Who Needs the Church?
By:
Craig A. Crawford
September 2007
On August 20th, 2007 at 10am, I got a tragic phone call. My wife Gwyn was upset and crying, told me that her Dad had taken an entire bottle of pills so he could take his own life. I dropped everything at work and raced the 22 miles across town to pick her up. I got home so fast that I had to pull over to the side of the road on NW 50th street for a moment to let the EMSA truck carrying my father in law pass by on the way to the hospital. I picked up Gwyn and we went straight to the ER at Baptist where we had to wait about 15 to 20 minutes. We thought there was hope that the doctors could undo what her father had done, but soon we were called back to a family waiting room where the Chaplin, Doctor and nurses were coming into the room with us. A familiar faced doctor, who had treated Gwyn on many occasions in times past for her lung disease, began to tell us that her father’s actions had caused the systematic shutdown of all his major organs in sequence. He said resuscitation efforts had failed and he had died. Gwyn’s father was only 54 and had moved to Oklahoma City from Seattle Washington only three months earlier. Her dad and I became instant friends. His untimely passing broke our hearts and I suppose we won’t soon get over the sting and shock of the awful events of that morning.
As a preacher’s son in my adult years, I have always been able to make excuses for skipping church. I think sometimes I’ve gone enough for everyone. I’ve dropped out for a time or two, but I never blamed God for my problems like some do. Even though I have made some bad decisions in life, my relationship to God remained important. I can remember my father preached a sermon one time at Olivet call “Who needs the Church?” The point was simple. You may not think you need the church right now, but some day you will. Most everyone has heard the story about the man who told everyone that he didn’t need the church, he didn’t want to go, and he didn’t need anything the church had to offer. But then one day he died, and guess what, his family took him to church.
Just over two years ago when Gwyn and I married, we decided to join Council Road Baptist Church. Being a preachers son, I am very particular about “who” I listen to for Bible teaching. Rick, Neil and Chris were all so good and I have loved Norman for years. It was great to come to church and worship and not be the “preacher’s son.” Involvement was not our main objective. But after only a few weeks we began to get involved in the CRBC community that Rick talks about almost every week. And we had no idea that we would need our church in the way we needed it the week of August 20.
Shortly after we got the horrible news that morning, CRBC faces began to show up in the ER. I was amazed that they got there so fast. Other staff members called on our cell phones to say they were praying for us. Our CRBC family arranged for at least one meal a day for our family for the next several days! What a blessing it was to know that we were being prayed for and cared for in such a warm and meaningful way. We could hardly recite our own phone numbers, so something like a meal for 15 people being taken care of by someone else was no small thing!
The blessing was not just ours. Many of Gwyn’s family are not church goers. To say they were impressed with the way CRBC cared for us would be an understatement. God was able to use this horrible event to allow the church to be a witness and a comfort not only me and Gwyn, but our whole family.
Looking back over the years I would hate to think of where I would be without my Christian friends and family, “THE CHURCH”. How do people possibly find comfort in the trials of life outside a relationship with Christ and his church?
Jesus said “love your neighbor as yourself.” Dr. Henry Morris said about this verse: “The highest form of love for one’s neighbor is to seek God’s will for him or her, and to do whatever one can in helping to achieve this goal.” One of our CRBC Essential Beliefs says: “Christian Community: We fellowship with other Christians to accomplish God’s purpose for our lives and to hold one another accountable to meet each other’s needs.”
Week after week we hear how OUR church is touching lives. Our church especially touched our lives and met our needs the week of August 20. Gwyn and I are so thankful for our Church! We are so proud of our Church’s mission, its leaders and the direction we are going! Who needs the church? I do! I hope you do as well!
Craig A. Crawford, Church member!