Over the past
few months, the articles have focused on the fundamental tasks
given to the church in Scripture. Thus
far, biblical corporate worship and the communicating of the Good News of Jesus
Christ has been presented as those which mark the church as a body of true,
authentic believers. A church that
intentionally promotes and enables spiritual growth gives further evidence that
it adheres to the biblical model of a church.
From the first
verses in Genesis to the final chapter of Revelations, the Bible cries out for the
people of God to have a deep, abiding, growing relationship with Him. In the book of Hebrews, it declares, “…let us
leave the elementary doctrine of Christ and go on to maturity …” (Hebrews 6:1). Although the believer is ultimately
responsibility for the deepening of his or her relationship with God, the
church is one of the principal instruments through which God brings this
understanding. Consequently, one of the
main duties of a scripture-based church is the building up of the church body. In a world that is forever drifting away from
God and His precepts, the church is the institution that is meant to weather
the storm. As a church drives its members deeper into
the faith, it creates a believer whose faith is grounded. If a church fails in this mandate, it allows
believers to remain as, “…children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried
about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful
schemes. (Ephesians 4:14)” On the other hand, if a church is intentionally
facilitating and encouraging the growth of its members, it is creating
Christ-followers who are, “… speaking the truth in love...” and corporately, a church
that “builds itself up in love” (Ephesians 4:15-16).
If the
aforementioned is true, the logical next questions is, am I part of a church
body that purposely creates opportunities for its members to grow into mature, scripturally-grounded
Christian? After self-examination, the
church must respond in the affirmative or it a church in name only. Millen
Baptist, let us not be church in name only.
Let us critically analyze each aspect of our church and ask, is it
bringing another closer to Christ? If
the answer is not yes, let us being willing to choose to be radical and let us
cut loose even the oldest program for the cause of Christ.