When people mention the word church their minds go to a building. Interestingly the first church did not have a building. The word church in the Greek language is the word Ekklesia. It means the gathering or assembling of the called out ones. Much time would pass before buildings were constructed for worship.
Many debate the purity of the house church movement over buildings where people gather for worship. That is not my intent today. My focus is on something that easily relates to both groups. In the three decades I have been a follower of Jesus and a preacher I've noticed a few things.
1. Not everyone who gathers for public worship actually worships.
2. While the Bible is taught or preached in most of these gatherings everyone does not live their lives according to Biblical principles.
3. Much of what we do takes place behind the walls of a worship building or a home rather than in public.
Here are my questions. How much of what you do as a follower of Jesus takes place outside the walls? Out where the people are/ How about the people you worship and seek God with? How much of what you all do together takes place outside the walls of your gatherings? Increasingly I feel compelled that ministry must take place outside the walls. There are so many needs.
Real people need real ministry outside the walls. Not sterilized synthetic religion. They need real life love, evangelism, service and help. It is messy often. It is not glamorous like so many mission trips or projects get romanticized. My friend says some trips look sexy. They get a lot of attention. Mowing an elderly neighbor's yard is not sexy. Helping people strung out on drugs is messy. Three steps forward and sometimes two steps backward. Some ministry may not yield quick results. You won't be applauded for doing so.
In the early church they did not set up a night for a visitation program. They ministered and shared the gospel in the public sector everyday. Where they lived, worked, shopped and rubbed shoulders with others. Jesus so impacted their lives they could not help but talk about Him. As a result God continually saved the lost. Everyday He saved the lost. The church exploded in just a ew chapters in Acts.
Today we have buildings and every conceivable tool to make ministry more effective but we are less effective than the first church. They tapped into God through prayer. What God did in them could not be contained behind the walls of a worship gathering. They were compelled to minister for Jesus outside the walls.
It did not stop there. Those people who made up the first church really loved each other. More than with just words. When people had a need they rallied together to meet that need. Even if it meant selling their own possessions to raise the money. Do we see this in the Ekklesia today? I praise God in many places yes. Sadly there are others who hoard their money for a rainy day. They stock pile tens of thousands of dollars while ignoring the needs right underneath their noses.
As I write this I'm eating lunch at home. Just leftovers but they are sure good. Down home country soul food kind of cooking. Yet a couple of weeks ago I received an email from a lady who asked if I knew where a poor person could get help with food. I made some inquiries and several people rallied to raid their pantries and refrigerators. The food was delivered to people who really needed it. How many others are just like them? I am eating leftovers today but there are many who have nothing to eat. It's easy to collect money to help those in poverty. It is harder to get involved. To minister outside the walls. Aren't we supposed to help feed the poor or is that the government's job? Many pastors and church leaders would rather relegate such ministries to the government so they will not have to be bothered. I praise God for those churches actively engaged in feeding the hungry outside the walls.
This summer I went on a mission trip to Rockport, TX in order to help with relief efforts from Hurricane Harvey some nine months after the storm. The government showed up and when their money ran out they vacated. You wan tot know what I saw. I saw a church put make shift beds in classrooms and volunteers from all over the country still helping. I saw volunteers using their fellowship hall to feed volunteers who came to serve trying to help things get back to normal. Cutting down trees, tapping roofs, cleaning out debris from the flood waters and doing what they could to help. So much work is still let to be done. That same area is getting flooded by tropical storm rains again.
My mind turns to the people of the Carolinas getting pounded by a hurricane as I write this. The recovery efforts will take longer than most imagine. Volunteers will be needed to help the victims for months to come. That is ministry outside the walls.
Are we going to expend our days in endless teaching, preaching, hearing but seldom doing. This past week I have been swamped in ministry efforts. Very few of them took place inside the walls of a house of worship. They took place in living rooms, sitting on a mower, at restaurants and in hospitals. Keith Green sang in a song, "Lord, there's so much work left to be done, so many souls still left to be won."
We are the people of God. The called out ones. Out. Out from lives of sin and paganism. Out from dead religion. Also outside the walls.
Matthew 5:16 (NKJV)
16 Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.
Acts 2:42-47 (NKJV)
42 And they continued steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers.
43 Then fear came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were done through the apostles.
44 Now all who believed were together, and had all things in common,
45 and sold their possessions and goods, and divided them among all, as anyone had need.
46 So continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they ate their food with gladness and simplicity of heart,
47 praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved.
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