The Church of the Living God- September 2022
THE CHURCH OF THE LIVING GOD
For most of the history of the civilizations of man, there has been no lack of ornate temples and grand cathedrals as monuments to the gods, which those civilizations worshiped. Sometimes there were many temples to many gods at the same time.
In the book of Acts, we find the Apostle Paul walking about the city of Athens and taking note of the sundry temples scattered about the city. When he met with the city’s philosophers on Mars Hill, what he observed prompted him to say to these leading “thinkers” of Athens:
“People of Athens! I see that in every way you are very religious. For as I walked around and looked carefully at your objects of worship, I even found an altar with this inscription: to an unknown god. So you are ignorant of the very thing you worship—and this is what I am going to proclaim to you. The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by human hands. And he is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything. Rather, he himself gives everyone life and breath and everything else.” (Acts 17:22-25)
As a Jewish believer, Paul had a strong disdain for idolatry and a profound belief in the One, True, and Living God. And as one who had a life-changing encounter with the Risen Lord, he was completely devoted to the Lord Jesus and to the body of Christ, the church.
Paul understood that following the empowering of the Holy Spirit on the Day of Pentecost, the church had an essential role in God’s unfolding plan of redemption on earth until the Lord’s return. To be a follower of Christ was to be a part of his body, an assembly of believers in community together.
As an Apostle, one of Paul’s roles in the advance of the Gospel in the first century was to preach the Good News, establish local churches, and to disciple leaders and believers as fully formed followers of Christ.
One of the young men Paul mentored was Timothy, whom he left in Ephesus to “preach the word” and shepherd the church through its early days. All churches need structure, organization, and standards of conduct. Thus, in I Timothy 3, Paul laid out for Timothy the kind of men who might serve as deacons and elders. Later in the passage, he exhorts Timothy to lead by example and faithfully teach the people the word of God.
This is what he writes in I Timothy 3:14-15: Although I hope to come to you soon, I am writing you these instructions so that, if I am delayed, you will know how people ought to conduct themselves in God’s household, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and foundation of the truth.
Even in the ancient Greco-Roman world of the first century, the family was considered the fundamental unit of society and foundational to the social order. There were certain social norms and behaviors that were expected of every family or household.
And it’s in this backdrop that Paul instructs Timothy to lead “God’s household.” In the next chapter, he writes: Command and teach these things. Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith and in purity. (I Timothy 4:11-12)
In a world that is bent on believing in anything but an absolute truth, any church that is faithfully living out the truth of the Gospel as God’s household, walking (behaving) in the light, love, and life of Christ internally, serves as “pillar and foundation of the truth” outwardly. But a church behaving badly, dishonors the Name of Christ and undermines his claim as “the way, the truth, and the life,” and emboldens the enemy, whom Jesus tagged as “a liar and the father of lies.”
What we believe is, of course, essential. How we behave as believers within the household of God – the church – is no less essential to others coming to a knowledge of the truth.
PRAYER REQUESTS
- Our work with the NextStep Process; 4 church leaders and two small groups in the Santee Association.
- Our preaching ministry at Black Creek Baptist Church in Walterboro; their Pastor Search Committee.
- Our upcoming trip to New England and Italy.