I was doing a little study in preparation for our elder’s retreat this weekend, and ran across these punchy observations regarding a difficult passage (1 John 2:19 – “They went out from us, but they were not really of us; for if they had been of us, they would have remained with us; but they went out, so that it would be shown that they all are not of us”). It should be observed, he is making observations largely as it pertained to England, which has the Church of England, a state recognized church. Even so, I don’t think his analysis is any less applicable to American Evangelicalism.

We may think, as we look at the modern Church, and as we compare and contrast it with what appertained earlier this century, that we have fallen upon evil days and that the Church is no longer the Church of God. But look at it like this: at one time everybody went to church, and the churches were packed and crowded. But are we to assume from that that everybody who went to church was a true Christian? There were people who went to church for very strange and curious reasons; it was a habit or a custom; it was a social thing; it paid for people to go to church [socially or for reputation]. No, we must not assume that because the churches were packed they packed with Christians…

 

…The ultimate test is that we are OF the Church. That is how John puts it — ‘they went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us.’ What does this mean exactly; how may I know whether I am really “of” the Church or not? Well, it surely means this: True Christians are those who are in vital union with the Church. They are not loosely attached to it; they have not just got their names on the roll. They do not merely recognize a general sort of allegiance once a day or on some special Sunday. No, they are bound by vital bonds of union. In other words, they have life in them; they do not have to force themselves, but rather, they cannot help themselves. It is the difference between a member of the family and a great friend of the family; there is something within them that tells them, ‘This is my life; I am bound to them; these are my people.’ For them it is the big thing; they are bound by bonds of life itself; it is an organic and vital union, and the result is that they are in true fellowship with other Christians. They feel bound to them in a sense that they are not bound to anybody else. They feel that they understand them in a way that they do not understand anybody else; they feel that the Church is their home in a sense that nothing else is their home — “of us!”

 

There, it seems to me, is the vital distinction. So we ask ourselves a simple question: where do these things come in my daily life? What exactly is the place and value of these things in my experience? What is my attitude toward the whole thing? Is it central and vital, or is it something on the periphery of which I constantly have to remind myself? The people who are not ‘of us’ are the people who are on the fringe…

Wow! Programs, visitation, thank you cards, visitor packets, membership classes and suggesting to newbies that they “get plugged in” to ministry cannot CREATE this kind of relational vitality in the soul. Either the Spirit of God has joined you together with Christ to His spiritual family, and you enjoy this experience. Or, there is no experience of it, because the Spirit of God is not there. That is not to say that the things above cannot, or should not, be used to further cultivate those vital relationships (they can be deepened). Certainly, they can and should be sought and cultivated. But let’s be clear…it cannot create them.

His analysis summarized: “Those who do not love the church (it’s people, not its structures), do not love the Lord of the church. Pure and simple!”