We can get everything else right as a church, but if we miss relationships, we’ve missed what matters most.
What makes a church successful? Is it excellent worship, biblical preaching, a great children’s ministry, or a welcoming environment? These things matter. But what if we did all of them well and still missed the very thing Jesus cares about most?
It All Begins with Love
When Jesus was asked to identify the greatest commandment, He gave two inseparable answers: love God with all your heart, soul, and mind, and love your neighbor as yourself (Matthew 22:34–40).
Everything hangs on these two commands. Our relationship with God shapes our relationships with others. Following Jesus was never meant to be an isolated experience. We were created to love God and to live in love with one another.
Jesus made this even clearer on the night before His crucifixion. After washing His disciples’ feet, He gave them a new command:
“Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another” (John 13:34).
Then He explained how the world would recognize His followers: by their love for one another.
Not by the quality of their worship. Not by the size of their gatherings. Not by the excellence of their programs.
People should be able to recognize Jesus by the way we love one another.
A Church Can Do Everything Right—and Still Miss It
In 1 Corinthians 13, Paul warns that even impressive spiritual gifts, extraordinary knowledge, remarkable faith, and costly sacrifice amount to nothing without love.
That’s a sobering reminder for any church. We can organize everything perfectly, teach the Bible faithfully, and create a welcoming environment, yet still miss what matters most if we fail to love people well.
Church isn’t simply an event we attend. It’s a community of people learning to follow Jesus together.
We’re not just building a place where people attend. We’re building a community where people belong.
That’s why relationships are at the heart of our mission at The Way of Christ Columbia: love God, love people, and make disciples through relationships. We don’t love people merely to turn them into disciples. We make disciples because we love people.
Three Ways to Get the One Thing Right
As we begin this new chapter together, there are three practical ways we can put this kind of love into action.
1. Love people in how you work together.
Ministry requires teamwork, flexibility, humility, and patience. Our preferences won’t always be the same, and things won’t always go according to plan. But people matter more than our preferences. Let’s be quick to encourage, eager to serve, and willing to put others first.
2. Love people by building community.
Following Jesus involves more than gathering on Sunday mornings. The early church devoted themselves to teaching, fellowship, sharing meals, and prayer (Acts 2:42–47). We need relationships where we can share life, encourage one another, and grow in faith together. That’s why we encourage everyone to participate consistently in our upcoming Lifegroups. It’s one of the places where you can find your people.
3. Love people by making a new friend.
There’s a difference between being a friendly church and being a church where people make friends. People don’t just want to be noticed; they want to be known.
So when someone new walks through our doors, let’s do more than offer a quick greeting. Look for them. Learn their name and story. Link them to a relationship. Invite them to lunch. Give them the beginning of a friendship.
Sometimes, the most important thing we do on a Sunday morning won’t happen on the stage or during the sermon. It will happen in a conversation that helps someone realize they aren’t alone.
What Do We Hope People Remember?
Of course, we hope everything goes well when we gather. We want the sound to work, the coffee to be hot, the children to be safe, and our worship to honor Jesus.
But more than anything, we hope the lonely find a friend, the hurting find people who care, and the searching see Jesus in us.
Years from now, people may forget the songs we sang, the sermons we preached, or how quickly we set up the chairs. But they will remember how they were loved.
That’s the one thing we must get right.
Build real relationships. Love people well. Make disciples through relationships.
Following Jesus is a way of life—and the way of Jesus is the way of love.
