Do Your Part!
Ephesians 4:11-16 (ESV)
“And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, 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.”
In 1686, Sir Isaac Newton penned his three “laws of motion” in book form. He argued that an object at rest will remain at rest and an object in motion will remain in motion at a constant speed and in a straight line unless it’s acted on by an outward force. Newton two terms could be used to describe many churches today! There are some churches at rest and as a result are dying. They’re merely maintaining and struggling to keep their doors open. They’re not actively engaged in making disciples, so many of them are in jeopardy of closing their doors! On the other hand, there are a lot of churches in motion and they’re thriving and growing numerically, financially and even spiritually. They are always doing something to bring people to saving faith in Jesus Christ.
Perhaps the difference between churches at rest and churches in motion is the willingness to move in the right direction according to the Word of God and everybody doing their part to help equip and grow their church. Paul is clear in Ephesians 4:11-16 that when the “whole body”, “every joint” and “every part” is working properly, it causes the entire church to grow strong and increase in love. If you classify your church as being at rest, could it be because you’re at rest and failing to do your part? If you classify your church as being in motion, what more can you do to ensure that it continues to be in motion?
God help me to do my part to help build up and grow your church so that she continues to be vibrant and actively in motion, Amen!