Why Are You Here?
Mr. Dexter Wakefield started his forum with a sentence we often hear: “Why are you here?” He asked us to consider why we are members of the Church and why others leave. He then stressed the importance of distinguishing between primary and secondary reasons for being in the Living Church of God.
He began by providing some of the secondary reasons he has heard throughout his years in the ministry for being in the Church while also pointing out the weaknesses held by all of these if they are our foundational reasons. One common reason Mr. Wakefield says he has heard from church members is that they “grew up” in the church. That is all fine and good, yet what would happen if your family was led out of the church? Would they have solid enough footing to hold onto the truth, or would they leave with their family? Another typical response is that people simply want to avoid the lake of fire. They are part of the Church more out of fear than connection with God. We, as His people, are to obey from the heart. To have the choice to choose the other way of life, yet desire to please God.
Mr. Wakefield transitioned from decent reasons he’s heard to what we should be holding onto, our primary reasons for being in the Church. We can see in Matthew 6 that we must first seek the kingdom of God and all His righteousness! We need to seek the truth of God and hold onto it for dear life. Taking what we are learning in the Parables of Christ class, God’s truth and the kingdom of God are like great treasures that, when found, we need to give all that we have willingly to obtain. God’s truth is that precious thing we must never let go of. Mr. Wakefield asked us, “Are any of these other reasons greater or of more importance than the truth of God?” The answer is… absolutely not!
Mr. Wakefield left us pondering the real reason we were here. Do we have a solid enough foundation to stand by the truth? We left this forum discussing how we could each personally better rely on God’s truth and desire to be in His kingdom as our firm foundation for our belief. Why will you stay here?
