Hi-Fi, Hi-Def Church

Have you been to an electronics mega-store lately? It is quite an experience for the senses. You see the fast-moving images on the big screen televisions, hear the thumping sounds from the super-charged stereo systems, and feel the subtleties of the Xbox games in a high-tech gaming chair. The rapid advances in video and audio technology are too much for the average consumer like myself to keep up with. Most impressive to me are the new “home theater” systems. Stores will have a mock living room set up with a comfy leather sofa, giant HD plasma screen television, and massive hi-fi audio system with surround sound speakers. I must say that I do enjoy sitting down for a few minutes and watching whatever movie is playing. The clarity, depth, and quality of the hi-def picture coupled with the distortion-free and balanced hi-fi sound make it quite an exhilarating viewing and listening experience.

Hi-fi is an abbreviation of “high fidelity.” It means that the sounds are reproduced in a way that is loyal and faithful to the original. High fidelity aims to achieve minimal or unnoticeable amounts of noise and distortion. Hi-def (or HD) is the short form of “high-definition.” In reference to television, it refers to the broadcast of programming with a higher resolution which makes for a much clearer picture of what is being transmitted. It allows the viewer to see a more life-like image on the screen.

So what does this have to do with the church? These two “techy” words provide a useful description of how the church should function. The church is to be “high-definition,” displaying with great clarity the spiritual reality of the body of Christ. The church is not a physical building, social club, or a set of programs. It is a living organism composed of individual members who are submissive to the authority of the head, Jesus Christ, and faithfully use their Spirit-given gifts to build up other members in the faith. A high-definition church will demonstrate this reality with very life-like resolution through obedience to Christ’s commands, to: Greet one another (Rom. 16:16, 1 Cor. 16:20, 2 Cor. 13:12, 1 Pet. 5:14); Comfort one another (1 Thess. 4:18); Forgive one another (Col. 3:13); Build one another up (Rom. 15:2, 1 Thess. 5:11); Serve one another (Gal. 5:13); Bear one another’s burdens (Gal. 6:2); Encourage one another (Heb. 10:25); Meet with one another (Heb. 10:25); Be kind, tenderhearted, and forgiving towards one another (Eph. 4:32, Rom. 12:10); Receive one another as Christ received us (Rom. 15:7); Care for one another (1 Cor. 12:25); Minister to one another (1 Pet. 4:10); Show hospitality to one another (1 Pet. 4:9); and pray for one another (Jas. 5:16).

Members of the church are also to be “hi-fi,” maintaining strong fidelity (loyalty) to the local church in good times and bad. Loyalty seems to be a dying attribute in this generation. Consumer spending today is no longer based upon brand-loyalty (i.e. Coke or Pepsi; Ford or Chevy), but upon the best deal. I am not concerned about which cola your taste buds prefer or what type of car is in your driveway, but I must warn you about carrying this type of consumerist thinking into the church. Be careful not to have the mindset that you will be “faithful” to this church until a better deal comes along—a newer, trendier, more exciting fellowship with better programs for the children. You reason, “This church has too many problems,” or, “This church no longer ‘does it’ for me.” But remember: “This church” is YOU! I dare you to be a hi-fi member who remains loyal through changes and challenges that are inevitable in the life of a church. With a band of brothers and sisters in Christ like that, God will forge a dynamic, Christ-exalting, gospel-proclaiming local body that will have a global impact.

Where can we get a glimpse of what a high-definition, high-fidelity church looks like? Hebrews 10 gives us a snapshot of this type of body. There were at least three ways in which they displayed what the church is supposed to be. (1) They stimulated “one another to love and good deeds” (v. 24). They manifested practical love by responding to needs. They did not cover their ears when cries for help were made. They stood ready to speak an encouraging word, lend a helping hand, or write a generous check. (2) They showed up to the assembly. When the church met, they were there. They did not neglect their “own assembling together, as it is the habit of some” (v. 25). The decision to meet with the church on the Lord’s Day was not made Sunday morning based upon if they slept well the night before or what they needed to get done that day. No, the gathering of the church to worship God and serve one another was life to them. They would not neglect water or food for the sake of their bodies; and they would not neglect the assembly for the sake of their souls. (3) They shared in one another’s sufferings. They were “sharers with those who were treated” as “public spectacles through reproaches and tribulations” (v. 33). How so? They “showed sympathy to the prisoners and accepted joyfully the seizure of property, knowing that they had for themselves a better possession and a lasting one” (v. 34). They were so loyal to the body that they cared more about taking food, water, and clothes to their imprisoned brothers and sisters in Christ than they did about their possessions. They resolved, “Take my house; take my furniture; take my family heirlooms; take everything! But I will stand by this suffering member of the body.”

The question for us is not, “Are we loyal to death for the church?” The questions are, rather, “Are we loyal to inconvenience?” Are we loyal through change? Are we loyal through discomfort? Are we loyal through sacrifice of time, money, energy, and vacation time? It is often on these seemingly lesser hurdles that we stumble and fall in our fidelity to the church. May God’s people at Berachah be a hi-def church who displays clearly “how good and pleasant it is for brothers to dwell together in unity” (Ps. 133:1). And may we be hi-fi members of Christ’s body that are fiercely loyal to His local body so that He might be exalted in us and among the nations.

Justin Culbertson
Berachah Bible Church