When I was growing up with my Dad and my sister, part of my morning routine was brushing hurriedly the front of my hair and then rushing to the couch to watch morning cartoons before school. After a few a days, my fine hair would tangle into a matted mess at the back of my neck. A teenage girl in the Christian school took her lunch break every few days, and armed with detangle spray and thick comb, she would take the whole lunch hour to work through my tangled mess until we could run our fingers through it. She never made me feel dirty or looked down on me. She filled that void for me in a way that made lasting memories.
That teenage girl grew up and had four children, three of which are girls. She sadly passed away about a year ago. When I visited their church last August, her girls told me about the new hair brushes one of the ladies had bought them and about how a lady in the church does their hair every week. Many people in the church are filling the void in those girls’ lives, just like their mom did for me many years ago.
This is God’s purpose for the church. God did not die for us to sit on a pew, but His intention for us is to walk into the company of our church family with the proverbial hair brush and look for voids to fill. We must look for lost souls who need salvation. We must look for hurting hearts that need encouragement. We must be the “village” for the child who needs a good example.
My friend who is now in Heaven was the perfect example in my life of how God intended us to be toward our church family. I do not know where my family would be without the love and investment of the church. We all get our feelings hurt in church at times, but NOTHING is worth giving up the church family God has given us. We need the church.
Bear ye one another’s burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ. – Galatians 6:9
by Elizabeth Myers
