If you believe that a church person is the number of certain actions and external manifestations, then you are deeply mistaken.
External manifestations are a showcase, which may hide a void. Appearance is often deceiving and does not match the contents.
A church person is a person who answered the Lord’s call: “Come unto Me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.”
It is the one, who was drawn to the Lord by His words, the one, who was humbled by God’s love and touched the indescribable power of the Lord, and the one, who left everything and followed Him, can be called a believer.
Those who answered God’s call come to Him so that He can forgive their sins, change their life, and fill them with His grace. They come to Him, because they need Him. The Lord only desires our salvation.
The Lord will comfort us, and therefore, will deprive us of any fear or any danger.
A church person is neither a Pharisee nor a puritan, but a living person who makes mistakes, but repents sincerely. Repentance makes a person a church member. “They that are whole need not a physician; but they that are sick. I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance,” the Savior said.
A church member means a person of Christ, the servant of God, who voluntarily and with confidence carries the Burden of Christ, that is, the Gospel commandments that require dedication, effort, and through which a person acquires peace and tranquility.
Each commandment is fragrant with humility, filling the one who fulfills them with beauty and proper virtues.
Fulfillment of the Gospel commandments is the shortest path to meekness and humility. And Divine grace descends upon those who acquire them. It changes a person, their soul, and their life.
A church person means the one, who has found God, and therefore, is calm and happy.
Translated by pravmir.com
