By Mike Riley
As Christians, associating ourselves with a congregation of the Lord’s people is not a difficult task. Unfortunately, some Christians want to be considered a part of the congregation, but they do not desire to be involved in the Lord’s work.
The whole purpose of the church is to act in concert, fulfilling God’s will…Matthew 7:21 “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter;
Luke 6:46-49 46 “Now why do you call Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I say? 47 Everyone who comes to Me and hears My words and acts on them, I will show you whom he is like: 48 He is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid a foundation on the rock; and when there was a flood, the river burst against that house and yet it could not shake it, because it had been well built. 49 But the one who has heard and has not acted accordingly is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation; and the river burst against it and it immediately collapsed, and the ruin of that house was great.”;
Ephesians 4:11-16 11 And He gave some as apostles, some as prophets, some as evangelists, some as ]pastors and teachers, 12 for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the building up of the body of Christ; 13 until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ. 14 As a result, we are no longer to be children, tossed here and there by waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of people, by craftiness in deceitful scheming; 15 but speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all aspects into Him who is the head, that is, Christ, 16 from whom the whole body, being fitted and held together by what every joint supplies, according to the proper working of each individual part, causes the growth of the body for the building up of itself in love.
However, in order to complete this requirement, members must know what to “do” (James 1:22). Unfortunately, there are members of the Lord’s church who know what to “do” but seemingly “do” their utmost to avoid contact with the church leadership, lest they be given a responsibility of completing a task or tasks associated with spiritual service (Romans 12:1 NASB).
While congregations should always work to incorporate the entire membership into a plan of work in the Lord’s kingdom, it is indeed necessary that every member be willing to step forward and demonstrate their eagerness to participate in that work.
If we are willing participants in the Lord’s work, we will soon understand that serving the Lord is one of the most enjoyable experiences of a Christian’s life. We learn to become a part of something larger than ourselves (Romans 14:7-8; cf. Gal. 2:20), plus we get to enjoy the company of folks who share our spiritual values (Hebrews 10:23-25), ultimately improving our focus on spiritual things rather than on worldly things (Colossians 3:1-2).
Therefore, let us heed Paul’s admonition to the Corinthian brethren in 1 Corinthians 15:58, to “be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.”
If we’re not already involved, let’s get involved doing the Lord’s work!