You Are the Church (1)

“To equip God’s people to do his work.” Eph 4:12 NLT
If you think the unemployment statistics in the country are bad, take a look at the church. Twenty percent of its members give eighty percent of its income, and do eighty percent of its work. The rest are happy just to be spectators. It’s easy to sit back, criticize and say, “Why doesn’t the church do something about the problem?” Hold on there: you are the church; you do something about it! You say, “But I left my church because I don’t like the way they do things.” You didn’t leave God’s church, which is the body of Christ, did you? So instead of talking about what your church doesn’t do, look in the mirror and ask yourself, “What am I doing for the Lord?” Do you know what a Monday morning quarterback is? It’s someone who analyzes the game when it’s over, criticizes the players, complains about the referee’s calls, and is content to sit in the grandstands and be a spectator rather than a player. Hello! It takes commitment to spend hours in practice knowing you’ll be booed by the crowd, tackled by opponents, and will leave the field beat up and covered in dirt. The Bible says that the job of your pastor is: “To equip God’s people to do his work and build up the church…This will continue until we all come to such unity in our faith and knowledge of God’s Son that we will be mature in the Lord, measuring up to the full and complete standard of Christ. Then we will no longer be immature like children” (vv. 12-14 NLT). Think about it!

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