As you come to him, the living Stone—rejected by humans but chosen by God and precious to him — you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. (1 Peter 2:4-5)
It is actually very easy for us to say what we see.
Two people observing the same event can deliver two different reports reflecting what they see. Neither of them are lying, necessarily, they are giving their account of what they see. They do so because of how they are informed to share what they see.
Walking by faith and not by sight is not walking with your eyes closed. It’s walking with a new way of seeing things. This is particularly helpful when considering the state of affairs for us as a church. Or more accurately as the Church.
From time to time I find myself despairing over the state of the church. I am then reminded of some crucial things. One, it’s God’s church, not mine. It’s His responsibility because it’s the Bride being preparing for His Son. Two, not all of what I see is the church and there is more to the church than what I see. Even considering seemingly hopeless cases is a challenge to see what God sees and be hopeful even in these scenarios.
The basis of that hope is about seeing afresh who we are together. Church can tend to reflect a model of a professional minister ‘doing the work of the ministry’ and lay members supporting that by attendance, financial contributions and other assistance to initiatives. Peter sees something different. His words remind us to look again at who we are.
We’re not just contributing to a building project – we are the building project. Each and every individual is called to be a brick in the temple supported by others, supporting others, alongside others doing the work, being the expression of God’s dwelling place wherever we are.
It is easy to forget that with references made to brick and mortar as God’s house, or God’s temple. It is easy to forget as we focus solely on what takes place between those walls in our weekly gathering. It is because it is easy to forget this and see other things, that it is worth our while being stirred continually to remember who we are. Not only remember who we are, but see it.
Experience, testimonies and insights show that embracing this completely changes the conventional perspective of church. No longer is it a spectator sport. It is now a participatory experience. No longer are we coming in to get fed to go home and get fat on it. Now we meet with something to share, something to give as well as something to receive; not to be mentally stimulated or emotionally moved, but to be transformed and further shaped into the image of Jesus.
What we can offer whenever we see each other can be the difference in our pursuit of righteousness. The phone call in the week can be the difference in our pursuit of the Prince of Peace. The visit over for dinner and Scrabble can be the difference in our pursuit of edifying and fulfilling fellowship. Sharing opportunities together can be the difference in our pursuit of serving others even as Christ came to serve.
We are all part of that movement, even as we are all part of the building God has constructed to be a witness of Him to a world looking on.
Seeing us as living stones highlights how valuable we all are to the Building Project. It highlights how important it is to stay together and fit together as we should to present that glorious representation of the Saviour.
Seeing this, changes the way we give and the reasons for it. Seeing this, changes how we invest our time and resources, the way we develop our relationships, the importance we place on our engagement with the outside world, not individually but corporately. It’s no longer about sustaining a man-made construct. It’s no longer about maintaining the status quo and keeping schtum when things go awry.
Seeing this is exciting and very challenging. Seeing it and realising it necessarily calls for hard work and being prepared for culture shifts, mind-set changes and the upheaval and demolition of some sacred cows and stale lifeless traditions persisted mindlessly. It’s not pretty, it’s not easy, it’s not always pleasant. It gets some being called misfits, mavericks, rebels and upstarts. It feels like banging your head against a brick wall as the eyes of others glaze over at the thought.
Seeing this though is a glorious insight into the Bride that Jesus is returning for. Seeing this gives a glorious impression of how together we as living stones can impact our sphere of influence and the wider world.
The more we get captivated by what we see and the more we see Jesus in it, the more we can be propelled to realise it.
For His Name’s Sake
Shalom
C. L. J. Dryden
Life With CD 