Over
the years, I have heard lots of lessons on things like baptism,
elders and
church organization. If
you are just
starting in faith, those are great topics.
However, mature Christians ought to “move beyond the
elementary
teachings about Christ” (Hebrews 6:1). Milk is for babies, but solid
food is for the
mature! (Hebrews 5:13-14) In
that light,
here is something solid for you to chew on.
Is
there anything
amazing happening in your church?
Is it
really any different from any other group to which you belong? Ephesians 3:10 states that
the “manifold
wisdom of God” is to be on display in the church! People should be able to see
something Godly
and different among us. If
that is not
happening, we need to ask some tough questions.
Here are two to get you started.
First,
where
is your trust? Psalm 146
reminds us not to
trust in our strength or in what we have or do because the Lord
looks after us
and he rules everything.
And
you
say, “Right! I trust in
God!” Do you?
Here
is
a simple but clarifying question:
What if
I told you that your church building could be full to overflowing
with
believers every Sunday, but in order to do so, you would have to
give up your
entire retirement savings? Which
would
you choose?
Where
is your trust and security – really?
Second
question… are you willing to give up being comfortable? Jennie Allen says, “The only
exercise that
draws one close to the real God and works 100% of the time is
risk! To risk is to
willingly place your life in
the hands of an unseen God and an unknown future”. If we play it safe, we will
have no need of
God and our faith will not grow.
Comfort
was not the goal of the first century church.
Had it been, Paul would never have gone on the missionary
journeys,
Stephen would not have preached himself to death (Act 7) and
Timothy would have
just told people what they wanted to hear (2 Timothy 4:1-5). Our job is to be faithful,
not safe!
The
church must grow up, trust God and step out in faith. Take a chance. Make a friend. Reach out in love. Let go of the earthly things
that everyone
else is hoarding and start storing up some spiritual treasures
(Matthew 6:19-24).
God
can
do amazing things (Ephesians 3:20).
Let’s join him and see what happens.
Comments