I Will Build My Church (Part 1)
The True Church
To begin this study, let us begin by looking at what the true church of Jesus Christ looks like. We frequently call the church building a church, but the church has no building. In its most simplistic explanation, the church is the body of Jesus Christ on earth. The New Testament reiterates this over and over again. In the Bible, the church is often referred to as a local assembly of believers and also the entire body of believers throughout Christianity. The word church is the Greek word ‘ekklasia’ which means, “a gathering of citizens into an assembly”.
The biblical church is not merely a gathering of a congregation, but the gathering of citizens. This is explained in Philippians 3:
20 For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ
If someone’s citizenship is not in heaven, they are not a part of the church. Even more importantly, you cannot build a church on non-citizens. When someone surrenders to Christ and is born into the Spirit, they become a new creation with a citizenship in heaven. Once someone comes to Christ, they become part of the body of Christ or as 1 Corinthians 12:27 states, “Now you are the body of Christ, and members individually.”
The true church is built upon the individual citizens of heaven with Jesus Christ as the head. Many church denominations and individual churches teach that the pastor is the head of the church. This is far from biblical. Consider Ephesians 5:23-27
23 For the husband is head of the wife, as also Christ is head of the church; and He is the Savior of the body. 24 Therefore, just as the church is subject to Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in everything. 25 Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her, 26 that He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word, 27 that He might present her to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish.
This is reiterated in 1 Corinthians 11:3
But I want you to know that the head of every man is Christ, the head of woman is man, and the head of Christ is God.
If you read through the New Testament, you see that Jesus Christ is always referred to as the head and no one else is ever called the head. God does indeed have an authority structure in the church, but He alone is the head. When men begin to think of themselves as the head, then they begin to also look to themselves as the source of authority in the church and then a breakdown in God’s plan occurs. In the military this would be called a mutiny. Many pastors are guilty of mutiny and do not even realize it because almost every church, seminary and denomination teaches that the pastor, bishop, priest or whatever title we label is the head of the church. Jesus Christ alone is the head of the church.
The Bible only uses the word ‘pastor’ once in the New Testament (Eph. 4:11). When appointing a leader in the church, the Bible refers to deacons, elders and bishops. A deacon is a servant in the church. The deacon is never given authority over the church though many traditions have altered deacon to mean officer. This has caused problems in many churches. Elders are spiritual leaders that are appointed in the church to ensure doctrine is consistent with scripture and to preside over the church. A pastor or bishop is also considered an elder in scripture (See Titus 1:5-9, 1 Timothy 5:17). A bishop or pastor has the role as an overseer in the church. The word ‘bishop’ comes from the Greek word, ‘episkopos’ which means, “an overseer or a man charged with a duty of seeing that everything is done rightly”.
Let’s stop for a moment and consider this word ‘overseer’ or bishop. During the biblical times and this can also apply in modern times as well, a lord would appoint overseers to manage his estate, vineyard, business or any other matter where there was a need. An overseer’s job is to take orders from his lord and insure that those placed under him follow those rules. The lord was the owner of the property and had the right to determine what the rules were and anyone who was hired by the lord had to follow those rules. One became an overseer by showing responsibility and proved himself worthy of that appointment. Just like in the business world today, there are some who have to be supervised and some who show themselves responsible and capable of taking a leadership role. If an overseer decided to change the commands of his lord, what would happen? He would be in rebellion and would fall under the wrath of the lord.
This is exactly what the Bible is instructing the pastor to do today. Many have rebelled against the scriptures because they look to themselves as the authority rather than being the one who is under authority and given charge to implement the Lord’s authority in the church. While we remain under the authority of Jesus Christ, we have the authority of Christ. Our role is to oversee the congregation and instruct them to continue in the commandments of God which has been revealed in the word of God. Those who usurp the authority of Christ and decide that they will be the head will deviate from scripture and fall under condemnation (James 3:1). However, those who faithfully execute the office appointed to them obtain a good reward (1 Timothy 3:13). This is true for all the offices in the church: deacons, elders, and bishops. Look at the promise of 1 Peter 5:1-4:
1 The elders who are among you I exhort, I who am a fellow elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, and also a partaker of the glory that will be revealed: 2 Shepherd the flock of God which is among you, serving as overseers, not by compulsion but willingly, not for dishonest gain but eagerly; 3 nor as being lords over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock; 4 and when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the crown of glory that does not fade away.
Those who become lords over the flock do not have this promise. Those who seek personal glory or dishonest gain do not have this promise. Those who serve out of duty and not willingly do not have this reward. Serve faithfully as an overseer and an example and great is your reward.
The true church is the body of Christ. The true church is governed by the scriptures and each person is on the same level. We all have different callings, gifts and responsibilities but we all have the same Spirit (1 Corinthians 12:4-14). A leader who breaks away from the head is no longer a part of the body. A church that walks obedient to Jesus Christ will be blessed. A church that walks in obedience will grow into the head and see the hand of God moving consistently and according to scripture.
Building the Church
God alone builds the church. Look at this passage from Matthew 16:
18 "And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.
How will God build His church? On Peter? It is a common mistake to assume that Jesus promised that He would build the church on Peter, but this is not the case. As we will soon see, Peter understood what Jesus meant and hopefully we will too. The name Peter means ‘a stone’. Peter’s birth name was Simon but Jesus renamed him to Peter for the purpose of communicating Peter’s role in God’s plan. Before we look at what this means, let’s first look at what the church is built upon. Look at Matthew 21:42-44
42 Jesus said to them, "Have you never read in the Scriptures: 'The stone which the builders rejected Has become the chief cornerstone. This was the LORD's doing, And it is marvelous in our eyes'? 43 "Therefore I say to you, the kingdom of God will be taken from you and given to a nation bearing the fruits of it. 44 "And whoever falls on this stone will be broken; but on whomever it falls, it will grind him to powder."
Jesus Christ is the cornerstone on which the church has its foundation. In the ancient times, a building’s foundation was made of large stones. The strongest and most stable stone was laid as the cornerstone. The weight of the entire structure rested on that cornerstone. If the cornerstone failed, the entire structure would begin to break down and would soon be in ruins. Everything is built on the cornerstone. Jesus Christ is that cornerstone and upon Jesus, everything in the church MUST be founded. Anything that is not founded upon the rock of Jesus Christ is not part of the church. Peter was indeed a stone that would be instrumental in the church founded upon Jesus Christ, but he was not the cornerstone on which the church was built. That alone belongs to Christ. Now look at 1 Peter 2:4-8
4 Coming to Him as to a living stone, rejected indeed by men, but chosen by God and precious, 5 you also, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. 6 Therefore it is also contained in the Scripture, "Behold, I lay in Zion A chief cornerstone, elect, precious, And he who believes on Him will by no means be put to shame." 7 Therefore, to you who believe, He is precious; but to those who are disobedient, "The stone which the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone," 8 and "A stone of stumbling And a rock of offense." They stumble, being disobedient to the word, to which they also were appointed.
So Peter is indeed a stone, but he also fully understood that Jesus Christ is the stone that the church is built upon. Peter was a living stone that is built upon the cornerstone. If you are in Christ, you also are a living stone used in the spiritual structure called the church. Anyone who is not in Christ cannot be a part of the church for they must first be founded upon Christ and then God uses each individual Christian to build His spiritual house. You cannot build God’s house by focusing on building a large congregation; you can only build this house with the spiritual stones that find their foundation in Jesus Christ.
It is possible to increase the size of the congregation without building the church. Many equate the increase in numerical growth with the move of God. While I do believe that God is able and often does increase the size of the congregation as the church builds disciples, numerical growth does not mean that God is moving. Many godless organizations have many members. Many churches that have turned from the truth are able to attract large numbers by luring people through various benefits. The only evidence of God’s move is the fruit of the church – disciples. The commission of the church given by Jesus is found in Matthew 28:18-20
18 And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, "All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. 19 "Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 "teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age." Amen.
If your church is not teaching each member to obey all that has been commanded in scripture, God is not building the church. It does not matter if you have sixty-thousand members; if the church is not producing disciples, it is not in God’s will. God is in charge of the numbers; you are in charge of faithfulness. God will test you and your church to see if you will remain faithful. God sometimes allows us to struggle for long periods of time to prove us and to refine us. If we lose focus of our primary calling to make disciples and try to build the church another way, then we have taken God’s role and put ourselves in His place. You may or may not be able to lure in ‘seekers’, but if God is not in it, it means little. Consider this passage in Acts 2:47b
And the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved.
It is not your programs that add to the church, it is God alone. Programs can add members to the organization we call the church, but only God can add to the church by drawing believers to you that He is saving. If your church is not teaching the truth, why would God draw people to you? The problem with the modern church is that God is not drawing because of our unfaithfulness to the word and therefore, the church organization is using other methods to replace the work of God. Also look at this passage from Psalm 127:1
Unless the LORD builds the house, They labor in vain who build it; Unless the LORD guards the city, The watchman stays awake in vain.
We can work from sun up to sun down and fill our lives with labor, but if God is not building, our labor is in vain. The word ‘vain’ means empty and meaningless. You may be able to organize programs and build structures, but it is all meaningless unless it is the work of God. If God is not moving within the church, this is a warning that something is wrong. Instead of jumping ship and using the seeker sensitive programs that are tempting pastors, the leaders should be on their knees asking God to reveal His word to them. A disciple is reached by disciples. God must be working in your life before He will work through your life. Christianity is not intended to be a spectator sport. Each member of the body of Christ has a role and that role is not only church attendance. If God is not moving in the congregation, the church leadership should be seeking the reason why.
If the living stones are not living in faith, the spiritual house of God is not being built. God builds his house, not you. Jesus said, “On this rock I will build My church”. He did not say, “You will build My church”. If you are building the church, you are OUT OF GOD’S WILL. God alone builds His church. The pastor’s role and each member’s role is not to build the church, but to make disciples. There is ONLY one way to make disciples. Look at Romans 10:
17 So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.
Consider these passages as well:
Romans 1: 17 For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, "The just shall live by faith."
Hebrews 10: 38 Now the just shall live by faith; But if anyone draws back, My soul has no pleasure in him."
Hebrews 11: 6 But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.
The living stones that make up the church can only be established in God’s house by faith. Without faith, it is impossible to please God and the just shall live by faith. Faith is how we live the Christian life and faith only comes by hearing the word of God. If the church is not preaching and teaching the word of God and the whole counsel of God, the living stones are not living. A dead faith is not true faith and is not acceptable to God (See James 2). It is the responsibility of the leadership of the church to teach the whole counsel of God so that they fulfill the commandment of Jesus Christ and then God will honor our faithfulness and build the church. The most important evidence that a church is healthy is disciples who are going out and producing more disciples. They may remain in the church to serve or God may send them out from the church.
It is not your choice as to how God chooses to use His disciples and it is a challenge to God’s authority to discourage disciples from leaving the local assembly to follow God’s call. I have seen many times where churches shunned those who left the local body to serve God. Instead of rejoicing, many look at this as betrayal. You are not building your church kingdom, but you are making disciples who will go out and make more disciples. This is the role of the church. If your congregation remains small, so be it. God determines who is called to stay and who He calls to go out into the world to expand the work of Christ. You should support anyone who is seeking to do the work God has called them to do.
If true discipleship is not evident in your local church, the stones are not being built up in the faith. If people are easily offended or fall away at the time of trial, the church has not fulfilled its commission. Consider Matthew 7:24-25
24 " Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock: 25 "and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock.
Are we teaching wisdom? To be wise, we must obey the word of God. We must not shy away from preaching what offends for we are not the judge of what the congregation should hear and what should be avoided. We are commanded to teach the entirety of God’s word (Acts 20:27, 2 Timothy 3:16-17, Psalm 119:160, John 17:17). Understand that if you preach the whole truth, people will get offended and some will leave. Our role is not to preserve the membership but to make disciples. We will give an account to God for our faithfulness to His word; we will not be judged based on the size of our membership.
There must be three things in order for the church to thrive as God has promised: faith, living stones, and the cornerstone. Faith comes from hearing the word of God and calls our members to salvation so that they become living stones. Faith also builds up the living stones so that each one is solid and founded firmly upon Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is the cornerstone that everything is built upon. Anything not built on Jesus Christ is the work of man and will not be honored by God. If any of these are missing, the church is missing. The true, biblical church is not physical. It is not a church building, it is also not found in the physical congregation. The true church is a spiritual house that God builds using living stones that, by faith, are firmly founded upon the cornerstone of Jesus Christ. If the congregation is not made of living stones, it is merely an organization. Only by faith which comes from preaching the word of God can the church (the spiritual house of God) be built. The word makes the stones, the stones make the house and the house is founded upon Jesus Christ. Anything that does not meet this criteria is not God’s house.
God Raises up Laborers
I have been in many churches over the years and have seen churches search in vain to find someone to fill in a position for a class, committee or program that the church desires to put in motion or keep running. Many times churches get to the point of desperation and look only for a warm body to fill in as a Sunday School teacher. If someone shows motivation, the church will keep piling on the duties until the person suffers from burn out and then the quest begins for a new worker. There is no excuse for burn out in the church. If God hasn’t called a person into a ministry, the labors of that person and the church are in vain.
I had an executive pastor on my front porch a few years back who was almost at the breaking point. He was wearing many hats and trying to fill in every position that the church had a need. He said to me, “Eddie, I don’t know how much longer I can keep going at this rate”. I shared with him what I believe is a scriptural method for working in the church. I asked, “What has God called you to do and what is the focus of the ministry you know God has given you?” We talked and he identified the passion for ministry that God had given him and the spiritual gifts and abilities that he knew was from the Lord. I then told him to ask himself two questions and use this as a test against every work that he was doing in the church: Does this task fulfill the calling God has revealed for my life? Does this distract me from the work God has called me to do? If the answer to the first question is no, then the second question is vital. If a task is a hindrance to the call of God, it is not of God and is in fact disobedience.
As we went through some of the duties he had taken on, almost all of them were distractions from his call. I said that he must let go of these duties that God has not called him to do. He objected because he said that if he dropped these from his responsibility, who would do them? I explained that if this was truly a need, God would raise up someone to do the work. The next question was, “What if no one picks these up?” Then it doesn’t need to be done. If it is truly a need, it will become evident. A pastor should make the need known to the church and often times someone in the church is looking for an opportunity to serve. If no one steps up, let it go. Our churches have been conditioned to sit back and watch while the pastor and a few workers burn like torches until they are exhausted.
When I say burned out, I am not talking about getting tired. We all get tired and need rest. Burnout is the result of running without rest. When you take on responsibilities beyond your calling, you run the race but when the time comes for rest, you must begin running again to cover another task. So instead of God’s method of working and then having rest, the church has encouraged people to work continuously without time to rest. There will be times of exhaustion but this is not burnout. Burnout is the result of pressing ourselves beyond our human limitations outside of God’s plan. God gives us rest. If you do not ever see times of rest, examine yourself to see if you are walking with God or walking according to your duties.
One thing is certain, if we are fulfilling our call of God, He is the source of our strength and His Spirit is the fire that keeps us burning. If you are burning out, then you know that you are burning without the Holy Spirit and our humanity only has so much fuel to burn. After that is exhausted, we have nothing left to give. Jesus said it best in John 4:32-34
32 But He said to them, "I have food to eat of which you do not know." 33 Therefore the disciples said to one another, "Has anyone brought Him anything to eat?" 34 Jesus said to them, "My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me, and to finish His work.
If you are doing the will of God, He will give you the supernatural power to finish His work. I have never felt burned out when doing the work that God has called me to do. I have learned that when I step out of God’s will and through the flesh take on duties that distract me from God’s work, I begin to feel the strain. I have turned down many tasks that have been assigned to me and it does make people act as though you are not being spiritual. It does not matter what man approves, but what God approves. Do not let a guilt trip cause you to take on what God has not called you to do. I am sad to say that my pastor friend was not willing to put aside the tasks of the church and he eventually burned out completely. Today, he is no longer in the ministry. How sad it is that many who are unwilling to put down what God has not ordained eventually drop everything including what God has ordained. If you are carrying the load of the church in your flesh, you are not walking in the Spirit and are in danger of falling completely out of God’s will. Consider the words of Jesus in Matthew 11:28-30
28 "Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29 "Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 "For My yoke is easy and My burden is light."
If your burden is heavy, it is not from Jesus. If your yoke is difficult, it is not of God. Are you experiencing times of rest? If not, you are not learning from Christ. The most difficult part of the Christian life is fighting our own flesh. Our flesh rises up and attempts to take control and if allowed to do so, it will create a burden that you cannot carry and were not meant to carry. The flesh says, “I must fix everything. I must depend on my own strength. I must meet every need”. You are not the focus of the work of God. God does not call you to take on every need you see. The Bible says that God has appointed each member as a part of the body as He sees fit (1 Corinthians 12:18).
If God has appointed you as an eye and you take it upon yourself to be the arm, leg and foot, you will create many problems for yourself and the church. First, you cannot successfully take upon yourself a role in the body that God has not ordained you to take on. You may be able to limp along, but God WILL NOT bless this. God did not create a deformed body but a spotless body that works efficiently within His design. Second, if you are called to be an eye and you take upon yourself the roles of other members, you cannot fulfill your own role. So even though our sincere intention may be to help God out, we are in fact walking in disobedience. If you are burdened with the things God has not laid upon you, you are incapable of fulfilling God’s call in your life. This is indeed disobedience to God.
Ultimately the root of the problem is faith. The one who takes on the burden in his flesh, is not walking in faith. We do not believe that God is able to raise up workers to complete His work. The work is not yours, but God’s. If you make the work yours, it becomes the work of men’s hands and God has never accepted anything that finds its source in the flesh. The flesh must die. Also the congregation that is not producing workers is not in faith. A congregation that is not producing disciples is not growing in faith. You must first fulfill Jesus’ great commission to produce disciples and then God will raise up workers. It is not the church that makes true workers in God’s kingdom; God alone does this. Look at Matthew 9:37-38
37 Then He said to His disciples, "The harvest truly is plentiful, but the laborers are few. 38 "Therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest."
Are the workers few in your congregation? Are you praying to the Lord to raise up workers and send them to you? Do you see God stirring in anyone’s heart to pray? If God is not moving in your heart to pray, then God is not moving in your life. If God is not moving anyone in the church to pray, God is not moving in the church. If God is not moving in the church, then something has to be hindering the Spirit of God and the focus should be on discipleship and your individual faith. It first begins with you. You may be a pastor, Sunday School teacher or just someone attending a church with no idea what God’s will is for your life. It begins with you. As you seek God and build up in your most holy faith, God will begin to move in your life. Notice I did not say, build up your faith, but build yourselves up in your faith. Look at Jude 1:20-21
20 But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit, 21 keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life.
Faith is a gift from God (Romans 12:3). You cannot produce faith and indeed more is not necessary. God has already given you everything you need that pertains to life and godliness. 2 Peter 1:3 promises us:
His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue,
Not one time in scripture do you see man increasing his own faith. God has already measured to you the gift of faith and you have everything you need to live a godly, Spirit filled life if you have received the gift of salvation and the Holy Spirit. The problem is not a lack of faith, but the fact that we have built ourselves up on things other than our faith. Through the scripture and obeying God’s commandments, you have the power to build yourselves upon the faith that God has given. Either you are building in the flesh, or you are building upon the faith God has given. If you walk by faith, you will see God working in your life. As you move into God's will, God will begin to move within you. As God begins to move in you, then He will stir you to pray for workers.
In the church we have scrambled the word of God to the point where we are dependent upon ourselves and our programs instead of emptying ourselves and seeking God and His work that we are called to finish. Do you know what your work is? If not, the problem is not in ‘finding your spiritual gifts’, but seeking God through His word. Your work begins in your heart. Look at this commonly known passage in 2 Chronicles 16:
9 "For the eyes of the LORD run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show Himself strong on behalf of those whose heart is completely His.
Is God showing Himself strong on your behalf? If not, you know the problem – your heart is not completely His. The average church has lost sight of our command to die to ourselves and tries to encourage the congregation by only talking of the benefits of Christianity and looking to God as a tool for our happiness. God allows a congregation to go their own way if they choose to do so. You can get success by human standards, but you cannot see the hand of God without obedience. Why is it that a church can grow and the people experience exciting worship, but they cannot overcome sin in their own lives or experience God in their daily walk? Each Christian should experience God daily as He speaks to us through His word. There is rarely a day that goes by that I don’t hear God speak. Every day He speaks to me through His word and then I see His hand moving in every circumstance in my life. Each person in our congregation should be discipled so that they also can experience God if they are willing to let go of their life in the flesh. Until this happens, faith is a theoretical concept that we hope the preacher is experiencing. Unfortunately, I have found this also is a rarity.
If your church is spiritually anemic, God will not move to reveal His mighty hand. He first calls you to holiness and then He will stir your hearts to seek and pray. You know God is about to move because He begins to draw people to pray. People will begin to see a need for repentance; see a need for workers and pray for God to send them; pray for the community and pray for all the needs that God is equipping them to do. If your heart is not burdened to pray, there is a deeper problem that must be resolved. If you don’t see men and women in the church burdened to pray for the church, there is a spiritual problem preventing His move. We can ‘celebrate’ our sorrows away, but the real fulfillment is in being broken over our sin and allowing God to transform our lives and show Himself strong on our behalf.
Programs are fine and training is fine, but unless the Lord is building through us, our labors are in vain. If God is not raising up laborers, the church is not walking in God’s will. The focus should first be shifted upon discipleship and as the members begin to seek the Lord, He will be found. Look at Jeremiah 29:
13 And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart.
This was written to Israel but the principle applies to all. We will seek and find God because He reveals Himself to us when He draws us to seek and we respond to His call. Each time you hear His word, God is calling. You must remove the things that prevent you from hearing that call. You must begin building upon your faith that He has given and cleanse out the things that are built upon the flesh. Even good works are worthless if they are founded upon the flesh.
Eddie Snipes
Author of Simple Faith
Exchanged Life Outreach
http://www.exchangedlife.com
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