The Marks of a Living Church

There's a saying, "if you find a perfect church, don't join it, because you'll ruin it." No perfect churches exist in the world, not even during the apostolic period. The church is composed of sinners, so it would be illogical to expect perfection of any kind. Rather a church should be a place where sinners are able to learn about Jesus Christ and yes even make mistakes and forgiven and loved -- where the gospel message is being living out. In today's reading Stott points out the four marks of a living church. I suppose we should ask whether our church at ODM is characterized by them: biblical teaching, caring fellowship, humble worship, and compasionate outreach to the world. Well, is it?

Now it's easy to criticize and say what is wrong with our church or some other churches. The hard thing to do is to ask whether our paticipation in the life of the church helps to strengthen the church or whether we weaken it. Are we a giver or a taker? Do we like to serve or be served? Is our presence encouraging or discouraging others? Does our presence elevate or weaken people's desire to live godly lives? Apply these questions to the four marks of a living church and we'll know where we are!

I for one am very encouraged by the humble leadership in our church body. We are not perfect but we have good people who are committed to the work of the Lord. And I'm very thankful that I have had the privilege of serving the Lord with you. Yet like many of you, I'm not satisified with where we are and by God's grace we all need to push ahead to be better servants of the Lord's work for Christ's sake.

Posted by Pastor James