You might think that to have a strong church, the key thing would be to have the most marvellous preacher you could obtain. Well that may be a good thing, but that is by no means everything. There have been churches that have marvellous preachers but that is all there is. The whole body is not involved in the advancing of holiness and growth and godliness, by mutual example and ministry and comfort and encouragement and helpfulness. If it is only about the marvellous preacher, what is going to be happening in the body? Some churches are no more than a club. They organise no end of social activity. The leaders seem to reason that if the church can do fun things together, then that will bond them together. It will not: not against all the machinations of evil and the trials and the temptations of life. What is needed is a bonding in truth and mutual helpfulness in truth, and godly people who uplift each other and who are mutually dependent and contributing to one another.
Over the years you come across people, and they are saved and they are very, very zealous for the Lord, but they have never caught this point: that everything is in and through their spiritual family. So they come to worship and to fellowship and they form good relationships and love people in the fellowship and are loved by people in the fellowship, but their Christian service has been a very individual thing. They have never actually joined with the church in service. ‘Oh I do such-and-such thing. I go visiting by myself. I print and make my own tracts and give them out. I do this, I do that.’ All by themselves or with perhaps another person. They do not ever do anything co-operatively or that leads to the fruit given to their fellowship. They have missed the point. This, says the apostle, is how the Lord works. He brings us all together, not just preacher and congregation. As many people as can be, should be engaged in some part of the total family labour to reach the community and the children. It should all done in the interests of the growth of that body, that local church. When you eat lunch today, you will not be eating lunch to strengthen somebody else. You will be eating lunch to strengthen yourself. When we evangelise, we do not say this is just for the kingdom of God generally. Yes, it is for that, but it is for the strengthening of our church family. We are going to bring the converts in. They are going to be nurtured and helped. They need the input of all, different members and the gifts that God gives, and through their different friendships and the exhortation and the mutual admonition and the example above all, so people will grow in the context of the church family.