express Christian Science; much less can they demonstrate it" (p.98). This textbook and the King James Version of the Bible are the pastor of her Church, a church designed to meet the human needs of the advancing centuries.
Spiritual consecration and affection are essential ingredients in a church that comforts, inspires, and heals. One might say that these qualities are intrinsic in Church itself, which impels obedience to the Ten Commandments, as summarized by Christ Jesus: "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment. And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these" (Mark 12:30, 31).
The true worship of the one God, then, is not blindly believing in His love, but experiencing and expressing it. One may accept a creed without question as a requirement for membership, but one needs to understand a principle, or rule, in order to demonstrate it.
The recognition of God as divine Principle, Love, is fundamental to the practice of Christian Science. "Our church is built on the divine Principle, Love," writes Mrs. Eddy. "We can unite with this church only as we are new-born of Spirit, as we reach the Life which is Truth and the Truth which is Life by bringing forth the fruits of Love,—casting out error and healing the sick" (Science and Health, p.35).
"Uniting with" offers more and demands more than simply joining or belonging to. Church is trivialized if one considers joining it in the same way one considers joining a social, business, or political organization. God, Spirit, is trivialized when work in His Church is made to appear unappealing and unimportant, ineffectual and outdated. On the contrary, participating in church work is often what enables one to bring "forth the fruits of Love."
Christ Jesus said, "A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another" (John 13:34). Learning to love as Jesus loved does not come automatically with signing the membership roster of any church. Regardless of denomination, it might be said that an underlying goal of all church organizations is to help members achieve some understanding and expression of genuine love. Constant vigilance is essential, however, to advance church affiliation from being merely an acceptance of a belief system to a working out of one's salvation in the way Christ Jesus outlined.
One time when we were looking for a home in a suburb, a friend, observing our many fruitless efforts at finding a house, mentioned that we might consider establishing our church home first. This uncovered a lazy thought that I had entertained. I was working hard for our church and thought the move might enable me to cut back a little. We did, however, accept our friend's advice and applied for membership in the Christian Science church in the new suburb.
Within days, we found our house. And work in that church was natural and delightful for both my husband and me. Putting our lives on the firmest foundation we knew brought order and enrichment to our home. To me, this was evidence that the building of individual lives and of civilization cannot achieve its full potential without reliance on God.
Uniting with church is celebrating a union made in heaven! Whether a stranger or one who has worked long in a church organization, the humble seeker is inevitably lifted above merely believing in God to experiencing the joy of being "new-born of Spirit." This new birth is an acceptance of one's spiritual nature, at one with Truth and Love, actively expressing unerring Principle.
Joining the human institution of church is joining with others in helping lift mankind to the more spiritual living that results.
