The People of God: The Story of the ChurchVoorbeeld

The author of the book of Hebrews encourages their readers to not give up meeting together, as some had started missing the gatherings. We find ourselves in a similar situation today, where many are dropping off regularly attending church. There is a severe warning for those who know and believe the message of Jesus, that they are part of the body of Christ, and yet continue to not bring their gift and find support from others. Similar to the analogy of the body, Peter talks of us, as believers, being like stones that build the house of God. The house of God is not a building, it is the community of people that are gathered together, the ekklesia: called out ones. We are called out of our old lives and into a call to be priests of God.

The early church often gathered in homes because of how society saw and treated them. They were to see themselves as foreigners and exiles to this world. But not in the sense of hiding away and waiting to be taken off to heaven. No, Christians were to be upstanding citizens. We are exiles in the sense that we live by different standards to those around us in the world, just like Daniel and the exiles in Babylon. But Peter echoes the words of Jeremiah 29 in calling for believers to submit to the secular authorities and seek the good of our societies. This is what it means to be salt and light. Living in this way is costly and not always easy. This is why the weekly gathering of believers is so important for us.