The Church: A Place to Call Home

In Hebrews 10:25, we’re told not to forsake “the assembling of ourselves together” as a body of believers. The church is supposed to be a place where we unite in fellowship, in order to build up one another in the faith. Paul said, “Comfort each other and edify one another, just as you also are doing . . . Be at peace among yourselves” (1 Thes 5:11, 13). The church should be a place where people can turn in times of difficulty; a place where they can feel secure; and a place they can call home.

Home is a location, or perhaps even a state of mind, that everyone’s searching for; whether they’ll admit it or not. For example, in the movie “Garden State,” the character Andrew Largeman observed,

You know that point in your life when you realize that the house you grew up in isn’t really your home anymore? All of a sudden, even though you have some place where you can put your stuff, that idea of home is gone . . . You won’t have this feeling again until you create a new idea of home for yourself . . . for your kids, for the family you start . . . Maybe that’s all family really is – a group of people who miss the same . . . place.

Notice how he mentioned creating a family around the idea of home. For the believer, the church is “our family created around the idea of home.” I once saw a church logo that expressed the kind of safety and security that we’re all seeking. It read, “A place to belong. A place to begin again.” Too many times, however, we don’t feel like we have a church family; it doesn’t really feel like home. I want to share with you an illustration, which I’ve edited in order to cut down on length:

Many years ago in England a circus elephant named Bozo . . . [had a change in] personality. Several times he tried to kill his keeper, and when the children came near his cage he would charge toward them as if wanting to trample them to death. It was obvious he would have to be destroyed . . .

[One day] the huge circus tent was packed . . . [and] out of the crowd came a short, inconspicuous man in a brown derby hat. [He told the manager], “There is no need [to kill this animal] . . . give me two minutes in the cage alone with him” . . . “All right,” he said, “but first you will have to sign a release absolving the circus of all responsibility.” The small man signed the paper . . . The door to the cage was unlocked, the man stepped inside, then the door was locked behind him . . .

At the sight of this stranger in his cage the elephant threw back his trunk, let out a mighty roar, then bent his head preparing to charge. The man stood quite still, a faint smile on his face as he began to talk to the animal . . . He seemed to be speaking some foreign language. Slowly, as the man continued to talk, the elephant raised his head. Then the crowd heard an almost piteous cry from the elephant as his enormous head began to sway gently from side to side. Smiling, the man walked confidently to the animal and began to stroke the long trunk. All aggression seemed suddenly to have been drained from the elephant . . .

After a while the man bade farewell to the elephant and left the cage . . . He told the manager, “You see, he’s an Indian elephant and none of you spoke his language, Hindustani. I would advise you to get someone around here who speaks Hindustani. He was just homesick.” And with that, the little man put on his coat and hat and left. The astounded manager looked down at the slip of paper in his hand. The name the man had signed was Rudyard Kipling.

There are countless people lost without Jesus Christ, searching for home. Many times they enter the church to discover that it doesn’t feel like home. It might feel like a country club, or possibly a war zone; but not home. If we fail to create an atmosphere of home, then people will leave the church, never knowing what it is to have a real home in Jesus and in heaven. If we want to present a safe-haven and a home to the lost, then we need to start speaking the language of home.

Allow me to share what an atmosphere of home looks like, from the words of nineteenth century pastor Frederick W. Robertson. He said, “Home is the one place in all this world where hearts are sure of each other. It is the place of confidence.  It is the place where we tear off that mask of guarded and suspicious coldness which the world forces us to wear in self-defense, and where we pour out the unreserved communications of full and confiding hearts.  It is the spot where expressions of tenderness gush out without any sensation of awkwardness and without any dread of ridicule.”

The author of Hebrews said, “Let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching” (Heb 10:24-25). In order to create an atmosphere of home, we must consider others first; be certain to love people; present opportunities for individuals to serve according to their giftedness; be sure to encourage others; and provide venues for people to fellowship with one another as often as possible.

Escaping the Cave of Despair

When I was in my early twenties, I used to go cave exploring as often as possible with a friend. Sometimes we went caving about twice a week. One evening we followed a lead for a new cave that we’d heard about, one that was in the top of a ridge and that was supposed to be really huge. When someone tells you that a cave is really large, then it’s probably no bigger than a groundhog hole.

After an hour of ridge walking, we finally saw a small hole at the top of a knob. We got down on our hands and knees; and when we crawled in about five feet, we started smelling something really gross. We crawled in a little further and we soon discovered the source of the smell, which just happened to be an old dead dog.

There’s nothing worse than the stench of death. So, what does the Lord have to say about the times that we smell the stench of death in our spiritual life; when we enter the cave of despair and hopelessness? In 1 Kings 19:9-10, we read:

And there he went into a cave, and spent the night in that place; and behold, the word of the Lord came to him, and He said to him, “What are you doing here, Elijah?” So he said, “I have been very zealous for the Lord God of hosts; for the children of Israel have forsaken Your covenant, torn down Your altars, and killed Your prophets with the sword. I alone am left; and they seek to take my life.”

Elijah entered the cave of despair, prompted by fear and self-pity. The Lord had just given him a great victory by displaying His power over the prophets of Baal, when He sent down fire from heaven to devour a sacrifice that was doused with many pots of water. The Lord had also allowed Elijah to capture and execute the prophets of Baal (1 Kgs 18:20-40). Elijah should’ve realized the Lord would protect him no matter what; but Queen Jezebel threatened to kill him, and he fled in fear (19:2-3).

The way that Elijah acted is how we sometimes act. The Lord can place a calling on our life to serve Him. He can show us many signs that confirm our calling and His presence among us. We can face many challenges bravely; but there’ll be something to come along that will unnerve us, and cause us to feel as though we can’t go on. When this happens we tend to feel defeated, and then we attempt to run away from God. We feel like giving up altogether; and like Elijah, we come up with the excuse that no one else cares about the Lord, so why should we even try anymore!

When we run from the Lord we can feel as though we’re in a deep pit surrounded by darkness. Maybe you’re in a place of despair because you’ve run from the Lord just as Elijah did, but let me tell you that God will pursue you when you run away from Him. In Psalm 139:7, David asked, “Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from Your presence?” Just remember that you can run from the Lord, but you can’t hide!

When He catches up to you, He’s going to ask you the same question that He asked Elijah in verse 9, which is, “What are you doing here?” When you’re in despair and you ask yourself why you’re there, please keep in mind that the Lord is the one prompting the question. How will you answer Him?

The ultimate cave of despair that a person can enter into is death. So, what does the Bible have to say about the darkness and the finality of death? In John 11:38-41, 43-44, we read:

Then Jesus, again groaning in Himself, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone lay against it. Jesus said, “Take away the stone.” Martha, the sister of him who was dead, said to Him, “Lord, by this time there is a stench, for he has been dead four days.” Jesus said to her, “Did I not say to you that if you would believe you would see the glory of God?” Then they took away the stone from the place where the dead man was lying . . .

[Jesus] cried with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come forth!” And he who had died came out bound hand and foot with graveclothes, and his face was wrapped with a cloth. Jesus said to them, “Loose him, and let him go.”

In any other form of disparity we can often find ways to help ourselves, but there’s no way to escape death. No human being can resurrect another person from the dead; and if they did, it wouldn’t be by their own power, but God’s. We can resuscitate someone, as in performing C.P.R., but not bring a person back to life after they’ve been lying in the grave. Jesus is the only one who can resurrect someone from the dead.

The death that I’m talking about is not physical death, but a spiritual one. Romans 6:23 tells us, “The wages of sin is death,” meaning death to a person’s soul, which is equivalent to spending eternity in hell. Jesus overcame death after He died on the cross and was resurrected. In order for us to be raised from spiritual death into spiritual life, we must believe that Jesus rose from the grave. Jesus has power over sin and death, and He will grant us that power too, but only if we believe that He is able.

Jesus said in verse 40, “Did I not say to you that if you would believe you would see the glory of God?” We must believe and have faith in Jesus Christ in order to be rescued from the ultimate cave of despair, and receive eternal spiritual life.

Whenever we find ourselves in despair, we often feel as though we’re in a dark cave and that death is slowly encroaching. We’re not alone, though, for the Lord sees us wherever we are, He sustains us in our time of need, and He hears our cry and is ready to rescue us when we ask for His help. He is even able to bring us back to life once we die; but only if we call on the name of Jesus Christ.