Building the Church
- joepenney1
- 6 days ago
- 6 min read
This church, St John the Divine, which is situated just a half mile from my house, was originally built between 1851-1853. There is not much to be found online about the history of this church, except that it is now closed. The building served the community around Kensington and Fairfield for close to 150 years before it was converted to a community center and eventually closed down completely in 2007. Now, the majority of the building has been divided up into flats for students. The scaffold-wrapped bell tower of St John the Divine is a landmark that can be seen from multiple vantage points throughout the neighborhood.
As I've observed the various old, beautiful, and some derelict churches in the area, and also worked to clean and organize our own building at Hope Church, I have considered what it means to build Christ's church. Of course, I'm not referring to the physical building, but rather the people gathered in Jesus' name that form the church. Building up the church isn't about scaffolding for repairs, replacing old carpets, or building a new sanctuary, but the construction metaphor is helpful for us to understand Christ's work in and through his people. Building the church is about new churches planted, the gospel being proclaimed, and more people trusting in Jesus. It's about faith being strengthened, people being discipled, and the maturing of communities gathered around God's Word. It's really all about reliance upon the Spirit, obedience to Jesus, and glorifying the Father.
We first need to understand that it is ultimately Christ who builds the church. It is his bride, and he is the head. He is the chief architect, and he is the one who has the plans. Christ leads the church, and we as its members follow in loving submission. Psalm 127:1 says that "Unless the Lord builds the house, those who build it labor in vain." We follow Christ's example laid out in the blueprint of scripture that he has given us. Christ sends his Spirit to work through us, to remind and to guide us in what he has taught. The Spirit also equips us with roles and gifts to serve and strengthen one another in sacrificial love. We build up the church when we follow Christ's lead, rely upon his Spirit, and lovingly use our gifts.
So what does that look like, worked out practically? What does building up the church really mean day to day? First of all, we need to remember that the church is made up of people. That means that our work is highly relational. We must engage with the real people who make up the body of Christ. This gets messy.
I have worked on many home renovations, and without fail, during the renovation process, there is always something unexpected that is uncovered. There is usually some previous work that was poorly done that must be undone, there are often hidden leaks or water damage, there are snake skins in the attic, and there are more layers of flooring than you anticipated.
As your relationships within the church deepen, the more you find messes, uncover past hurts, discover unexpected opinions, or reveal hidden sins. The more we invest in people, the more we find out that what Jesus is asking us to do is harder work than expected. But this is the necessary and glorious work that we are called to! Our church mindset must shift from showing up to a church building to showing up in people's lives. The Christian life cannot be biblically pursued in isolation.
In Matthew 28, as Jesus prepares to return to the Father, he gives his disciples some final words, a final command: to make disciples. Christ clarifies his commission by also giving a strategy for how to accomplish disciple-making. Disciple-making is done by going, baptizing, and teaching. We are each called to move, to get off the pew and find someone to disciple. We are to open our homes and lives, and share our faith and experiences with real people around us. We are to get involved in the nitty-gritty of their day-to-day and to know where their relationship with Jesus is and where it's headed. We are to know and understand what Jesus taught and then teach it to others. This may sound daunting, but disciple-making isn't just for the experts. Disciple-making is not a job reserved for the pastor or just the paid staff. Jesus has called and equipped each of us to serve in building up the church.
While we all share the command to make disciples, like workers in different trades, we are each uniquely gifted to build the church in different ways with specific tools. Reflecting on 1 Corinthians 12, we find that we are all members of Christ's body and equally needed and valued, but have various roles.
In my experience, it is easy for us to think that those with a theological degree or a pastoral job description are somehow more valuable to the church. We tend to outsource our gifts to someone on staff and expect that our tithes should cover the work of the ministry. But this is not what scripture describes. We need to understand the importance that every member plays in the health and function of the church. We should pursue clarity, confidence, and proficiency in the gifts we have been given.
I have found that many church members are unsure of what their gifts are or feel like they don't know how to use them. Maybe you've been told by someone that you have certain gifts, but don't feel very confident in them. Or worse yet, maybe you feel like your particular gifts are not needed, that someone on staff at the church can handle it, someone who has more experience. As we seek to build up the church, we should be quick to point out gifts in those around us and to show honor and thankfulness. We should pray for personal confidence in the gifts that the Spirit has given us. If God has given us gifts for the vital function of the church, we should pursue them and use them.
As 1 Corinthians 12 teaches us about the variety and value of our gifts, the next chapter grounds us in the through-line of love that must define all of our actions. In pursuit of deep discipleship relationships using the power and gifts that the Helper has given us, our confidence must rest on Christ alone and be completely void of pride and competition. It can be easy to gather a following around someone whose pride in their own gifts dominates the stage or whose strategy is competition with other local congregations. While attendance might swell under a gifted yet prideful leader, what is built will be structurally unsound. Using our gifts through the filter of love reins us in and keeps our purpose tied to the goal Christ sets. Where pride in our abilities often speeds up the work and tends to overlook people, love slows us down to really see the people we are serving.
Pursuing confidence without pride in our giftings is a careful balance, but it produces faithful fruit within our relationships. In Ephesians 4, Paul describes how, when the church is built up by the saints, there is unity of the faith, knowledge of Jesus, robust maturity, and strength that endures. When we slow down and prioritize relationships with people in our church, we discover the commonality of our need for Christ and the grace that we share. When we use our gifts within the church, we can help others to know Jesus more deeply through how we teach, pray, host meals, honor, and sacrifice. All of this causes us to grow up more and more into the image of Christ, not just as individuals but as a body of believers whose varied gifts and common faith give us strength to endure whatever comes our way.
The Church is God's plan for the proclamation of His Gospel and the expansion of his kingdom. As faithful members of various local expressions of Christ's Church, we should stick to the blueprint of disciple-making, utilize the tools the Spirit has given, and build upon Christ himself as our cornerstone.