In John 17, Jesus prays that the disciples will be One, as the Father and Son are one: “I in them, you in Me, that they may be perfected in unity.” The Father dwells in the Son, the Son in the Father. Jesus wants us to dwell in each other.

The church is the people that dwells in the Father and Son, the body in whom the Father and Son dwell. The church embodies the mutual indwelling of Triune life. Each member of the church is a potential dwelling place, a potential home, for another.

This isn’t always a pleasant experience. Some Christians live lives as full of anger, violence, and bitter brokenness, as littered with trash and broken bottles and needles and hopes, as the darkest of America’s inner cities.

We don’t want to live there, and we sure don’t want them to move in with us. But refusing is not a Christian option. The eternal Son made His dwelling among us, and in us, making all our muck and misery His own. And He says, Follow Me.

To survive and flourish, churches have to embody this divine life in relation to the world. As the Father indwells the Son without becoming Son, and the Son indwells the Father without becoming Father, so the church must be “in the world” and open to the world, without becoming worldly.

Weak churches are sometimes weak because they open every window and door to whatever wafts through. That’s apostasy. Churches also become weak when they barricade themselves against outsiders. Churches that refuse to be indwelt or indwell cease to be churches.

– Pastor Leithart