Home in the Church

written by Wendy Goodwin in 2002

For several weeks the sisters in Lacey, Washington, have been asking ourselves what we could share about our experiences that would show bits of the reality of life in the church. Something that happened one day keeps popping into my mind. At first I thought, “I could share that.” It seemed negative and that is not my experience of the church as a whole. The more I thought about that day, however, the more I realized it was evidence of true church life.

I had been working all morning. I work at home, so I had been buried deep inside my own little duplex in my own little world. By the time I finished it was about 2:00. I really just wanted to be around a sister, so I walked out of my front door, down the walk, and into my driveway. From there I could see no vehicles. That meant Ruth and Maggie were not home. So I walked around the corner hoping to find Marietta at home. Nope. So I walked back past my house and down around the corner the other way to see if Mary Ellen was home. Again—No. Walking back to my house all I could think was, “what is the point of living in this neighborhood with my sisters if they aren’t home when I want them.”

Can you see what I first thought? Doesn’t it seem a little negative? However, the more I thought about it the more I saw past my initial reaction. What Christian woman expects to walk out her front door and find any number of Christian sisters within blocks of her home? I doubt many would share this expectation, but it is my expectation—not just for that day, but for any day! The day I described was rare day in my life in the church. I have moved a couple blocks from that duplex now and I walk out of my house nearly every day to find a sister with whom to talk. Sometimes we have planned to meet, but many times it is just spontaneous.

I have truly been surprised at my experience in the church. My experience of Christians before was rather distant. Whether consciously or subconsciously, we protected ourselves from each other. It was easy to be an outsider, to be lonely, and to be hurt. I won’t say that my sisters and I don’t have moments when we feel these things now, but they are specs in the total experience. Before acceptance by other Christians was based on what we believed and what we did; now we are just accepted as His.

The Lord accepts us solely based on Him. We don’t have to do anything to gain His love—He gives it freely. We just come to Him and we are His. We talk about that a great deal here in Lacey. At first it was just words expressing what we saw to be right. Now all of us believe it, at least most of the time. It is easier to see how it is true for the others than to see how it is true for me. I think the thing that has helped us the most to believe it is knowing our brothers and sisters here accept us that way. No matter what I think I have done wrong or how I feel about myself on any given day, I can walk into a sister’s house and find unconditional love. I KNOW she loves me, but I can’t explain it. It is a beautiful expression of my Lord—of our Lord. Because of this we have learned and are still learning to let down the walls that we built to protect ourselves. We don’t have to protect ourselves here; so we don’t need those walls of separation.

Like I said, some times we still feel inadequate, lonely, and unloved. We each hate to think any of our sisters feeling that way, so recently we decided to do something to remind us who we are in our Lord. Every two weeks we draw names. At some point in the next two weeks we send a note to the sisters whom we have chosen. Let me share with you two of the notes my sisters have written me.

You are a very precious and necessary part of the Body of Christ. I am very thankful the Lord has placed you here where we can see Him in everything you do. Thank you for being such a wonderful sister.

You are beautiful; you are as My Son is—holy, pure; you have no blemishes. Remember, Wendy, I am your quiet place. I am your still waters. When you need rest, I’m here to comfort you. Feast on Me my child. You’ll never need anything else. I will continue to fill you with myself. We are one. There is no separation. We will dwell together forever.

Oh, can you imagine receiving these notes? So encouraging! Do you know those words can be said about you too? One of the reasons we so desire to be together is that we remind each other who we are in Christ. No work is necessary. Every day I am with my brothers and sisters here in the church I KNOW it to be more TRUE. I am holy, my sisters are holy, and my brothers are holy. I see the holiness in them more and the flesh in them less. It is funny how you have to be close enough to see the flesh before you can see past the flesh and see the holiness. Our Lord has interesting ways of showing Himself to us and through us.

I was sitting in Maggie’s living room the other day when I had this beautiful thought. Just to be in the same room with my sister is an expression of Christ’s love for her. I get to be part of that. We were talking about nothing important, laundry or something like that. But I felt so much love for her that it could be nothing other than our Lord’s own feelings for her. The longer we are together, the more whatever we do together becomes an expression of Him.

One of the practical things we have done that really allows us to become this close, was to move into a neighborhood together. No only blocks separate most of us. Being together is just simpler now that we can walk around the corner or across the park. Physically being in such close proximity to each other allows us to do a great deal that would be more difficult if we all had to travel from different parts of the city. We get together a couple times a week to be with the Lord together—being quiet with the Lord and just talking with Him together. We get together to see our Lord in the scripture and to read books that are encouraging to us.

Some of us do not live in the same little neighborhood that the rest of us do. They require a little more effort, but it is easy—not really work at all. Love has overcomes the inconvenience. At first it took a lot of reminding ourselves to call them so they could be included in our spontaneous getting together, but practice has improved things. They like us living together too because they can always find someone here and often get to see a number of people at once.

There is more depth and fullness in Christ in my life being a sister in the church. Christ is so alive and touchable to me here. I could go on and on about life in the church, but it would still not do it justice. If you are stirred by anything any of us say, please come and taste your Lord in one of the churches. He is more pleasant and filling than you can imagine.