Belonging to Christ

When was the last time you felt weighed down by all your responsibilities, whether at home, at work, or even at church? It’s never easy. Sometimes you just wish you could skip ahead, especially when a deadline is coming up. Still, you manage to get through each task and finally breathe a sigh of relief when it’s all finished.

In a similar way, I think about all the people around the world who still haven’t heard the gospel or experienced the community Jesus started. This community began with the 120 disciples who gathered after Jesus’ ascension (Acts 1:15). After Pentecost, more people joined them when they responded to Peter’s message. Luke writes, “the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved” (Acts 2:47, NKJV). As the gospel spread beyond Jerusalem, Jesus’ followers were even accused of having “turned the world upside down” (Acts 17:6, NKJV).

With so many people who have never heard the gospel, how should we understand Jesus’ words that the gospel “will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come” (Matthew 24:14)? Will there be people in God’s kingdom who were never openly connected to the church?

In discussing the visible and invisible aspects of the church, Raoul Dederen observed that “it is possible…that there are persons within the visible church who are not true believers, therefore not actually part of the body of Christ. Conversely, it is possible for some to be savingly related to Christ without belonging to the visible church” (Handbook of Seventh-day Adventist Theology, p. 546).

This reminds us not to judge others by our own standards or decide who really belongs to Christ. We are called to encourage each other and “build each other up” (1 Thessalonians 5:11, NLT) as we share the gospel.

As we take part in today’s Communion Service, let’s remember that our true identity is not just as members of a congregation, but as people who belong to Jesus Christ and to His body. May this sense of belonging bring us closer to Him and to each other.

-Pastor Lim