Church is not about me.
It is not even about us. Church
is about doing the will of Christ Jesus, following in his attitude and
way. It is an important lesson to
learn. I pray every day that I will
learn this lesson anew. I pray that you
will learn it, too – that church is not about you or me.
I also pray that the church will learn this lesson. Church is not about the people that make up
the body of Christ. Church is not about
the pastor or pastoral staff. It grieves
my heart and soul when I see an alive and vibrant church wither away to almost
nothing when a pastor moves on.
Church – doing God’s will in the world – is about the
mind of Christ Jesus. Paul knew this
lesson quite well. Read from Philippians
chapter one:
It is true that some preach Christ
out of envy and rivalry, but other out of goodwill. The latter do so out of love, knowing that I
am put here for the defense of the gospel.
The former preach Christ out of selfish ambition, not sincerely,
supposing that they can stir up trouble for me while I am in chains. But what does it matter? The important
thing is that in every way, whether from false motives or true, Christ is
preached. And because of
this I rejoice.
Yes, and I will continue to rejoice,
for I know that through your prayers and God’s provision of the Spirit of Jesus
Christ what has happened to me will turn out for my deliverance. I eagerly expect and hope that I will in no
way be ashamed, but will have sufficient courage so that now as always Christ will
be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death. For to me, to
live is Christ and to die is gain. If I
am to go on living in the body, this will mean fruitful labor for me. Yet what
shall I choose? I am torn between the
two: I
desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far; but it is more necessary
for you that I remain in my body. Convinced of this, I know that I will
remain, and I will continue with all of you for your progress and joy in the
faith, so that through my being with you again your boasting in Christ Jesus
will abound on account of me. (Verses
15-26)
While Paul languished in prison, some people preached
Christ because Paul felt so strongly about Christ to be imprisoned. Other people preached Christ hoping it would
cause Paul more trouble or for other selfish reasons. And Paul rejoiced. Paul’s efforts were never about Paul or his
own welfare. Paul was trying to
obediently serve Christ. If Christ was
being preached – for whatever reason – Paul rejoiced.
Paul greatly desired to be an emissary for Christ. For this reason, Paul knew that to live truly
meant to live solely for Christ. And death
would mean sweet reunion with Christ and the end to suffering.
But, again, Paul knew that he should never think or act for his own benefit. Paul rather sought to live for Christ, and part of living for Christ is thinking of others before yourself. Yes, it is like the old children’s song called “JOY” states, “Jesus first, Yourself last, and others in between” – that spells out JOY as an acronym.
Let us rejoice in this JOY – JOY in Jesus and JOY in
other people. The church is all about Jesus,
and Jesus calls us to love God and all people.
Spread the JOY.
Enough mumbling for now…
Peace Out
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