Who Does the Church Belong To?

"and from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth.
To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood, and has made us to be a kingdom and priests to serve his God and Father—to him be glory and power for ever and ever! Amen. “Look, he is coming with the clouds,”
and “every eye will see him,
even those who pierced him”;
and all peoples on earth “will mourn because of him.”
So shall it be! Amen. “I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty.”"

Revelation 1:5-8

In his book, “Flickering Lamps: Christ & His Church,” Henry Blackaby says this about the passage above.

“No one could have experienced such a divine encounter and not been immediately convinced that every ruler, power, or weapon on earth was insignificant compared to Him. In light of the risen Christ, no king, no celebrity, no tycoon could begin to compare to His glory and majesty. When the exalted Christ is present, nothing else matters. No other opinion is consequential. No other person merits praise or recognition.

When churches lose sight of the risen Christ, people begin to behave as if the church belongs to them, rather than to Christ.  They see the limelight rather than drawing attention to Christ. People criticize other members and divide the church in order to obtain what they want. Members behave shamefully as if they will never give an account to their Lord for what they are doing.” pg. 122

In my currently ministry calling have the privilege of serving eighty-eight baptist churches. A part of this service is to listen when pastors and church members have issues or conflict. Sometimes I am invited in to help mediate or be a part of conflict resolution. Too often the conflict is over a power struggle between members or members and the pastor. It can be really easy for us to loose cite of Jesus.

Pastors and Church Leaders,

I pray that you are reminded today, that no matter what happened Sunday, or after that deacon or committee meeting, Jesus is still Lord! Whether you know it or not, the church still belongs to Jesus. I just pray that the church will but it's focus on Jesus. I believe they will if we as leaders put Jesus first in our lives. Blackaby says this on the next page, “The key to a successful church is keeping Christ the center of everything you do.”  “Churches must set aside their egos, agendas, and preferences in deference to Christ.  It is His will, His glory, and His reputation that matters, not ours.” pg. 124

I pray that as pastors and church leaders, you are able to keep Christ first in all that you do! He is greater than ANYTHING!

"He must become greater; I must become less.”"
John 3:30