I WIll Build My Church

Wednesday, 14 January 2009 17:00

Confessions of a pastor...

It was not a typical Sunday.

We had 30 people that morning (evangelistically speaking). Ninety percent of the congregation was men. The women were on their Fall Retreat... As excited as I was for our ladies, I must admit the chagrin I felt not having them on Sunday. If our fledgling congregation felt small before...then today, it felt empty. I had to fight to keep my heart composed and avoid giving way to the feelings of insignificance pounding on my minds door. When what to my wandering eyes should appear...a man and a woman… who picked a bad day to come here. It was a pastor’s worst nightmare. Of all days to have visitors!

I’m still not sure if my opening prayer over the women’s retreat was to inform our visitors that our numbers were more substantial than they appeared or if it was actually for our missing women. I know I wanted to make sure they knew women did in fact attend our church. However, by the time service ended, I was thoroughly convinced we’d never see those two visitors again.

But we did! And the rest is history.

We laugh about it all now. But God used this moment of insecurity to speak again to my heart. A few weeks later, God reminded me of all the thoughts and feelings I had that morning, and He tossed a hand-grenade of truth into my soul. He reminded me of His words in Matthew 16:18, “...and I will build My church...” [emphasis mine]. God was not only freeing me from the pressure of having to “grow” the church, He was reminding who the real leader was. The snapshot Luke gives us of the original church in Acts 2:42-47 concludes with this phrase: “...and the Lord added to their number daily, those who were being saved.” The Lord did the “adding.” Church growth is not a formula that we can “plug’n’play.” God himself brings the growth.

That day God reminded me that He was both the “builder” and the “leader.” If we follow after His word and walk in His ways, He promises to make us successful. If we love Him with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength, He will lead us and we will be successful.

And by the way, success to God is defined in eternal terms not temporal. What God is looking for is a return on His investment in us: eternal life and power being poured into the hearts of men and women who come to trust in His love. God is not asking us to find ways to grow the church or ourselves, for that matter. Instead, He is asking us to be faithful to live and do what He has said.