The Church is a Rock
When you hear the word “church,” what do you think of? You might think of a white building with a steeple on top, a stage with lights and a fog machine, or a living room with a TV playing church online. Others might think of an NFL stadium, where they go to church on Sundays to worship big, sweaty men. When we read the word “church” in the New Testament, it is translated from the Greek word “ekklesia.” An “ekklesia” is simply a gathering of people united by common identity and purpose. So, fans at an NFL game are definitely an ekklesia. The Republican Convention is an ekklesia. Swifties at a Taylor Swift concert are an ekklesia.
This description reveals that an ekklesia is not a location. It’s people. It’s dynamic. It’s active.
In 313 A.D., Constantine made Christianity mainstream, and that changed everything. When that happened, the Church started to shift from a movement, to a location, to an institution. Eventually, to reflect this new church identity, the church took a German word and forced it into Greek verses in the Bible. That German word is “kirche,” and it describes a location. That’s where we get the word church.
“Ekklesia” and “kirche” convey very different ideas. You can lock the doors of a kirche, not an ekklesia. In fact, if you try to lock the doors on an ekklesia, the movement will grow. It’ll become more attractive. That’s what makes Christianity so amazing. No other ekklesia has grown so relentlessly.
The Christian Church is not an organization that has a limited growth curve. It is alive. It is the bride of Christ, and it is built on an unbreakable foundation. Jesus told the apostles that the foundation of the church is a solid rock.
Upon this rock I will build my church, and all the powers of hell will not conquer it.
The relentless growth of the church is proof that God’s in charge of it.
If their purpose or activity is of human origin, it will fail. 39 But if it is from God, you will not be able to stop these men; you will only find yourselves fighting against God.
When Jesus was killed, His followers went back to their old lives. They abandoned the movement. If Christ is dead, there is no Christianity. If Jesus was dead, He was simply a liar who could do magic tricks, but the resurrection of Jesus changed everything.
Anyone who listens to my teaching and follows it is wise, like a person who builds a house on solid rock. Though the rain comes in torrents and the floodwaters rise and the winds beat against that house, it won’t collapse because it is built on bedrock. But anyone who hears my teaching and doesn’t obey it is foolish, like a person who builds a house on sand. When the rains and floods come and the winds beat against that house, it will collapse with a mighty crash.
The strength of the church is evidence that Jesus is who He said He is. Christians who follow the teachings of Jesus live better lives. They get fewer divorces. They commit suicide at a much lower rate. They are less depressed, and they break fewer laws (largely because many of our laws come from the Christian Bible.)
The story of the prodigal son is an excellent illustration of the effectiveness of Biblical teaching. When the prodigal son ran away from home, he did everything he had fantasized about doing. He lived life according to the world’s way, not Christ’s way. Eventually, he concluded that he wanted to go back home to his dad. Why? Because his dad’s way of living was better. It worked. It may have seemed boring, but it was beautiful. It was effective.
Many people have decided that church isn’t worth it. They’ve considered the amount of time it takes to get involved in church, the guilt they feel when they come to a church gathering, and the number of sporting events they would have to skip. They have chosen comfort over growth.
I shouldn’t be embarrassed to tell you that I failed 7th grade, but I am. I had to take it twice. It was bad enough the first time around, but the second time was almost unbearable. All my friends moved on to 8th grade. I thought, “I’m going to have to make friends with the bratty sixth graders because now I’m one of them!” Can you guess what happened the second time I was in seventh grade? I got straight A’s. And it wasn’t because I had already learned all the 7th grade stuff. It’s because I learned how to study. I had to work harder than other kids to get the same grades, but I never wanted to experience the pain of getting held back again. I decided I was going to study harder than everyone else. I learned my lesson. In fact, I got straight A’s all the way through school. I was the valedictorian of my class. Not because I’m smart, but because I had learned a valuable lesson.
Have you ever experienced failure and thought, “There’s got to be a better way.” During my second time in 7th grade, I was also the starting point guard on the basketball team. I was shorter than everyone else, but I figured out that I could make myself valuable to the team by being a good passer. The problem was that, even though I was a year older than everyone else in the class, they all hit puberty before I did. I was a late bloomer. Evan Wright, however, the backup point guard, was not a late bloomer. Soon enough, Evan Wright took my place in the starting lineup. Evan Wright could pass too, but he was six inches taller than me.
So, I decided that I had to find a different way to make a name for myself in high school. That’s when I traded basketball for music. I tried out for a band, bought a guitar, and I lived in my bedroom learning to play guitar and sing. That got me to the 11th grade. In other words, it got me to puberty. So, I had a second chance at basketball, and I had a new skill.
We all face turning points in life where we realize there’s got to be a better way, and it’s our reactions to these moments that make the biggest impact on our future.
Dr. Phil always asks, “How’s that working for you?” Christians, we should ask this of our lives all the time. If we don’t, we end up failing over and over.
Let’s live so well that the demons get mad at our joy, our health, our beauty, our love. Many people had kids before getting married and realized that wasn’t the best way. It’s not the end of the world, but it’s better to raise kids with a good spouse. God’s way just works better.
At some point, every married guy I know has been tempted to think they would be happier with multiple sexual partners. God says we’ll be happier with one. He’s not a prude. He just knows what works best because He created us.
Sin is always rooted in the idea that we are better than God at making us happy.
Follow His teaching and build your life on the solid rock of His wisdom, on the solid foundation of His truth. Storms are coming. Pain is coming, but those things are temporary.
If we want God’s blessing, we will follow His teachings. Then, when the storms come, we will thrive. We will endure, not only because we obeyed, but also because He will be there with you. Never let the presence of a storm cause you to doubt the presence of God.
The promise of the Christian Church is that God can be more effective in our lives when we are active members of His Church. God shows up in different ways when we’re together.
For where two or three gather together as my followers, I am there among them.
I’ve heard people say, “The mountains are my church,” and let me respectfully say, “they’re not.” The church is a gathering of people, not of dirt. The mountains are a great place to worship and connect with God, but there is a unique spiritual experience in church that’s not available when we’re alone.
And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do.
We can’t find spiritual blind spots without other believers. When someone is preaching and it makes us mad, there’s a good chance they have hit our blind spot. That’s called conviction, and it’s a good thing. We usually run from it, but we should run to it. That’s what Jesus taught. The preached Word is a mirror.
An open rebuke is better than hidden love! 6 Wounds from a sincere friend are better than many kisses from an enemy.
Christians, we are priests, and priests preach. They minister to the Lord, and they minister to others. How are you going to minister to others if you’re alone in the mountains?
Humans were designed to become like the people we’re with. We’re sponges. We adopt the habits and accents of the people that surround us. If you only spend time with unwise people, you’ll become like them.
Show me your friends, and I’ll show you your future. So don’t just come to church, be the church. My prayer is that you will fully give yourself to the Christian mission, and to become who God created you to be. Not for your glory, but for His.
