The Church is the Bride of Christ

Ed McClanahan

On a warm and sunny spring afternoon a number of years ago, my granddaughter Patton had earned the privilege of obtaining a fish for a pet. When the family was on their way home from Petsmart, they came to a stop at a red traffic signal. Patton was so excited about her fish, that she held it up inside its ball of water out the window towards a homeless man that was holding a sign near the intersection. She hollered, “I got a new fish!” The homeless man smiled and winked at her. My daughter then asked Patton what she thought the homeless man was communicating, and she responded with glee, “good luck with that fish!” 

Well, like many small fish from a store, that fish didn’t last very long. But the interpretation of the homeless man’s wishes have turned into a customary response for our family, especially when it’s for something not likely to last very long, or be realistic. “There’s cookies on the counter, don’t eat them all!” “Here’s the grocery shopping list, don’t buy anything else we don’t need!” “I don’t need to bring my raincoat, it’s not gonna rain the rest of the day.” The response from the other end is often, “good luck with that fish!”

A few weeks back, Pastor Tyler Thornton gave a stunning example of this while relating to those who’ve given up on coming to church. He described how much fun it is to receive an invitation to someone’s home for a meal. But then Tyler described how it might feel if the invitation was only valid if he left his wife at home. He explained how he’d be offended and politely decline the invitation. Then Tyler described that this is how the Lord must feel when people profess to follow him, but verbally or figuratively thumb their nose at church gatherings and avoid them. 

Hebrews 10:24-25 says:
And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.

And Ephesians 5:25-27 says:
Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless. 

Does it make any sense then to ignore Christ’s bride, the church? Of course not! You’ll have better success getting a goldfish from the local pet store to last a full decade. Getting together with other believers on a regular basis for community and discipleship is exactly what the Lord wants us to do.

So the next time someone tells you they know Jesus, but they don’t need his bride, the Church, feel free to tell them, “GOOD LUCK WITH THAT FISH!”