What is the Church? (Part 3) (Inside Out) There are three acceptable reasons for going to church. According to the scriptures they are as follows: 1.) To worship, honor, adore and glorify the One True God, 2.) To exhort and encourage one another to live holy lives especially as we see the end drawing near, and 3.) To affirm and reaffirm the Word of God as true in our hearts. If these are not your reasons, or if you're going for any other reasons it would probably be better if you just didn't go. OK, I realize that statement sounds pretty dogmatic, but if you look at your motives for going and you find that they don't line up then it only takes a simple adjustment to align yourself with God's agenda. No matter what you feel your reasons are it isn't hard to see how all-encompassing these are. Let's say for example if after taking a look at your motives for going you realize that one is to be fed spiritually; That would fit into stated reason number 3, because in so doing, you're affirming that the Word of God is true and that you need it to survive spiritually. Remember, the church is not a building. It is a gathering of believers who come together for an explicit purpose, because we are all members of one body. In Part 2 of this series we looked at This Life which comes into us when we first believe the message of the Gospel (the good news). This life is not something we can cause to happen in us. It is something that God does in us. But there are practical outworkings which must be coordinated by us (the life on the inside being worked outward). One of my favorite scripture verses (of special relevance to me) goes like this: "...work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God which works in you both to will and to do of His good pleasure." (Philippians 2: 12,13) When I first started reading the Bible I didn't understand this verse. I thought it was contrary to the message that God is the one who saves us, we cannot save ourselves. "Work out my own salvation??? What!?!?!" Then I got hold of the second part! I was sitting on the front porch meditating on it one beautiful Sunday morning and the Holy Spirit began to stir inside my heart. I literally felt something as though it were a dove fluttering and moving inside of me! And the verse suddenly came alive to me; "...for it is God which works in you..." This is an awesome thing to realize! That the Creator God is in us (once we come to New Life in Christ) and that He's working! What's he working? He's working on accomplishing His will and His good pleasure. Our cooperation with that is maximized as we realize this with awe and yes, fear and trembling! Knowing that as we yield to His Spirit within us, the Life he puts in us will be worked out. Jesus puts it this way in the gospel of John chapter 15: If you remain in Me, you will bear much fruit. Fruit trees bear fruit because that's what they are. We have been created in Christ (or rather re-created) to do good works. They will be worked out naturally as we, with fear and trembling, acknowledge God's presence in our lives and learn to cooperate with Him. This is not just a code of moral observances, it is the outworking of an inborne quality, a New Creation Reality, the work that God has done in us. In effect you could say, as Christians, we are being turned inside out! |