How not to build a church

There is a lot of attention today focused on the best way to build a church. Many books have been written and many studies have been made. One of the most popular methods is known as the “seeker friendly” church model. Then there is the “purpose driven church” model and along those lines comes the newest addition to man’s attempts known as the “new emergent church”. The result in church growth across America is phenomenal. Today there are mega churches on every other street corner. You’re not considered relevant (no pun intended) unless you have at least a couple of services, and some churches have as many as five or six services on Sunday mornings. I almost get discouraged just driving to our service on Sunday as I witness a couple of the big ones in the area and the people pouring into the parking lots. While I’m just hoping someone shows up on the beach, they need a traffic cop.
A lot of times the early church of Acts is held up as an example of the ideal church, and I believe it should be. They too had phenomenal growth. But it wasn’t because of the worship band, or the drama team, or their magnificent buildings. The power of God was there. That’s a good thing, but it’s also a fearsome thing. In Acts 5 the story is told of Ananias and Sapphira, who sold a piece of property. Many new believers were selling all that they had and bringing in the proceeds to give to the Lord. Ananias and his wife coveted the kind of recognition that would bring. So they sold this property, but held back some of the money and brought in the rest, claiming it was the full price.
Well, Peter recognized their hypocrisy, declared that they were lying to the Holy Spirit, and they both fell down dead and had to be carried out. Wow. That’s not the way you want to go about building a mega church. If the Holy Spirit started killing off hypocrites today we would have a bunch of empty church parking lots in no time. Verse 13 affirms that by saying, “But none of the rest dared to associate with them”. It was dangerous to go to Peter’s church. But notice the rest of the verse. “However, the people held them in high esteem.” But then the next verse is really a mind blower. “And all the more believers in the Lord, multitudes of men and women, were constantly added to their number.”
In our study this week in Matthew 18 we will be looking at one of the first times Jesus used the term church in talking to the disciples. In this passage He is laying down the foundation of church discipline. In verse 20 Jesus reveals that the churches attitude towards sin is foundational for building a church where Christ will be in the midst. “For where two or three are gathered together in My name, there I will be in their midst.” I don’t know about you, but that’s where I want to be. I want to be where Christ is going to be glorified in the truth, whether or not it’s popular.