Lists of People
Lists
of People
1 Chronicles has been a tough one. Personally, I'd rather read Leviticus and the laws of Moses than the lists and lists and repeated lists of names that are tedious and hard to pronounce. Some people did things, some were just progeny of Abraham. Why does it matter? What spiritual nourishment could we in 2022 glean from these lists and lists of Hebrews long since past?
We have lists today
Some lists are formal and some informal, but they define the relationship between those on the list and those not on the list. For example, those on Mia's soccer team, Ms. Immen's class roster, Mr. Ahonen's co-workers, State Department employees at the US Embassy in Rome, the individuals in your family.
Boundaries define who is in the group and who is not. Just try convincing the guards and the embassy that you should be allowed in without credentials. Or sitting in Ms. Immen's class if you're actually a 40-year old man. Or going to work with Mr. Ahonen and expecting to get paid as an employee when you're actually a 3rd grader at AOSR.
God has a list
Did you know that God keeps a list of those who are his?
“12 And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Then another book was opened, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged by what was written in the books, according to what they had done.”
Yikes! That book of names is probably the most important list in all of eternity. Men, women and children throughout the ages judged by whether they believed that Jesus was the Son of God who died for their sin. We in 2022, naturally think about that in terms of personal salvation, but that truth is overemphasized in our minds and needs to be tempered with the corporate reality of Christ's sacrifice. Yes, he saved you, AND, he saved you into a corporate body...his bride...the church.
It was for the names in that book that Jesus gave himself up (Eph. 5:25), they are his bride. Jesus is a 'one-woman' man. Although we relate to him personally, he equally and completely loves his bride, the church. How do you understand your relationship to Jesus as it relates to his wife-to-be?
The Local Church List
So the greatest peril of all our eternity is to not have our names listed in that book.
“15 And if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire. ”
We don't get to see the names in that book until the very end of the age. BUT, we do know how to be sure a name, even our name, is in that book. Just like sitting in Ms. Immen's classroom doesn't make you her student, so involvement in a local church doesn't get your name on the list in God's book. So what does? Filling out paperwork and agreeing to a church's doctrines and policies to become a member? Still no, although those aren't bad things.
The local church is a display of the manifold wisdom of God to the spiritual world (Eph 3:10). The local church is a 'here', 'now' spiritual reality that God's grace has come to a group of people professing faith in Jesus Christ and submitting to the Word of God and one another (Eph 5:21). Christians being Christians, led by the Spirit as defined by the Word. This local church, Rome International, keeps a list of those who profess Christ and desire to humbly submit to the Word and to one another so that they can support each other in obeying the commands of Christ. As the Lord leads individuals into our congregation we invite professing Christians onto a list that is a defined representation of this local church for the glory of God and the good of the local church.
Don't put me on a list
Some people don't want to be on a list. We get that. It's easier to pay money and send your children to a challenging school environment, or surrender your credit card number to an online movie platform than it is to submit to other sinful humans who have warts (physical and spiritual), and might unfairly point out your own. Others are members of their church "back home", and will continue there when they return. To all these we say, "Jesus loves you, he'll lead you, care for you and welcome you into his arms after this life if you've trusted in him."
If you're not on a local church's membership list, that doesn't mean you're not a Christian. Even if you're on one, that doesn't make you a Christian either. But, it seems that lists were and are important to God. He's given Jesus followers a set way of living that cannot be fully realized without each other. So we think joining a local church is good for our growth in the knowledge and grace of Jesus, even for our transient international who may only be here for a short time.
Together for the Kingdom of God in Rome,
Loren