"I will Build my Church..."

Matthew 16:18

For a pastor (at least this pastor), these words of Jesus are among the most comforting and reassuring words in the Bible.  They are also the most sobering and convicting, because they oppose so many beliefs I have about my job.  I always feel the self-imposed pressure to “grow up” the Father’s House both in membership and maturity, and God must remind me every day that it’s His job to build the church, and He instructed me to, “. . .  feed My sheep.”

Please refocus with me.  The question is not, “How can I get the church to grow or get others to come?”  But, “How can I share the love God has shed on me with others?”  We can trust that if the Lord is pleased with the Son of God in our lives, He will use us and our church to bring many sons and daughters to glory, and that excites me much more than simply larger numbers of bodies in chairs!

Here’s my point.  It’s my one desire to see Jesus Christ fully realized in my life.  It doesn’t matter what occurs or does not occur, what happens to me and the things I love, or if I get anything in life I so deeply desire – as long as the Heavenly Father receives glory and honor through me. Efforts to make the Father’s House in our image are simply vain and futile, because we can’t build the church.  But we can be built up in Christ and function as a member of a church where Christ builds up others in His image.  

Now, I do believe that God will multiply and mature us mightily in this coming season.  My main task, though, is to see that this flock I pastor reflects the person, power, and love Jesus Christ with anyone and everyone who comes among us. Examine yourself, as I’m examining myself.  Are we loving, honoring, praying, and giving in the way that Jesus commands?  If we are, God will delight in increasing us, because He’ll be multiplying Christ through us. That’s all the Father wants . . . more, much more of Jesus!

Love and peace beyond understanding,

Pastor Eric