Do We Build the Church?

It seems that every congregation hears messages about how we need to make the church more seeker friendly. The music needs to be updated and the awkward passages in scripture regarding judgement must be kept out of the sermons. This, so many church elders think, will build the church and make unsaved people feel more comfortable. Is that really what we're supposed to do?

According to Jesus Christ, he's the one who will build his church. We merely go out and tell others about him and if they come, they come.

Look at what Christ said in Matthew 16:18 (KJV). "And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it."

Jesus had just asked who people said he, the Son of Man, was. Then he asked who they said he was. Peter answered that he was the Son of God. Jesus named him Peter, a little rock, and on the rock that he was the Christ, he would build his church.

But what are we to do? Christ told his disciples in Mark 16:15 (KJV), "And he said unto them, 'Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.'" While we are to baptize and teach new disciples, it's up to Jesus, through the Holy Spirit, to bring people in to fill his church.

There was a time when I believed the fallacy that we needed to accommodate our church to the world rather than the world to the church. Now I know better.

I wrote about my growth in the Lord in a book called How I Was Razed. Visit Amazon to find out more about the wondrous work wrought in my life by Christ.

My thanks to John MacArthur for inspiring this blog post.