Daily Reading for Tuesday, Feb. 26: Community
“It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, 12 to prepare God's people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up 13 until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.” Ephesians 4:11-13 NIV
Have you ever heard someone say, “I don’t need church. I have my own faith. God knows I believe in Him, and I don’t need to go to church to prove that.” I feel sorry for those people. They genuinely believe that they have the best that faith can offer, and there is no way that being a church attender can be any better. While I do agree that simply attending church is not necessarily going to make your life in Christ any richer or fuller, when we examine this verse, we see some interesting things that promote being involved in a church as a viable means of growing in faith.
First of all, we see Paul explaining that God planned for there to be apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers. God desired for these gifts to be in operation in His church. Why? 1) So that the people would be prepared for their works of service that God had planned for them. 2) So that as people performed their works of service that God had gifted and planned for them to do—they themselves would be strengthened thereby strengthening the whole body. 3) So that all in the body would reach unity in the faith—not just what we believe but how we believe (with our whole hearts, minds, souls and strength). 4) So that as we belong and operate as part of this beautiful body of Christ, we would see the whole measure of the fullness of Christ. In other words, there are some things we will not see in our walk as Christians if we don’t belong to a local body.
So many people have confused the rituals and traditions of men with church. But that is not what belonging to a church is all about. It is about being connected to others of like faith, who have something to supply to you that you may not have and vice-versa. God has a plan for the local church—He gave local church leaders as gifts for a reason. He wants us to participate in a local church. He desires that we connect not only with Him as an individual, but also as a community of faith, so that we can have the full revelation of Christ in our lives.
Have you ever heard someone say, “I don’t need church. I have my own faith. God knows I believe in Him, and I don’t need to go to church to prove that.” I feel sorry for those people. They genuinely believe that they have the best that faith can offer, and there is no way that being a church attender can be any better. While I do agree that simply attending church is not necessarily going to make your life in Christ any richer or fuller, when we examine this verse, we see some interesting things that promote being involved in a church as a viable means of growing in faith.
First of all, we see Paul explaining that God planned for there to be apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers. God desired for these gifts to be in operation in His church. Why? 1) So that the people would be prepared for their works of service that God had planned for them. 2) So that as people performed their works of service that God had gifted and planned for them to do—they themselves would be strengthened thereby strengthening the whole body. 3) So that all in the body would reach unity in the faith—not just what we believe but how we believe (with our whole hearts, minds, souls and strength). 4) So that as we belong and operate as part of this beautiful body of Christ, we would see the whole measure of the fullness of Christ. In other words, there are some things we will not see in our walk as Christians if we don’t belong to a local body.
So many people have confused the rituals and traditions of men with church. But that is not what belonging to a church is all about. It is about being connected to others of like faith, who have something to supply to you that you may not have and vice-versa. God has a plan for the local church—He gave local church leaders as gifts for a reason. He wants us to participate in a local church. He desires that we connect not only with Him as an individual, but also as a community of faith, so that we can have the full revelation of Christ in our lives.
Labels: Christianity, community devotion, core values, missional
posted by Jennifer Rang at
12:01 AM
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