Congregations or Christ?
Last Tuesday evening we were in attendance for a gospel meeting at the New Providence church near Murray, Kentucky. I had preached on Sunday and Monday evening, and Luke was preaching that night. I did not know what he had chosen as a topic. He does his own Bible studies and gets his own ideas and I want him to be his own person. But it was nice to be involved in the first conjoint gospel meeting effort with my son and to get to hear some preaching myself.
While preaching on the first two chapters of 1 Corinthians, Luke discussed the wisdom of God. Part of what he emphasized was Paul’s explanation to the church concerning their blessings. The church at Corinth had in Christ obtained something better than what the Jews and the Greeks had obtained through their heritage. Even though the wisdom of God in Christ was a stumbling block to the Jews and foolishness to the Gentiles, to Christians it is the wisdom and power of God. Truly we have everything in Christ! I was thankful for this reminder during the sermon.
But there was another point that Luke made that I want to share with you. In speaking of the importance of Christ, he suggested that maybe the promotion of individual congregations of the Lord’s people can from time to time take the emphasis away from Jesus. I think about my work at Willow, and I know that I spend a lot of energy promoting our local church. I often tell people that it is the best church in our community. I tell our members how wonderful they are and how glad I am to be here working with them. I feel all of these things genuinely or else I would not say them. But Luke got me to thinking that maybe some of the sweat I spend in supporting our local family might be misappropriated.
Churches are fallible because they are comprised of people. The church at Willow where I preach is imperfect. It is led by imperfect shepherds, served by imperfect deacons, and taught by imperfect preachers and teachers. It is comprised of imperfect members. But the one thing we all have together that makes us who we are is the perfect blood of Christ! He is the wisdom and power of God. He is what we preach. He is what saves us! He is the theme of every one of our songs. He is our example of commitment and sacrifice. He is the demonstration of the transcending and matchless love of Jehovah.
Don’t get me wrong. I believe it is the responsibility of a local congregation to have an excellent name and reputation. The local church should help the community in benevolent ways while preaching the truth of Jesus Christ with abounding love. We exist to glorify God and to give the lost the saving message of the gospel. But at the end of the day, it is Christ who is to be exalted. He is the one who has been given the name that every tongue shall confess. He is the one to whom every knee shall bow. He is the one who through his death at Calvary has proven a love that has the power to change the heart and draw every person to himself.
As I look into 2020, I am going to be more conscious of my need to exalt Christ. While congregations are important as beacons, they are only to serve as a reflection of the true and perfect light of Jesus. If we are a part of a local church because of what the church is, we probably have it all wrong. But when we are a part of the local church because of who Christ is, then we have obtained the wisdom of God. He is what is better than human wisdom and earth time blessings. He is what is ultimately worthy of our worship and sacrifice.
I want to be a part of the church that exalts Jesus Christ above everything else. This is the Father’s desire for those whom he has purchased with the blood of his only begotten son.
“That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God.” – 1 Cor. 2:5
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AUTHOR: Jeremiah Tatum
