Give the Church Back to God

“Now I say that you are Peter (which means rock), and upon this rock I will build my church, and all the powers of hell will not conquer it.” Matthew 16:18

Reba McIntire has a song titled “Back to God.” She sings about the worries and problems of the world and the need for us to give the world back to God. She talks about innocents dying, broken hearts, and worrying about our kids coming home safe.

The chorus says, “You gotta get down on your knees, believe. Fold your hands and beg and plead. Gotta keep on praying. You gotta cry, rain tears of pain. Pound the floor and scream his name. ‘Cause we’re still worth saving. Can’t go on like this and live like this. We can’t love like this. We gotta give this world back to God.”

We need to consider the same thing for our churches. We’ve tried to manage the church with our abilities, and now organized religion has a horrible reputation. Churches are closing every day in America. Those who haven’t closed are often a stone’s throw away from closing their doors.

The church belongs to God.

Jesus says in Matthew 16:18, “Now I say that you are Peter (which means rock), and upon this rock I will build my church, and all the powers of hell will not conquer it.”

Notice Jesus uses the phrase, “my church.” The church belongs to him, not us. Since he says he will build it, we can depend on him to do so. God never breaks a promise.

Just like nothing can separate us from God, nothing can destroy the church. Here, I am referring to the universal church, not a specific denomination. Denominations come and go, often because their leaders begin to spout heresy, but Christ’s church will survive until He comes back.

As the commentator, John MacArthur writes, “Men are able to build human, earthly physical organizations, but they cannot build the eternal spiritual church.”

Those who left the UMC paid a high price for their buildings. But if we hadn’t, if we had let the UMC keep the building (as some churches were forced to do), that would not have destroyed the heart of the church.

As long as a church has Christ as its cornerstone, the church will continue to exist. The universal church will exist until Christ comes back because Satan does not have the power to destroy the church Christ has built and is still building. The most powerful person in the world couldn’t kill it.

Christ alone is the foundation.

 A cornerstone (or foundation stone or setting stone) is the first stone set in the construction of a masonry foundation. All other stones will be set in reference to this stone, thus determining the position of the entire structure.

Christ is the cornerstone, and the teachings of the apostles, which came directly from Christ, are the foundation built upon the cornerstone. When the disciples preached boldly the truths that Christ had taught them, the church grew at an astounding rate. If Christians today shared and preached as boldly as those first-century believers, we would experience exponential growth, as well.

Paul preached boldly even though he experienced persecution. He told the Corinthians, “Five different times the Jewish leaders gave me thirty-nine lashes. Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I was stoned. Three times I was shipwrecked. Once I spent a whole night and a day adrift at sea.” 2 Corinthians 11:24-25 He suffered many of those abuses because he spoke the truth. As a result of his commitment, the gospel spread throughout the known world.

John Wesley was another who insisted on preaching the truth. When the Anglican church kicked him out, he preached in the open air. Field preaching attracted the hard-working poor. He rose at four every morning so he could preach to miners at five before they went to work.

Every preacher and church member who speaks the foundational truth learned from the Bible will see results as well. Every person has the potential to reach people as the apostles, Paul and Wesley did.

 Living Stones

 Peter was the rock upon which Christ built the church. We are living stones who Christ uses to build the church. We are a crucial part of Christ’s plan to expand the church to every corner of the world. We must recognize the importance of carrying on the work of Christ, as exemplified by the apostles Paul and John Wesley.

Leslie B. Flynn, in his book The Twelve, writes, “An old legend imagines Jesus arriving in heaven right after the Ascension, welcomed by all the angels. Then the angel Gabriel asks Jesus, "You suffered much, dying for the sins of mankind. Does everyone down on earth know it?"

"Oh, no," replied the Savior, "just a handful of folks in Jerusalem and Galilee know about it."

"Well, Master," continued Gabriel, "what is your plan for everyone to know of your great love?"

The Master replies, "I asked all my apostles to carry the message into all the world. I told them to tell others, who will in turn tell others until the last person in the farthest corner has heard the story."

Gabriel’s face clouds, for he spots a flaw in the plan. "What if after awhile Peter forgets, and goes back to his fishing on Galilee, also James and John and Andrew? Suppose Matthew returns to his tax booth in Capernaum, and all the others lose their zeal and just don’t tell others. What then?"

After a pause, the calm voice of the Lord Jesus is heard, saying, "Gabriel, I have no other plan."

 Limitations of humans

MacArthur writes, “but it is totally impossible to win a convert to the spiritual church of Jesus Christ apart from the sovereign God’s own Word and Spirit. Human effort can produce only human results. God alone can produce divine results.”

We cannot spiritually convert anyone. And Christ is not asking us to do that which is his responsibility. He is asking us to join his mission to save the world from sin, to regain the zeal of the early church, and share the gospel.

I spent the last seven years exploring the cause of the decline of the American church. I’ve concluded that the biggest impediment is our insistence on doing it ourselves, without even consulting God.

In the churches I previously served, we always seemed to be searching for the right program or the perfect style of worship, thinking that would bring people in. None of them worked because we overlooked two crucial aspects: determining God’s will for our church and recognizing that relationships are more important than programs.

He wants the world to know that he has defeated death, and he believes they can do the same. And he is depending on us to spread the word. His church is not a church building; the church is the people who go into the community and share the gospel—the folks who focus on building relationships with those outside the church. When we have their trust, then we can share the gospel. Nobody wants to be another’s project. The purpose of sharing the gospel can never be about filling pews; it must be about sharing the most fantastic news we have.

Conclusion

The future of America’s churches depends on the degree to which they rely on God. Those churches that do nothing until they have consulted God and trusted him to build his church will grow. Jim Cymbala, longtime pastor of the Brooklyn Tabernacle, asks, “Will we settle for the status quo, or will we reach out for what God can supernaturally do through us?”

Proverbs 16:3 tells us, “Commit your actions to the Lord, and your plans will succeed.”God has infinitely more blessings for us than we can comprehend. And He has promised that when we seek Him, He will answer, and He will build His church.

Isn’t it amazing that the God who created the universe wants to transform his church through us. When we have the power of God behind us, success is inevitable.

Matthew assures us, “Seek the kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need.” 6:33