The Building of A Church

Think what a local church would be like if its people were radically devoted to Christ, irrevocably committed to each other, and relentlessly dedicated to reaching those outside God’s family with the gospel of Christ. It would be a church against which the gates of hell could not prevail! It would be an unstoppable force for good in the community, an inspiration to other churches and a testimony to God’s unfailing grace.

The question is - is that church that I just described possible? And then, a little closer to home - Is it feasible to believe that I could unite with a group of other believers and see God use me to build that kind of a church?

As the pastor of Family Life Christian Fellowship, I had to ask myself those questions. Because, those answers determine how far I will be willing to go to see it happen. The answers show the level of my trust in God and the intensity of my faith in the calling that God has placed on my life.

Jim Cymbala makes a statement in his book "Fresh Wind Fresh Fire" that I think about whenever I sense myself settling for an average church or becoming content with good enough. He said this: "I despaired at the thought that my life might pass me by without God moving greatly on my behalf."

Good enough is not good enough when you add God into the mix. Good enough is what I can accomplish with all my talents and abilities and charisma. Why would anyone settle for that when there is a God that is waiting to include them in His eternal building plans? Why would anyone waste their life building a man-made church when God has offered us the opportunity to sacrifice our lives in the building of a God-made church?

The answer is - The God-made church, many times, takes longer. And, maybe the hardest part, the God-made church building plan always starts with the re-making and re-building and transformation of me.

One guy said: "oftentimes between a promise from God and the payoff of that promise, there's a painful process". As a church planter, I can say amen to that! But, I can also say if I had to do it all over again I wouldn't change anything. Because God's way of building a church always makes the builders better not just what they are building. God builds His church by building men not buildings. And it is in that building of better men that better churches emerge.

The church God is wanting to build through me is in me. And the more I become a reflection of God in my own life the more God is reflected in the life of the church. So let the building begin and let it begin with me!