A church in the Bible is a group of people who have asked the Lord to save them. It is not a building. It is not a place. When the Lord says that He will build His church He is talking about saving the souls of people, not erecting a building.
There are some ways we should act, or behave ourselves, in the congregation of the Lord. Today, church etiquette has been forgotten. We aren't to be stumbling blocks to other Christians. Christ is the rock of offense, but Christians aren't suppose to be purposefully offensive to others.
Christians should be able to find friends in the church. Christians should be able to find encouragement in the church. Christians should get rebuked in the church. Christians should find fellowship in the church.
But, some times there's a murderer in the church. There's something in our church that's killing off the Christian. And, it's not what you're thinking.
The first murderer is starvation. I Peter 2 says that newborn babes desire milk, and as new Christians we should desire the sincere "milk" of the Word of God. But, there's some churches that don't feed their members the Word. There's some pastors that have nothing but Spiritual babies that haven't been growing because they're being starved Spiritually.
The next murderer is strangulation. I John 2 says that there are some that aren't of us. They're the thorns that spring up in the church and strangle the Christians that are trying to grow in the Word. They cause strife, backbiting, bitterness, and destroy the work of the Lord in the hearts of God's people.
Another murderer is scandal. Pastors and church workers who get caught up in sin, and then go about trying to justify their sin. Now, church leaders aren't perfect. When they sin, they are suppose to go to the Lord and ask forgiveness. If they sin against another member in the church, they are to ask that members forgiveness! Scandals knock out some of the strongest Christians among us.
Simulation is another murderer in the church. People want to live in the fantasy world of Hollywood and video games and fictional characters in books. We live in a world where stores try to make you visualize what isn't there. Christians get sucked into desiring a counterfeit instead of working and living in the real world. We are to bring every imagination into captivity- keep them in check!
The world needs to see something real. Real love. Real forgiveness. A real reason to go on! Not a plastic Christianity.
There are many murderers in the church. More than have been named here. Are you keeping company with a murderer? Are you watching a murderer creep through your congregation? Have you been the victim of an attempted Spiritual murder?
