WHAT DO WE LOOK FOR IN A CHURCH?
BY DAVID FOUNTAINFROM SWORD & TROWEL 2006 NO 3
The Work of a True Church
Have we ever thought how much easier it must have been to be a minister of Christ a hundred years
ago, or during a period of great revival? Have we looked back wistfully to some time when there was greater
spiritual prosperity, and lamented the fact that we have to live in days of unparalleled spiritual confusion,
declension and difficulties?
However, we should rejoice that we are counted worthy to live in a day when things are so hard.
God has called us to minister the Word at such a time and having called us, He will give us all the strength that
we need.
In considering church building in these days, we must ask ourselves what kind of building we have
in mind. What kind of spiritual body do we want to see? In a day when so much emphasis is placed on
decisions and crowds we find it difficult to look at a local church in a truly spiritual way, but we must do this.
Remember how the disciples were impressed with the Temple building, magnificent as it was, but Christ could
see ahead, and knew what was going to happen to it.
The spiritual church may be surveyed in the same way as the church building. How
large is it? Is it in a good state of repair? How much work needs to be done to improve it?
Christ has eyes as of a flame of fire. He looks at the work of God from the light of eternity. The
church is the bride of Christ. What is His objective for the church? ‘Christ loved the church, and gave himself
for it; that he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, that he might present it to
himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and
without blemish.’
If this is God’s objective, surely it must be ours also. Purity, not size, should be of the greatest
importance to us. Soundness, not fleshly impressiveness, should be our goal. As ministers, let us not resemble
the Pharisees who wanted their reward and fulfilment on earth by appearing to be successful.
Church history can be very helpful to us at this point because time tests and proves a true work of
God. Churches that have had a reputation have often had their ‘candlestick’ removed. On the other hand, that
small, unimpressive congregation that crossed the Atlantic on the Mayflower in 1620 proved to
be a wonderful company.
We are to be more impressed with Jerusalem which was beautiful for situation, a city compacted
together, than by the enormous but worldly Babylon! We are to walk about Zion, appreciate her towers,
admire her bulwarks and wonder at her palaces, rather than be overawed by the sheer magnitude of the
worldly cities.
What is the point or the goal of preaching? Is it primarily intended to gather together a huge
company of people, or to build a spiritual family?
Charles Dickens once said that he could divide young boys into two classes, either pasty-faced or
podgy. Both, alas, were unhealthy. This is so often true of churches - skinny or flabby. We have tiny churches
with little energy and drive, and we have some large churches made up (to a degree) of those who want to
escape the responsibility of real commitment in a working local church.
To move in the right direction for spiritual church building the members of a
congregation must work, and they must love one another.
First of all, we must work. We must recognise that God uses human instru
ments - we must work. When God led His people against Jericho He gave them special instructions about what
they must do. We know the details - the blowing of the ram’s horns and the falling down of the walls.
The sound of the ram’s horns did not cause the walls to fall. There was no direct
connection between what the children of Israel did and what God Himself did. Indeed, there was no
point whatsoever in blowing those ram’s horns except that God had commanded them to do so. The whole
episode taught them to trust in God alone and not in anything they themselves could do. However, this was a
unique situation, a ‘one-off’ situation designed to teach them this vital lesson.
When the children of Israel were given directions by the Captain of the Lord’s host for the taking of
Ai an additional lesson was taught. The victory at Ai taught them to use all their ingenuity and
all their strength. It was not Joshua who decided to lay an ambush behind the city but the Lord. It
was not Joshua who decided to involve all the men of war but God.
In this instance God blessed the use of the normal means, and this was always
to be the pattern subsequently. Never again were the people of God told to use some strange method
totally unrelated to warfare. Subsequently God certainly acted directly and independently
by destroying enemy defences and so forth, but the Israelites were obliged to fight like any other sol
diers, yet they were to look only to God for victory. The miracles were given in support of what the children of
Israel actually did.
Gideon’s strategy was brilliant, but was assisted by divine power to be successful. David was a
mighty man of war who thanked God Who taught his fingers to war and his hands to fight. His confidence in
God did not deter him from using all his ingenuity and strength. God granted him success as he made full use
of all the wisdom and strength which he had already been given by the Lord, at the same time depending on the
Lord’s help.
Looking at the New Testament we can see how God chose for service Peter, who was in many
respects naturally qualified to fulfil his position as a leader. However, he had some defects in his character,
being rather unstable, and he also lacked a formal education. But by God’s grace he overcame those
disadvantages. His natural gifts and energies were used to the full, and God empowered him to
overcome his inadequacies.
The case of the apostle Paul stands out especially. He laboured more abundantly than all the other
apostles. He did not assume a super-spirituality on account of his visions and draw the conclusion that it was
unnecessary for him to work hard.
He did not imagine that his special revelations eliminated the necessity for him to employ wise
strategies in his evangelism. With great application and zeal he headed for the important cities and trade routes,
always anxious to get to Rome, the hub of the empire. He recognised that he must use all his
faculties to the full for God’s glory, and in this he clearly set an example for us.
Looking again at Joshua, the scouts who visited Ai said to Joshua - ‘Do not cause all the people to
toil up there.’ But it was the divine intention for all the people of God to be involved
in that campaign. It was their privilege and their duty. So it is with the work of God today. We are labourers
together with God. Every man shall receive his own reward according to his labour.
Labouring in spiritual work is not just for the paid professionals or office bearers, but for the
whole church and every member in particular. It is not something casual that members do when they feel like
it. It is the work of the pastor and office bearers to confront men and women with their duties and to help
them discern what is suitable for them.
Secondly, within our congregations we must promote mutual love. Christians are not
isolated individuals, but are in organic relationship with each other. This is a secret of spiritual growth and the
glory of a New Testament church.
In Romans 12 the apostle Paul speaks about the function of the body in relation to
itself. This is where pastoral skill is needed and ministers are tested to the utmost. Many Christians will serve
the Lord gladly but will not work with other people.
Harmony within the local body is essential to growth. We grow up together into
Christ, as we are told in Ephesians 4. We must obviously therefore do our best to prevent people
coming into the membership who are not converted. We must protect our people from the viruses of
worldliness and false teaching, and we must deal quickly with problems which arise within the fellowship. We
must watch over the flock to encourage this mutual love.
We should be impressed by the fact that the one supreme evidence of new life in the believer is
love of the brethren expressed in a readiness to minister to other members of the body in a variety
of ways. 1 John, Matthew 25 and Hebrews 6 all speak of loving the brethren as the
outstanding evidence of new life in a believer.
Love, if you like, is the cement that holds the bricks together, and where it is lacking the bricks may
soon be removed. The pastor therefore must spend much time encouraging the members to relate to each
other. Paul speaks about each of us looking not at our own interests but at the interests of others.
When we think of the fruit of the Spirit, a principal application of these virtues is their effectiveness
to promote harmony and love within the fellowship. The fruit is - love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness,
goodness, faithfulness (or loyalty), gentleness, and self-control.
What gives us pleasure as we look at a church? What do we look for? What makes the church
beautiful to God? How can the congregation become more attractive? What will give our church true value and
worth?
We must always remember how Paul wanted the Corinthians to get their values straight, and how
he pointed out to them that without love, everything else in their church life was worthless.
He told them - ‘Love suffereth long, and is kind; love envieth not; love vaunteth not
itself (does not parade itself), is not puffed up, doth not behave itself unseemly
(rudely), seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil; rejoiceth not in
iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth; beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all
things’ (1 Corinthians 13.4-7).
Listen to the words of the prophet - ‘For Zion’s sake will I not hold my peace, and for
Jerusalem’s sake I will not rest, until the righteousness thereof go forth as brightness.’ How he wanted
Jerusalem to be bright and attractive to God. We too must be striving to achieve that mutual love which is
sometimes so hard to achieve, but without which we cannot present the church as something attractive to the
Lord.
Devoted labour by all the members, and true love and affection between all the members, is that
which delights the heart of our Saviour and leads to that real instrumentality which we must
long for in building our churches.
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