The Value of The Church

⁴ And coming to Him as to a living stone which has been rejected by men, but is choice and precious in the sight of God, ⁵ you also, as living stones, are being built up as a spiritual house for a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. ⁶ For this is contained in Scripture: “Behold, I lay in Zion a choice stone, a precious corner stone, And he who believes in Him will not be disappointed.” ⁷ This precious value, then, is for you who believe; but for those who disbelieve, “The stone which the builders rejected, This became the very corner stone,” ⁸ and, “A stone of stumbling and a rock of offense”; for they stumble because they are disobedient to the word, and to this doom they were also appointed. ⁹ But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, so that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; ¹⁰ for you once were not a people, but now you are the people of God; you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy. 1 Peter 2:4–10 (NAS)

Value is a priority in today’s world. Wal-Mart was built on the word value. Such things as Ebay and Craigslist are centered around value. Since a large portion of our lives is consumed with money, whether it is making it or spending it, it is a major priority in our lives today. Think about it, how long does it take almost any conversation before something comes up about money and value. The conversation could be focused on politics, work, pleasure, whatever the subject it will soon turn to money and/or value. I don’t think there is anything wrong with looking for value in life. The Bible speaks a lot about value. As a matter of fact there are more references to money in the Bible than almost any other subject. It is how we live.

Smart people know what and how to value almost everything. I would encourage you to find value in your spouse. I would also encourage you to find the value in spending time with your children and grandchildren. If you don’t see the value you won’t have any passion in what you are doing. I confidently believe that Jesus saw value in people, the cross, His mission and a lot more things. But what about the church? When I talk to unchurched, dechurched or slacking churched people I hear a lot about value. They don’t like this or that, they don’t like getting up early on Sunday morning, even though on the average churches start their day much later than almost any other thing in our world that consumes time. Basically they do not see any or enough value in the church to commit to it. Saved and unsaved people, young and older people, almost any gender, race or nationality, it is all the same they look for value and just don’t see it. What about the tons of people that sit in church every Sunday and even Wednesday night that just go because they feel obligated, do they see value?

Pastors, church staff people as well as other agencies such as Lifeway, Outreach.com, spend large amounts of time and money to increase the value or communicate the value of being in church. It is very much like the same efforts Walmart, IBM, Sears and all the other thousands of companies do to tell you, show you and convince you of the value of doing business with them, same exact thing. But why should this happen? Why can’t people, lost and saved, see the value of the church? Is it the church’s fault? I think the church (the people that are supposed to be the church) has a lot of responsibility. However, there is more to the story than that.

I firmly believe that the reason we are in existence, the reason we are alive and move and breathe is that God has a purpose for everyone one of us. However, that purpose is NOT centered around us, it is centered around the Son of God, Jesus Christ. Simply put I believe that the reason we are in existence is for the purpose that God the Father desired before the beginning of time to build for His Son a Kingdom and that is known in the Bible as the Kingdom of God. Everything Christians do should be centered around the Kingdom of God. Additionally, the Kingdom of God has another name given by Jesus, the church. So how much value does the church have? More than anything tangible thing in this world. The church is the forming of the Kingdom of God and if you have a problem with the church you have a problem with the King. If you see no value in the church you have a problem with the King. If you see no value in the church you see no value in the King.

The first and second commandment is centered around and fully supports this concept. The Great Commission is centered around and was given to the church, for the purpose of the expansion of the Kingdom of God. Read the book of Matthew, just how many times is the Kingdom referenced in one book? Think of what Jesus said, “I will build My Church (Kingdom) and the gates of hell will not prevail against it (Matt. 16:18). It is all about Jesus and His church. Got a problem getting up on Sunday mornings? Got a problem with the people or music at the church? Things aren’t going like you want them to at the church? You have a problem with the very organism that The Son of The Almighty Creator God died for, the church and ultimately you have a problem with the King Jesus. Are they any value in the church? I’ll let you decide that.

Lord Jesus, show us Your Truth and give us the proper insights to what You came to earth to build and give value to. Let us see Your church as You see it. Amen.