In normal family relationships each member supports the others in tangible ways. The breadwinner, for example, supplies the financial needs, while the homemaker provides an orderly and harmonious household. However, in addition to the provision of the necessary human things, the home is not complete unless it gives evidence of the intangible, spiritual quality of love. Spiritual love is the oil which guards against the friction that physical activity claims to engender. In love there is no friction.
In normal church relationships each member of a Church of Christ, Scientist, likewise gives his tangible support to the human institution through monetary contributions, committee activity, and faithful attendance at Sunday church services and Wednesday testimony meetings, and at membership meetings. But, as in a home relationship, mere physical support is not enough. In addition, there must be a deep love for the church.
To the Christian Scientist this love includes in addition to a pure affection for the visible church, for every worker in it, and for every member of the congregation, a sincere love for God and His spiritual creation. Love is the lubricant which prevents discord and which aids the church militant in its triumphal transformation, in which the temporal increasingly accomplishes its purpose and the true structure is discerned spiritually.
