The local congregation is wonderful and plays a necessary role in the life of the Christian. The church provides Bible instruction, fellowship, worship, accountability, and overall edification. But sometimes, I think we can leave our discipleship and spiritual growth solely up to the church in our attitude and mindset. Here are some things that you should not leave solely up to the church!
- Your Bible knowledge. Bible classes are short! Sermons are focused on application and exhortation typically. You have a responsibility to read and study the Bible on your own. “Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God.”¹ If you want to truly grow your faith, you need to be in the Word daily. You need to read good faith building books. Don’t depend on the preacher and Bible class teacher to provide all of your Bible knowledge.
- Your kids’ faith development. Whether the church has a great education and youth program or not, you must not leave your child’s faith development to the church. The church can be a tremendous help in teaching your children about Jesus; but you must not leave it all up to them. Parents should be the primary instructors of spiritual values and morals. It seems many parents feel they have done their job by taking their children to church, when the church does not have the primary responsibility, but the parents (Eph. 6:1-4).
- Your Christian service for the Lord. Churches have a responsibility to organize ministry opportunities for Christians. Church leaders must equip the members for the work of ministry.² But a Christian’s service should not be limited to what is done in organized ministries by the local congregation. A disciple’s service is much broader, and should not be limited to church programs. Christians should look for opportunities each day to serve the Lord; whether at work, school, or home. In some ways I feel the church’s abundance of programs has hindered personal service. You don’t need a visitation program to visit, an evangelism program to evangelize, or a benevolent program to serve the poor. Jesus instructed disciples to be about this work everyday through the opportunities God provides.
- Your loyalty and faithfulness to the Lord. When you became a Christian at baptism, you made a covenant with the Lord to be faithful and serve him for the rest of your life. You have a responsibility to be loyal to His church. All kinds of things can happen in the local church that discourage you. You may not like the preacher’s sermons or the elders’ decisions. Sin may destroy the family of a youth minister or deacon. You may even be mistreated or not be in the “in” clique from your perspective. Sadly many folks become unfaithful when they have a problem in the local church. You have a responsibility to be active in the church, to serve and worship the Lord as a part of His body. Don’t let problems cause you to lose your soul!
What else would you add to this list?
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¹ Romans 10:17
² Eph. 4:12
1 comment
I might add……
1. Personal faith in the Lord. We need to own our faith and not just have the faith we observe in others from our church.
2. Personal Spiritual nourishment. You mentioned above and I will repeat that it is important to feed ourselves Spiritually and not solely depend on the church to feed us everything. It is about personal responsibility in Spiritual growth.
3. Daily personal quiet prayer time with the Lord is a very good habit to develop. It does not have to be lengthy just quality. My attention span is not that long so I learned to make it quality and concise so it is good. It is something that if I miss it I feel incomplete for that day.