The Church as our Mother???

I believe John Calvin rightly stated, "to those whom God is father, the church must also be a mother". Now, I will confess that this line does have some things that we can misunderstand in it. In the life of a child, both mother and father carry equal weight and equal power in shaping their life. In the life of a Christian, one who does call God Father, God alone carries the supreme weight and power to sanctify them (shape their life). But God in more ways than one uses the church to shape the lives of His children. And this line by Calvin can also be misunderstood in that the father and mother both have equal part in bring the child to life at conception. In the life of a Christian, the Father alone brings the child to life. It is God and God alone who converts and saves us. But getting past a few misunderstandings, this line by Calvin should truly make us stop and think.

Just like a child must have equal respect and submission for both their father and mother, so too must a Christian give equal respect and submission to the God and the church. A Christian can't say they respect and submit to God without also respecting and submitting to the church. The church is the arm of God in the world today. The church is the place that God's Word speaks the clearest (in teaching), God reveals Himself the most visible (in the sacraments of Baptism and Communion), and declares His will to be supreme (worship). To say that God is Lord of one's life, must also include a submissive approach to the very body that He is the head of, the church. Submission and respect must be equal to the Father God and the mother church or else respect and submission will not be had for either. It is a both/and, not a either/or in regards to God and the Church.

Just like a child can and does learn from both their father and mother, so to a Christian must also learn from both God the Father and His body, the church. God teaches us through His Word. God shows Himself to be faithful in instruction through the very words that He has written to us. We will never learn from God apart from His Word. But the clearest and best place to learn from the Word is in the church as it teaches and shows it. An individual Christian is not a Christian at all. A Christian does not have the corner market on anything, especially the learning and teaching of God's Word. A Christian needs to in the church to apply and receive instruction in the Word. So a Christian needs the church to teach them the Word just as much as they need the Father to impart and teach the Word.

And lastly, just as the father is the highest authority in the home and the mother is the greatest nurturer in the home, so too God is the Christians greatest authority in life and the church is the place they receive the most nurture. Since God the Father is the only God and also Savior of the Christian, that makes Him the highest, greatest, and at times, the only authority in the life of a Christian. What God says in His Word to the Christian, a Christian must obey perfectly or else they sin. But also the church gives the clearest and most intimate nurturing and care the Christian needs. As God says, "weep with those who weep, rejoice with those who rejoice". There are so many more commands than this that place the life of the Christian in the genuine, compassionate, forgiving love of the church. Without the nurture and care of the church in the life of a Christian, the Christian will become hard, callous, and walk away from the faith.

So here is just 3 examples of how the church as our mother plays out, just as God as our Father also plays out. This illustration by Calvin is not perfect becasue there is not true perfect image for how important and vital the church is to the Christian. But this illustration should make us stop and think. It should make us ask, do we really love, care for, and take responsibility for the church like we should be? Do we really give the church the place in our lives, that God demands it to be? Do we really treat the church like we treat our mothers? If we can't say we do treat her that way, then we must truly evaluate our understanding and love for God and His/our church.