Am I Helping My Church Burn For Christ?

Without work for the moment I’ve been left with a little extra time. Most of which I like to spend doing stuff with my siblings, but I've also been trying to write something on a consistent basis. After my New Testament survey class this morning I got to thinking about the church as a whole. Our class is currently going through Philippians, and today's material covered chapter two. Something it mentioned was the design and function of the church. Verses three and four say this;

"Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves.

Look not every man on his own things, but ever man also on the things of others."

These verses got me thinking about how the church works internally. Obviously you have Sunday services and outreach events throughout the year, but what is going on behind the scenes and what is it that builds these events? Many Christians are good at putting on an exterior that says “Jesus” on it, but their motivations and what they do in their personal time says “my priorities” and “I matter.” I wonder how many of our churches are the same way? The Sunday service looks like one should; there’s preaching, singing, Sunday School, and people sitting in seats with Bibles on their laps. Outreach events look good; there are visitors, expensive decorations, fun activities, and there’s food to be had. However, what are our eyes failing to see?

The Sunday service is only a show because the church attenders are not applying their notes to their lives, or worse, they’re just ignoring the preaching and their Bibles and their eyes are glossed over as they think about some random event or how much they dislike a certain other member.

Outreach events are a big party and a time for fun for the church families and while there are visitors there, the focus isn’t on reaching them for Christ, but rather maintaining traditions and having cool things for the church attendees to be involved in physically.

An even deeper look shows that the church is falling apart; the congregation is split over petty differences and silly arguments. The focus of the church is on accommodating the church member’s personal agendas and not on reaching the souls of those coming in or growing in the Lord as a body of believers.

Too often, this is the case of many churches out there. No church is perfect, I understand that. However, the question that churches are failing to ask or are answering improperly is if they’re functioning under a common and godly goal. If the purpose of attending church is for a little ego boost and a pat on the back of “good job, you still agree with the concepts of the Bible” then we’re doing it wrong! Whether that’s what we think we’re doing or it’s unintentional, it’s not the way that Christ intends for the church to work.

I return to the verses from Philippians. Paul was addressing a struggle that the church in Philippi had with bodily unity. The members were not focusing on the church as a whole, but rather themselves and their own concerns. Is the church that you’re a part of behaving in a disjointed fashion? If so, that’s because of a misaligned focus, and the members aren’t working in unity. Paul says to the Philippians that they need to “each esteem other better than themselves.” As a member of your church, are you respecting the goal of the church while working and praying towards creating a church that’s on fire for God, or are you pushing your agenda and the traditions of the past just so that they happen?

Everything that we do as a Christian needs to be done with purpose. 1 Corinthians 10:31 is probably a familiar verse to some. “Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God.” God’s glory should be the only reason that we do what we do as individuals and as a church! We need to abandon personal agendas, ignore petty differences and childish squabblings, forsake a complacent or non-existent walk with God, mend any relationships that we’ve hurt in the church by gossip, selfishness, or pride and work for the furthering of not only our own church, but the church of God as a whole! Hebrews 12:1 says “…let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us.” Part of that race, according to 1 Peter 2:9 is “…that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvelous light:” By these verses, we can see that church isn’t supposed to be a mild and in-my-spare-time thing, but rather something that each member of the church works intentionally to make better. God didn’t tell us that it would be easy, but He did tell us that it would be easier if we set aside our sin, including our differences, and patiently work with those that He has put at our side. God has called us to a specific purpose individually and collectively, and we need to desire it in a way that causes us to move!

Right now, most churches are not meeting in person due to the coronavirus, so it might be a little difficult to work on those relationships in person, but there are benefits to being outside of the church. First of all, take a good look at your church. Look at the whole body and see what issues there are. Second, and more importantly, look at how you are contributing to the issues. Don’t look at how a specific person is ruining the relationships and the work of God in your church, but rather inspect your own ways and see what you’re doing that is inhibiting God using you and your church to work for Him. Next, ask God for forgiveness and then those who you have personally wronged. Also, take some of the extra time that you have and do some reading and praying and look for ways for you to help your church grow for God. If you’re struggling to find those areas where you can help, ask your pastor where you could be used to further God’s work in the church. He would probably be more than willing to help you find ways to serve the Lord in your church and community that would be suited to your ability (note, I didn’t say preference, but ability, we’re often capable of more than we want to be). Lastly, work on ensuring that your walk with God is on fire. If you’re not individually striving to please Him more and more each day, it will be impossible for you to help your church do that. Remember, if you’re not moving forward in your Christian walk, then you’re falling back, and that’s not what will fulfill our duty to Christ.

So, take advantage of your spare time and grow spiritually! It's a great opportunity that we have right now because of the coronavirus, and it would be wasteful to ignore it.

As a disclaimer, my pastor did not ask me to write this, nor is he aware of its being written. I simply have seen needs and want to raise awareness in the small circle that I have a slight influence in of the poison that is ruining churches. Please take a moment to consider what I've felt led to post, and pass it on if it has spoken to you.

Also, the song below is one that I heard a couple of days ago and have enjoyed listening to it. One of the lines says this;

There are mountains ahead that I can't move by myself

This is true. God is there to help us move through our situations, and one of the things that He has given us to help us through them is our church family.