Some time ago I read this helpful comment
on the church:
A local church living out together the
life of Christ within them, is God’s strategy to
change a lost world. (Blackaby and King, Experiencing God Workbook, 162)
That’s the vision of the church that
burns in my heart as I serve here in Wyndham. I believe with every fibre of my
being that a local church – such as the
It’s the last part of that statement that
especially catches my attention. It’s not the local church’s efforts that God
uses to change the world, but the local church “living out the life of Christ”
which is within it. Each local church is, after all, a living body – a local
expression of the universal body of Christ. And just as a body is animated by its inner
life, so the church is animated by the life of Christ.
That’s what makes the spiritual life of a
church so important. A church may have fine buildings and an overflowing bank
account, but if it lacks the indwelling life of Christ it really has nothing.
It is nothing more than a dead shell. What matters most is that Jesus, through
his Spirit, should fill the church with his own life. That is his plan and
desire.
When that happens we can expect the
unexpected and unattainable to take place. While the Lord Jesus uses us as his
members, he is not limited by us. That is to say, he is not bound to do things
the way we would. Nor is he restricted to doing the things that we could. Usually
his ways are not our ways; more often than not they are far beyond what we
could either imagine or do. When he begins to work, things happen that only he
would and could make happen.
Fully convinced of this basic dynamic
I’ve been seeking to do three things since arriving in Wyndham. The first is to make sure that people are
indeed “in Christ,” that is, that they are true Christians, people who live in
Christ and have him living in them. Secondly, I have been trying to help those
that are Christians “grow up into Christ” by helping them know more of him, who
they are “in him”, and what he requires of them as they live the life of faith.
Then thirdly, I have tried to help them discern where he is working in their
lives – and in the life of the church – so that they can join him and be used by
him to extend his kingdom.
These three things properly belong
together and follow the order outlined above. People cannot bear fruit for
Jesus if they do not know him and are not united to him. Even if they are, they
will not bear much fruit for him unless they are constantly remaining in him
and growing to maturity in him. Furthermore, they will never be able to
determine where he is at work in their lives if they are not constantly experiencing
the reality of his indwelling life. When
they are, what he wants them to do will be clear.
This, to my mind, is what pastoral ministry
is all about. When I left the university teaching of Soil Science and its
associated research back in 1980, my esteemed Professor protested, “What a
waste. I can’t understand why you are leaving soil science and this place where
you can have great influence just to drink cups of tea with old ladies.”
That, you see, was his conception of
pastoral ministry – drinking tea with old ladies (no disrespect on my part
intended!). It may have been the kind of pastoral life he grew up with as a boy
in
The truth is that there is nothing more
challenging than to help people know Christ, grow to maturity in him, and then
respond to his work within them. That’s
a calling second to none. I will write more about it next week.