The Church As A Mother

Matthew is preaching through John, and many of the sermons have been dealing with the nature of our communion with one another in the church. At the same time, he just completed a Sunday School series on the sacraments, which of course teach a lot about the nature of our union with one another and our connection with the physical body of believers within our local church. This has led me to contemplation on the church and my own experience growing up within its care.

I began to see many correlations between my experience, the things Matt was teaching on, and the role a mother has in a family. I was a little worried to refer to the Church as mother because it smacked of Roman Catholicism or Eastern Orthodoxy to my ears. Matt assured me, however, that it is perfectly well within our protestant heritage to refer to God as our Father and the Church as our mother. Emboldened by this confirmation that the correlations were possibly legitimate, I've been trying to work out the analogy for myself.

It is my husband's desire that we share breakfast together every day and immediately after, formally worship God together. But I know that if I do not provide the order, we do not do this. I know that if I just feed the kids as they get up, I grab a bite when I'm hungry and Matt fends for himself, our family devotions don't happen. But if I am faithful to make a good breakfast, set the table, and make sure the kids are sitting down before we call Dad in, we have our devotions. I've heard this described as the wife providing the skeletal structure and the husband the muscle power to the family activities. I know men, married to unbelieving wives, who have a very hard time making it to church. Of course they ought to overcome this, and do their duty, making sure their children are in church. But I have a lot of sympathy for them, too. I find it very empowering that Matt's job is made easier by my faithfulness to duty. I know it is very hard for a man to provide both the structural needs of a family and the muscle power. God did not create man to be alone. While the skeleton of a body is hidden and often only gets attention if something is wrong, the skeleton is absolutely necessary for the body to function as God intended. A man without a wife, or without a functioning wife, will be handicapped in ways a fully equipped man won't be.

So the church, when it is providing the faithful structure for the family of God, provides an indispensable function to the children of God. This of course necessarily implies that the church knows the will of God for the family, making good doctrine (true knowledge of God through His revealed will) necessary. Just as a mother ought to be setting the table with healthful, life-giving food, so the elders and pastor, charged with the setting of the table, ought to take the faithful preaching of the Word, seriously. Isn't this the sign given to us as we partake of the Lord's Supper together? The children are joined in unity as we all partake of the same Bread of Life, the Word, every Sunday. Whether one's church holds to weekly, monthly, or quarterly communion, we are fed together from a common bread every Sunday.

It is within the structure the mother provides that the father's wishes for the education of his children happens. If the father wills for his children to go to a traditional school, the mother must see that the children are awake, clothed and fed before she sends them off to the brick and mortar. If the father wills that the children be schooled at home, it is the mother who must provide the structure for that as well. So, as our Heidelberg teaches us on the fourth commandment, "God wills that the ministry of the Gospel and schools be maintained..." The church's legitimate roll and duty is to provide the structure for God's children to be taught. But she cannot teach anything she wants, she must follow the Father's Word for instruction.

As a child, and even now to a lesser extent, I would run to my mother first for comfort when I was hurt. I see this in my own children. Though Matt loves our children dearly, there is something unique God has instilled in us mothers that makes us especially good at nurture and comfort. Katie and Titus want me when they are hurt. This has been my experience with my mother, the Church. I have found great comfort in the worship service and the fellowship of my brothers and sisters when the world is mean and hateful, or when I am hurting over a difficult circumstance in my life. The greatest comfort and hope is in the promises of my dear heavenly Father, but there is real comfort in the church, too.

At the same time, my response to my mother when I was in rebellion, especially in those pre-teen years when I thought she was naive and didn't know as much as I did about the world, I avoided her company. I longed for the day when I could be out from under her authority and run my house the way I wanted to. So too, this was my reaction to the Church when I was in rebellion against God in the form of rebellion against my husband. Even though my presentation issue was anger at my husband, I found church very unpleasant and I couldn't wait to get out of there on Sundays. I found no joy and comfort in the home the leadership had provided for me.

I am so thankful for both my godly earthly mother and for my spiritual mother. It was within my spiritual mother's home where I felt loved and accepted during those awkward times as a youth when the public school kids, the world outside, thought I was weird and an oddity. It was there that the older women took time to talk to me and counsel me in godliness. It was there the pastor patiently taught me and indulged me as I tried to work out my world view. The analogy could be drawn out in so many ways, but I think you get the point.

God gave us a great gift when He instituted the church. Who am I to say I don't need her? Would I know better than God?