Tag: Church

Jesus Built His Church

“18And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.” – Matthew 16:18 (ESV)

And there you have it, Jesus states that He will build His church. And that brings us to where we are today. Jesus built His church and nothing can destroy it (as noted in the third part of the verse).

Let’s look at the first part of the verse where Jesus is addressing Peter. Peter is the rock that the church is built on. Why is that so? Yes, the word Peter is similar to the word rock or stone in Greek. But I also think that there is more to it than just Peter being the rock. And for that look at a couple of verses prior to the above to speak to my thoughts.

“15He said to them, ‘But who do you say that I am?’ 16Simon Peter replied, ‘You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.’” – Matthew 16:15-16 (ESV)

And there it is, Jesus asks the disciples who they say Jesus is. Before anyone else could answer, Peter speaks up to declare Jesus and Christ and the Son of God. Peter beat them all to the punch and stated what I believe the other disciples would have stated as well. I have written in the margin of my bible that the questions asked by Jesus is “the question we all have to ask”, and “can we state the same with conviction” as Peter so boldly declared.

This is where my thoughts come in. I believe that Jesus built His church as the people who have declared Him as Christ, LORD, and Son of God. When we accept the free gift of salvation we declare Jesus as our LORD and Savior. We boldly state, as Peter did, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God”.

“19I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.” – Matthew 16:19 (ESV)

The you here is identifying us all. As noted in the commentary of my bible: “Peter is give the authority to admit entrance into the kingdom through preaching the gospel, an authority that is subsequently granted to all who are called to proclaim the gospel.” We are all called to proclaim the gospel as followers of Christ and therefor all have the authority Jesus mentions in verse 19 above. We are all the church on which Jesus builds. We are not some building that will eventually fall to the ground. We will stand throughout this world and will always prevail.

How do you think about the church? Are you stuck in the idea that it is a building where services are attended? What if the church is the people who follow Jesus and declare, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God”?

Leaders Not Personalities

Jesus warned of those who would come and lead away from Him.

“11And many false prophets will arise and lead many astray.” – Matthew 24:11 (ESV)

The above verse is found in the passage titled, “Signs of the End of the Age.” in my ESV Bible. And it could not be more true. We are being bombarded by falsities that lead us away from the truth that is Jesus Christ. We are following those things that make us “feel” good as opposed to bring us joy.

My reading this morning is in discussion of leadership in the church and is pointed to the lack of it. The questions ask what leadership needs are there and why are there not more leaders. I think it has to do with a couple of things that are also pointed out in the reading. First, there seems to be a movement toward personalities and not leaders, and second, there is a lack of teaching leadership.

Let me start with the first, personalities. Think about those that influence in the world today. They are those that generate feelings toward themselves and not toward the truth. We have those cult “leaders” that generate a following as they claim to be something they are not and promise things that they cannot deliver. These are the ones that expect individuality to be put aside as blind follower-ship takes over based on the words of the one. And then we have those that generate a massive following through promotion and full control over all. I think of those like Joel Osteen and Ed Young who pastor and without them, nothing happens in the church that they are not privy to or have a hand in. It is not leadership, but their personality and control that dominate.

Second we have the lack of leadership teaching. I see this in the corporate world and it is true in the church as well. In the corporate world people are promoted based on their education and/or their accomplishments and not on the ability to lead. The top performers are given bigger roles and they are not “taught” how to do the next role, they are just expected to replicate their own results to those below them. As noted in my reading, that is also happening in seminary. There is only teaching of God’s Word in depth and little teaching on how to lead a church or congregation. The students are left to learn that on their own and frankly are missing the mark.

How is this fixed? The church needs to find and develop leaders. There is a Teacher who developed leaders to take over when He was gone. He spent three years being the example of leadership and guiding students as to what being a leader in the gospel was all about. Jesus led the apostles and His disciples to make more disciples, using all that He had taught them.

“18And Jesus came and said to them, ‘All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.’” – Matthew 28:18-20 (ESV)

Who are you following? Are you leaning toward following of personalities? What if you were to look for those that follow themselves the example of leadership given by Christ?