I have had a considerable perspective on the matter, given my vantage point in the lives of people, from stage, and as a Christian in a my own regard. By no means have I arrived. Not at all. Endless are the areas in my own life that need continuous tweaking, deepening, and sanctifying in order for me to be more obedient and more Christlike.
Still, from my vantage point I watch people in a place where their participation in the gospel and applying biblical truth, is just like me because I see "opportunity for growth." It has all made me wonder lately. The very health of the church, both local church and universal church, is a curious thing. On both the local and universal levels the church is made up of individuals. And if the health of the church is based on the health of these individuals, I should probably consider how the church might be more healthy and a better reflection of Christ Himself. And by taking some inventory of my own life, and you your own life, I think we will find what we might do personally to better represent Christ.
And as I have watched both myself and my fellow Christians in our various seasons, in our various struggles, in these many opportunities for growth, I have had to begin asking: What would the church look like if...
Everyone read/studied the bible as I do?
Everyone prayed as I do?
Everyone did the work of evangelism as I do?
Everyone showed up on Sunday to church gatherings as often as I do?
Everyone loved their neighbors as I do?
Everyone loved one another (in the church) as I do?
Everyone lived a life of worship like I do?
Everyone gave as much financially to the local church as I do?
Everyone walked in holiness as I do?
Everyone made disciples as I do?
Everyone sacrificed of time as to the Lord as I do?
Everyone expressed joy in the Lord as I do?
Everyone desired the return of Christ as I do?
Everyone engaged in a sermon as I do?
Everyone showed up ready to praise God in corporate worship as I do?
Now my aim in asking such questions is not to put anyone down, neither to exalt myself. It is to make it a personal introspection for you and me alike (ask yourself these very questions and answer them honestly). It is also to celebrate certain areas of both your life and my life where we respectively have matured in some of these areas. But overall it is a challenge to you and I to think. Would the church really be healthy if everyone did as I do?
The aim is not simply to say we have to master these (and by no means is this list exhaustive). I don't think anyone ever will, though I think we should be growing in these and be able to measure the maturity in our lives over time even by putting our lives in front of one another to assess.
My hope is that you and I begin regularly asking these questions of ourselves and of one another. I think we have every obligation to one another this way, and to the Lord Jesus Christ. In doing so we will find more areas that God wants us to grow in, and then we will also find Him to be our source of strength even to do all these things as He calls. The goal is to see God glorified in us, even as He enables us to do so. So let us grow, by the strength He supplies, and let us see the church both local and universal become a better reflection of Christ.
