I love to
build—people! (I don't mean create people of course—that's God's business.) But
many times people have been beaten down by the circumstances of life, or
mistakes they have made until they don't have a very good impression of
themselves. When that happens they need someone to build them up—to help them
see themselves as God sees them. Beautiful! Creative! Full of exciting
possibility and unlimited potential!
That's
what the church is all about—building up people. All of us who are in God's
family (the church) are responsible to build each other up by helping each
other to grow, to learn, to improve and to be all that God has created us to
be. The Bible word for this activity is to "edify". We do the things
that “edify” or build each other up.
The
building in which the church meets is merely a tool to build up people. It is a
convenient place to introduce them to the radiance of the living Christ, to
help them to love him as we do, and to help us all to love him more and become
more like him. The building in which people worship is a marvelous tool for
which we fervently thank God, but it is only a tool and not the church.
It is
time the people of God began saying no to our own limitations and Yes to God's
unlimited potential. We can say it with our money, with our time, with our
talents, and our energy. It is important that we all share the load so we can
all share in the process of building people, as well as the satisfaction that
comes in seeing a job well done.
A smile
and/or a word of encouragement or compliment for a job well done is a powerful
building tool. It makes for strong persons who will last through the hard times
as God uses these encouraging thoughts by bringing them to our remembrance when
we need them most—when we’re feeling down and detestable and really need to
know there is someone who thinks we’re someone special and who thinks well of
us even when we find it difficult to think well of our selves.
This
attitude should be the norm for all our interactions with people, both in the
church and in the wider world. Some people have the gift of encouragement and
this comes natural to them, but all of us can do it if we try.
When
buildings are needed to do the work of God, it is good to build them, but we
must not confuse a construction project with building the true church. Our
efforts may help to erect a building that will last a mere hundred years or so,
or we can build up people who will live for eternity.
I'm Rick Blumenberg . . . and that's My View from Tanner Creek.
