CHURCH CONDUCT

CHURCH CONDUCT

I Tim. 3:14-15  I am writing these things to you now, even though I hope to be with you soon, so that if I can't come for a while, you will know how people must conduct themselves in the household of God.  This is the church of the living God, which is the pillar and support of the truth.  NLT

       Paul had a real love for the Church.  He longed for people to live righteously in the church.  He wanted people to know that what was true for our individual lives also applies to our church life.  We are obligated before God to conduct ourselves in the church in a manner that is pleasing and acceptable to God.

       Sadly, we fall so far short of living up to the standards of God in the church like we should.  When we get together with other Christians, we can favor some over others.  We can be critical of the opinions of each other.  We can let pride rear her ugly head and think of ourselves as better than others, or better than we really are.  We can ignore those we have problems with.  We can let self-righteousness isolate some in the church.  We can gossip about others.  The church ought to be a loving and caring community of believers, but so often it's something else entirely.

     Paul reminds us that the church is not ours; it's God's.  We dare not forget that Christ is the head of her, not us.  The church is God's chosen body to uphold the truth of the Gospel.  She is given the responsibility to support the Gospel message and by example live it out.  When we don't practice in the church what we preach in the church, the world will ignore us, and rightly so. 

     Notice that Paul says that the church is the church of the living God.  It is only reasonable to say then that the true church is a living church, it is alive and functioning as a church should.  Therefore, if a church is not alive and vibrant, she is not the true church.  There are spiritual issues that must be fixed, she has lost her bearings, her first love.

       We, the church, are supposed to be the pillar and support of the truth.  We are the guardians of the truth.  This means that we must always be diligent students, teachers, and livers of the Word.  Any church that messes with the Word of God or ignores it is an infidel, she is not the church, she is merely a social gathering.  When we fail to stand on and for the Word of God, we stand for nothing.