“An unexamined life is not worth living” Socrates
‘God does not call me to be successful; he calls me to be faithful’. Mother Teresa
As
we come to the end of 2018 and prepare to enter into a new year it is good to
know where we stand in terms of our relationship with God, the effectiveness of
our Church and the impact our ministry has made. Whether we are willing to take
stock of the same or not the Bible clearly states that the Church will be
measured to see if we qualify His standard. In Revelation 11:1 it
says, ‘Then I was given a measuring reed like rod, with these words: “Go
and measure the temple of God and the altar and count those who worship
there.’. Are you prepared for His audit?
We
all know that the Church is the divine strategy instituted by God to propagate
the gospel of salvation and the message of love in this world. Sadly, we see
many Christians and Churches have defined it very differently according to
what suits them. Apostle Paul talks about such groups who
have their own way of measuring themselves. "but
when they measure themselves by themselves and compare themselves with
themselves, they are without understanding.". 2
Corinthians 10:12 NASB
In
9Marks journal an article on ‘Healthy Church’ defines beautifully what a Church
is not and it goes this way, “the church is not a
place. It's not a building. It's not a preaching point. It's not a spiritual
service provider. It's a people - the new covenant, blood-bought people of God.
That's why Paul said, "Christ loved the church and gave himself up for
her" (Ephesians. 5:25). He didn't give
himself up for a place, but for a people.”
While
Jesus was on the earth one time was highly disappointed when he literally
visited the temple and looked at everything. (Mark 11:11). In-fact
He was infuriated when he saw the prayer house was made a
business center and He vehemently remarked, “is
it not written my house will be called a house of prayer for all nations? But
you have made it a den of thieves.”. (Mark
11:15). God is going to measure it again as we see in the book of
Revelation chapter eleven.
Today
still there is a big gap between the Church and the members whether we want to
accept or not. In some cases, the members are made to believe their job
is over when they give their maximum offerings. Unfortunately, Christian faith
and many Churches are caught in a web of lies. Are we willing to rectify the
same? Church is not a small scale or large-scale business.
Let’s not forget that the Church is already under the radar of the government, fascist and political groups. Anytime our differences and sub-standard way of operating and functioning will not only disappoint the people around us, but also God. We are nearing the coming of the Lord and He already is in the process of pruning and cleaning. In the book of Malachi God expresses His disappointment as He articulates this, “I wish one of you would shut the temple doors, so that you would no longer kindle a useless fire on my altar! I am not pleased with you," says the Lord of Armies, "and I will accept no offering from your hands. Malachi 1:10 (CSB)
Christianity
is not a survival business, it is all about relationship, commitment and more
important, accountability. Both lay people and Church leaders need to be
careful that they do not fall short of the standards of God. Let
me close this article for this year with a quote by Mahatma Gandhi which says, “I
have never been able to reconcile myself to the debaucheries of the Christmas
season. They have appeared to me to be so inconsistent with the life and
teaching of Jesus Christ.”. May the Lord help us to
think in these lines and ask God to make us worthy in order to meet His divine
standard and exemplify our faithfulness to Him.
Blessings.
God bless
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