Did You Forget Your Change?

Cashiers used to remind people to remember their change. Now cash is being replaced by virtual wallets, but our desire to get everything we’re owed in a transaction remains constant.

Sometimes we think of church as a transaction. I put in attendance, money, and time, and I get out communion, teaching, and help. If I get a good deal, I come back. If not, there are lots of other stores. But this leaves out the most important part of church: relationships. Without relationships, there is no church. Why? Because church is not an exchange. It’s a body that needs all its members knit together to survive and thrive.

It’s tempting to think we are solo beings who need only our freedom. We sometimes think we’re stronger alone. People wound us, betray us, and leave us. Why not just be by ourselves?

Three reasons.

First, God made us for relationship with God. “One does not live by bread alone, but by everyword that comes from the mouth of God.” Jesus gave His life to bring us into relationship withGod. And even God is in relationship: Father with Son and Holy Spirit.

Second, God made us for relationship with each other. When God made the first human, God said, “It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper as his partner”. Our need of each other is so essential that it was true even in the perfection of the Garden of Eden.

Third, God made us to become like God. We are all made in God’s image, but we are imperfect imprints of the Divine. So God calls us to change. Did you forget your change? You can find it as you walk in relationship with God and other people.