As you know, I have several favorite Pastors and Teachers. One of those is Pastor John Ortberg. In response to a common question pastors often ask each other, he wrote this…

What do you say when someone asks you: “How’s your church going?” Sometimes I wonder if this is pastor talk for “How big is your church?” Which in turn can be pastor talk for “How important are you, and can I gain status by hanging around you?”

But there are other ways of thinking about the question. Paul says he labors and struggles “to present everyone mature in Christ.” However, Paul wasn’t writing to an individual at the time. Paul is exasperated that the congregation at Galatia has deserted the gospel. It’s a good thing to discuss the spiritual formation of individuals. What is badly needed alongside of that is a thoughtful, concrete way of discerning and addressing the spiritual formation of congregations.

If I’m a member of a gym, I’m interested in my fitness. I don’t have a strong investment in the fitness of other people. In fact, I don’t mind a little flab in the bodies working out around me. It makes me feel better by comparison. (That’s probably why I like to watch The Biggest Loser!). I use the fitness center to get my body in shape.
The fitness center is a tool for individuals.

The church is not a spiritual fitness center.
The Church is not a tool.
The church is a body. It is the body. It is Christ’s Body.

We are the Body of Christ at First Church. Those who are faithful to their vows to uphold the Body with their prayers, presence, gifts, service and witness make the Body strong. Those who walk away from those same vows injure the Body of Christ and ultimately hurt themselves in terms of spiritual growth and maturity. The Church is not a club made up of people who look just like us, or smell just like us or who think just like us. It is a family that cares for its own regardless of the joys and challenges associated with the family. Why? Because God has ordained The Church to be His Body in this world. Paul wrote this to the Church in Corinth: “But God has combined the members of the body…so that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other. If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; it one part is honored, every part rejoices with it. Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is part of it.” I Corinthians 12:24b-27.

I’m so glad to be part of the Body of Christ at First Church! God is at work in fresh ways as we’re seeking to discern His prompting and whispers and then to obey each one. Thanks to each of you who have shared some of the amazing ways God has spoken to you recently. It’s exciting to hear directly from God! “He who has ears; let him hear.”

Yours in Christ’s Love,

Mark

PS First Church Men – Be sure to join us this Saturday morning at 8:00am for a special Kick-Off Breakfast to launch “Letters from Dad’ and to sign up for our Feb. Retreat!!