WHO, WHY, WHAT?

At the risk of channeling my inner Theodore Geisel, today’s rambling is about the church.  My church.  Our church.  Any church.  Every church (that truly follows Christ).

WHO ARE WE?

We are a collective of DISCIPLES.  BELIEVERS.  We take the Word of God SERIOUSLY as not only a rule of thumb for spiritual affairs, but in our everyday walk.  AS WE LIVE, we live by His word.  It really is that simple.  We believe that Jesus Christ is the ONLY WAY of salvation, contrary to thoughts of the world.  We believe John 14:6 is true.  We follow Christ.

WHY DO WE DO WHAT WE DO?

Because over time we have realized what Jesus told us 2000 years ago to be true:  That we are meant to be HIS HANDS, HIS FEET, HIS VOICE in this dark world.  WE are to be bearers of LIGHT — HIS LIGHT.  We are HIS ambassadors.  We are WHO we are because we believe in WHO HE IS.  And HE is why we do everything we do.  Jesus reminded us that everyone would know we belong to Him if we LOVE the way HE loves (with God’s kind of sacrificial, unselfish love) and they would know we belong to Him if we follow HIS words.  Period.  HE is the reason.

WHAT EXACTLY ARE WE TO DO?

The nuts and bolts of it all.  Here are some thoughts, but they will not encompass everything:

WE WORSHIP.  We ascribe the highest honor to GOD.  HE ALONE is worthy of our worship.  We worship HIM as TRIUNE:  Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

WE LIVE FOR HIM.  We go about our daily lives constantly living His word. No matter where our lives take us.  School.  Work.  In the market.  In the neighborhood.  At our church.  In our home.  We do everything we do as an act of worship to Him (Romans 12:1-2).

WE TELL OTHERS.  When the Holy Spirit shows us an opening, we tell others about Christ.  We tell them about the PURPOSE and MEANING He brings to our lives.  We tell them about how HE forgives of sin and walks the difficult paths of life with us.  We talk about what we DO know about this life and about Heaven.  (NOTE:  Others will ONLY take us seriously if we are also living for Him.  It does US no good to live a life that has no evidence of the power of Christ and then try to tell others about His changing power.  It just won’t work.)

WE PRAY.  We constantly talk to God and even more often, we LISTEN for Him.  We seek His face by reading His word, by gathering with other disciples, by looking for Him as we walk in our daily lives.  Henry Blackaby shared in Experiencing God that “He (GOD) is at work all around us.  Our job is to find where He is at work and join Him.”

WE REALIZE THAT WE ARE NOT PERFECT, JUST FORGIVEN.  We cannot abide in the presence of a Holy God without the saving grace HE extended to us when He sent His Son to pay the price for our sins.  NONE of us are perfect … NONE of us are better than anyone else in the world.  The ground at the foot of the cross is level.  Our job is to point as many people to that cross as possible.

Are YOU trying to figure all of this out?  Let me assure you that I DO NOT have it all figured out.  But as I walk with Him day by day, He does show me a little more … The only way to draw closer to Him is to start.  TODAY.  If you need help with this, I would love to do all I can to help you.  davidwike@ebcsc.com