The Church: The People of God We Love and Build Up

Today’s reading continues in Section III: The Church – The People of God We Love and Build Up. Read here.

The pilgrim church faces challenges from without and threats within.

The church has always faced crises. As our Lord said, in this world there will be many trials. As evidenced throughout history, God’s faithful saints have faced and continue to face persecution and severe opposition, often risking their lives for the sake of the Lord they love. The church is built on the blood of the martyrs. Even so, the church’s struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the powers of darkness. The evil one conspires against the church of Christ, but as Jesus has promised, he continues to build his church and even the gates of Hades cannot prevail against it. (John 16:33; Eph 6:12; Matt 16:18: Rev 1:18)

The church carries the treasure of the gospel in “earthen vessels” in vulnerability and humility, not looking to point to itself but to the all-surpassing power of God. Therefore, it does not resist its opponents according to the powers or armaments of this world but perseveres through adversity and suffering by the power of God, fully armed with spiritual weapons of righteousness. Empires rise and fall but the church, sustained by its Lord, is called to remain steadfast and conduct itself as the household of the living God, the pillar and foundation of truth. (2 Cor 4:7; John 18:36; 2 Cor 6:7; 1 Tim 3:14-16)

Yet, we are grieved that the church has not always stayed true to this calling. Scripture is clear that the greater risk to the church’s vitality and the integrity of its message comes from within. It has all too often succumbed to the allure of political power, of cultural approval and of the world’s pleasures, abandoning its mandate to be God’s prophetic witness in the world. In such instances the church becomes an instrument of oppression, complicit in acts of injustice, and loses its credibility in the world. These compromises are either consequences of, or causes for, the church moving away from biblical authority by distorting the Scriptures to satisfy mere worldly desires. The twin pillars of faithful belief and practice (orthodoxy and orthopraxy) erode as the church takes its eyes away from Christ and the cross. We lament these failures and sins of our past and repent from ways in which we continue to ignore the conviction of the Spirit and the instructions of our Lord. (1 Tim 4:16)