The New Testament Church and today,,,,,

Greetings,


Thinking about the trying times ahead with the economy brought my mind back to the New Testament Church and ours today.  The bible tells us that the people in the first churches were very giving and loving.  If a brother or sister in Christ had a need church members would sell their belongings to help them.  They would sacrifice their own comfort to help someone else.  Isn't that amazing?  Would you do that today to help someone in need?  Would you sell land or personal belongings?


I dare say most today would not go "to that extreme" to help another.  But according to the bible that is what we should be doing.  Looking at the economy, we might have to do that in the near future to help each other survive.


I know so many who have lost their jobs, their homes and their personal belongings due to the economy.  It is a trickle down effect.  The company they work for has a major "downsizing" to keep the business afloat. 


They lose their job, eventually unemployment runs out and they have not found work.  They start selling things to try to keep the household running while they continue to look for work, but there is none to be found.  Eventually, there is nothing left they can sell that will pay the bills.  They have exhausted their savings account if they had one.  There is nothing left but a huge pile of bills and bill collectors calling them day and night.


The car gets repossessed.  The utilities get shut off.  The phone is shut off.  They seek assistance from local organizations but they find no help because those organizations are out of funds having to help so many people.  Finally, the house is repossessed and there is nothing left.  Think this can't happen?  Think again, it is happening hundreds, possibly thousands of times a day across this nation!!


How far would you go to help a neighbor, a relative or a friend?  Would you give up buying the latest tech gadget to buy someone food?  Or would you think, like so many do, that its their problem, not yours?  If you are a Christian I would hope you would be willing to buy the food and help the person in need.  After all, the bible tells us, that is exactly what we are to do.


A church building should not be a country club who is more concerned about the appearance of the building than the ministry work God wants them to do.  What good is new carpet or paint when there are people within your community suffering?  What good is a potluck if you do not invite the hungry to eat?  Gospel sings can be wonderful, they can feed the spirit of so many, but have you invited the lost to your sings so their spirit can be fed as well?


Jesus tells us in Matthew 25: 34 -46 that we are to feed the hungry, clothe the naked, visit the sick and imprisoned, (see scripture below), does your congregation do this?  If not, you are not serving the Lord!

³⁴Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world:
 ³⁵For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in:
 ³⁶Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me.
 ³⁷Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink?
 ³⁸When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee?
 ³⁹Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee?
 ⁴⁰And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.
 ⁴¹Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels:
 ⁴²For I was an hungred, and ye gave me no meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink:
 ⁴³I was a stranger, and ye took me not in: naked, and ye clothed me not: sick, and in prison, and ye visited me not.
 ⁴⁴Then shall they also answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, or athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto thee?
 ⁴⁵Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me.
 ⁴⁶And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal.

When I read this scripture I see that Jesus is saying, "look, you have to accept me as Lord but you must also do these things or on the final judgement day I will not recognize you as my brethren, you will not be joint heirs with me."  The last two lines of this scripture are very important.  They are showing us, taking care of brothers and sisters in Christ is the most important thing.  So therefore the church has a purpose.  It is a purpose far beyond looking pretty.


Don't get me wrong there is nothing wrong with wanting your church to look nice but if you are neglecting Jesus' commands for the sake of having a nice looking church then you are wrong in that regard and need to get your priorities straight.  God's work must always come first!!  If we put God first in both our church lives and our personal lives everything else will fall into place.  Are you putting God first in your life today?  Is your church family putting God first?


Until next time,,,,,,,Blessings!!