Deceiving Ourselves

The best expressions of church life do not form in models imposed on people by those, who by training, study, etc.think they know what is best.

The best expressions of church life rise out of Christian brethren, and those with whom their lives have daily contact, and who become attracted by, and interested in, the love and other differences they perceive in the relationships amongst Christians.

In other words the church is not something we build by our efforts, by zealously doing things according to a formula developed from some formula, theology or creed.

The genuine church is that which arises amongst those who have a common Father, born anew by His Spirit, and learning to live, loving each other, and sharing that love with others around them. They love because He loves(1Jn.4:19),with no other agenda.

It is hard for some folks to see that, since they have the idea that if we can just embrace the most godly, the most orthodox,the most historical system, we’ll see the church rise in glory.

The fact is the church is not a system, or an organization, or any other appellation, at all. God never designed it that way.

The church is an extension of the relationship we have with Christ, and is expressed in the relationship we have with other believers, who follow the Father's direction, as the Holy Spirit applies the Scriptures to our lives. As we are obedient to His leading, through the Scriptures, we work and discover together that our ministry is to love those with whom we interact on a daily basis.

When we learn to function in this way, we will be better equipped to reach out to those who are without Christ elsewhere in the world.

We could easily consider the reaction of God to those who tell Him, "Lord, Lord! We have given great amounts of money, spent much time in prayer, to support those in the remotest part of the earth!"

He will answer, "And you have done well, but, what about those you can easily love, your Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria? What about the neighbours who surround you, the shopkeeper, business people you see on a regular basis? Have you invited them into your life in any way, a cup of coffee, a meal,an offer of help? If you did do so, will they see Christ in you, the hope of glory, or simply a one-a-week, pious, religious legalistic shell?"