My responsibility in the Church

We need to understand that the Church is all about relationship. You know that the Church is not bricks and mortar, it is people. The New Testament word for Church means "the called out ones." The Church is not a physical building or space. The Church is made up of Christians. The Church is all of us. In the Church, we are related to one another in a vital union of the Spirit.

It is a relationship based on a reflection of who we are in relation to each other.
Rom 12: 3: For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the measure of faith God has given you.

There always is a danger to think of ourselves more highly than we ought. There also is the danger of not thinking of ourselves as highly as we ought to think. There is an ought to our thinking. Our opinion of ourselves ought not to be too high or too low. It ought to be an opinion based on what God has done in our lives and what God’s calling means in our lives. We need to desire for our lives what God’s idea is for us, in stead of the “good ideas” that we have for ourselves.

God’s idea is that we rejoice in his work in and through us. God’s idea is that it is through every believer in the body of Christ that his work gets accomplished.

But we are not the same!
Rom 12: 4 – 5: Just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, so in Christ we who are many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others.

Do you want to know how the Church should function? Take a look at your own body. Every part of your body has a specific function. You have hands that can pick up objects and you have feet that can carry your body as you walk. But your hands or your feet could not do their jobs without being connected to your arms and your legs. You have eyes that see, ears that hear, a mouth that can eat and taste and speak. You have a nose that can smell, ears that can hear. There are many organs in the human body, and they must all work together, guided by the head of the body, the brain.

Paul tells us that the mystical body of Christ, the Church, is like our human body. Each member has a role, a function, a ministry. Each member is necessary and important. Each member is inter-related to each other member. And when we all cooperate together under the leadership of the Head, Jesus Christ, the ministry of the local church is powerful and effective.

Because our various gifts are all necessary and important, there is a certain responsibility we have toward one another. With the responsibility comes accountability. We need one another. When one of us is lazy in our job at church, the ministry of another suffers. We therefore have a responsibility to exercise the gifts and ministries God has given us. That is God’s idea to make the congregation strong and effective!

We are accountable to God about what we have done with the talents he gave us to serve him and each other. We should also hold each other accountable for enhancing our combined work for the Lord and encourage each other. The leg can disable the foot and the arm disable the hand. And my brother or sister can disable me!

Let’s build each other up in faith, sacrificial love and enthusiasm. Let’s serve the Lord joyfully in his church community!