THE POUND
PROCLAIMER
Volume III
May 2008
Number 7
Sing
to the Lord, bless His name; proclaim the good news of His salvation from day
to day. Psalms 96:2
Devaluing The
The local church occupies an important position in God’s scheme of things. It is through the local church that Christians execute certain works. These are works which God commands that can only be accomplished as a group in the context of a local church. To illustrate this, consider the partaking of the Lord’s Supper. It is to be done on the first day of the week (Acts 20:7) when the local church is assembled together (1 Corinthians 11:20, 33). Another example would be the discipline of an unfaithful Christian. This discipline is to be administered by the local church in its assembly (1 Corinthians 5:4-5). The Christian is to provoke other Christians and to be provoked by other Christians. This provoking is done in the assembly (Hebrews 10:24-25). Who can deny the importance of a local church? Does not the aforementioned items prove as much?
Paul understood
how important the local church was to his Christian life, hence, “… when he had come to
A failure to appreciate the benefits of membership in a local church will cause the Christian to live below his potential. Sadder still, it will cause him to lose his soul.
It is impossible for the Christian to fulfill collective responsibility unless he is a faithful member of a local church. The idea that a Christian can be a member at large, never settling down at one congregation, where he would be accountable, is not acceptable conduct for a Christian. This is tantamount to ‘forsaking of the assembly’ and is a failure to support the work of a local church, which equals SIN. Yes, disassociating one’s self from active participation in a local church is HARMFUL to your spiritual health.
We often hear Christians lament the lack of growth in local churches. Could it be that lack of growth is symptomatic of the mentality that minimizes the importance of the local church? I believe it does! How can we work together to build up the local church if we believe the local church is not important? We cannot!
I am not saying that we should be a member of a local church that does not respect the authority of God. There have been and are local churches which teach and practice things that are contrary to sound doctrine. To them the Lord says, “Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent, and do the works you did at first. If not, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place, unless you repent.” (Revelation 2:5). On the other hand, there are local churches which have set themselves to abiding in the doctrine of Christ (2 John 9), it is to such a congregation one should join himself.
Dear Christian,
if you have been guilty of devaluing the local church, I encourage you to
repent. If you have failed in your responsibilities toward the local church of
which you are a member, I encourage you to repent. Repent and get busy working
within the frame work of the local church.
The Editor’s
Page
Many Christians are like a certain boy on the High School football team. He never used his talents and ability to their fullest, so he never made the first team. One day, the coach was in a tight spot in a crucial game. He called this lad, who had great potential if he would only put his heart into the game, and said to him, “What would you do if the team was behind, on the one-yard line, only had one more down, with one minute to play in the game and the quarterback was injured on the last play?”
The boy replied immediately, “I would move down to the end of the bench so I could see the play better.”
In High School, I can remember the honor and prestige that accompanied being on the football team. Many a young men were enticed to wear the colors because it made them popular on campus. They were willing to endure the practices just so they could be a part of that special group. It didn’t matter if they played nor if their team won. All that mattered was their identification with the team.
When the practices were more difficult than usual, when the practices ran a little longer than normal, when the coach would try to prod them into a higher plane of performance, they would whine and complain. Their goal was to wear the team jersey to school on Friday, not to achieve excellence as a football player.
Sadly, I find
that too many members of the church are like the football players described
above. They are pleased to be identified with a local
However, when the Christian life gets difficult and the local church is threatened by sin, they move down the bench to get a better view. When the leaders are taking a pounding for the cause of Christ, they move down the bench so they can see the play better. When the “Coach” approaches them for help in a pinch, they proclaim their undying loyalty and move down to the end of the bench.
“So that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes. Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.” Ephesians 4:14-16.
Are you a player? Or, are you content to watch from the sidelines? Christianity is not a spectator sport. How are we going to feel if when we stand before the Judgment Bar of God He asks us why we did not use the talent He gave to us?
Well, God you see, it’s like this. I knew the talent was a precious thing so I put it in this box for safe keeping and then put it in my pocket so I wouldn’t lose it. I would take it out at services and admire it but made sure I kept it hid. Now I give it back to you.
And God will
say, “You wicked servant depart into eternal punishment.” (Matthew 25:24-30).
THE LAST WORD
TEACHERS WHO TEACH
A church is only as strong as its teaching program. When the Bible class program is deficient, the church will not grow nor will it be able to function as it should. We often lament the dearth of elders; yet, do little to bring the next generation of Christians to a level of knowledge which will produce elders.
I realize that parents have the primary responsibility to teach the children (Ephesians 6:4; cf. Deuteronomy 6:6-9). A church cannot circumvent the responsibility of the home nor can it make up for poor teaching in the home. However, it is expedient to have a Bible class program operated by a church. A Bible class program that is structured for optimal learning, can and will enhance the work of a church.
To have a viable teaching program, a church must desire it and work toward accomplishing it. It is my hope that the things written in this article will stimulate our desire and motivate us to action.
There cannot be a successful Bible class program without teachers who teach. That may sound silly for me to say, but I fear that some teachers do not meet this basic requirement. Hear the instruction of Paul to Timothy. “And what you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses entrust to faithful men who will be able to teach others also.” (2 Timothy 2:2). The primary application of this verse is to the teaching of men to do the work of the evangelist. A secondary application would be the teaching process in general. Teaching is to be done one to another, to another, to another and so on, with each pupil eventually becoming a teacher. The only way this can happen, is if the teacher teaches.
We would not think of sending our children to public school under the tutelage of untrained teachers. We expect, nay, demand that teachers in secular education be adequately trained before we turn our children over to them. Shouldn’t we have a similar standard for their spiritual education?
Christians who are given the responsibility to teach a Bible class must be willing to prepare themselves as teachers. A failure to do so will not only affect the church; it will condemn the Christian (James 3:1).
I don’t say this
to discourage anyone from teaching a Bible class. I say it to cause us to
understand; A GOOD BIBLE CLASS BEGINS WITH TEACHERS WHO TEACH.
