Years ago as a college student, I joined a large branch Church of Christ, Scientist—my very first. I remember one lady telling me, as if confiding a joyful secret, that it’s in a branch church that one really begins to grow spiritually. I wondered what that might mean. I wasn’t there long, however, because I soon graduated and went off to join the Peace Corps.
Fast-forward many decades, and I am now a member of a small branch church on the opposite coast, with many tasks falling on the shoulders of few. One day after our Sunday service, I was in the boardroom trying to organize the things I needed to take home to do. Another board member stepped forward and gently began offering some help. Within moments she had relieved me of my extra work. I felt wonderfully eased and uplifted, only then realizing how burdened I had felt moments before. I took the incident home to ponder prayerfully. Here is what God showed me.
The smooth functioning of a church is not just about seeing that all the tasks get done—it’s about how they get done. Instead of thinking, “Well, that’s not my job, so I don’t have to do it (thank goodness),” we might rather ask each other, “How can I help you do what needs to be done?” In this way, we are obeying Christ Jesus’ command that we love one another. This is the real business of a branch church, the one thing that must not be left undone, because without this love, we do not have Church, and our labor is in vain. All the mundane duties of a branch church can serve a higher purpose by giving us the opportunity to learn love for one another.
