Do It All For the Glory of God - Part Two

 

Some of you may remember that we went to my wife’s family reunion in Kansas last year. The day began with Mass in the old church that was home to her family a century ago. I was moved by the spirit of hundreds of people sharing their common heritage and faith. I saw it as a throwback to a time of simple, basic Christian gatherings and worship.

 

               The early Christian church grew rapidly in the years following Jesus’ ascension to heaven despite persecution and ostracism from the surrounding society. Why were so many people attracted to a movement that would bring them hardship, trouble and possibly death?  Beyond the working of the Spirit and miraculous events, people saw things in the Christian community that were attractive to them. The message of salvation resonated with them and the truth of the message was borne out by the changes they could see in the early Christians. It was said of them, “See how they love one another!”.  We read in Acts, “They ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved” (Acts 2:46-47). Their unity in Christ transcended any differences they had, whether ethnic, social, or gender. They were giving, sharing what they had so that others might not be in need. They were forgiving, even towards those who were persecuting them.

 

Last week we looked at how 1 Corinthians 10:31, “Whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God”, impacts our individual faith walk. Paul’s exhortation applies also to our Christian congregations and organizations. We want people to be able to see us and know that God is in our midst and that we seek to serve Him and make Him known.  How do we accomplish this? There is no cookbook approach and nothing so simple that it can be easily summarized in a few paragraphs. However, there are some basic principles.

 

Worship: Paul advised, “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God” (Colossians 3:16). I was struck at the reunion Mass by the joy and worship of the assembled family members. They were not just going through rote participation. I have been to other churches in the past few years where I could tell within a few minutes of arrival that God was in their midst and that the Spirit was alive in them. That should be the goal of all our services. We need to come to church with an attitude of worship.

 

Unity: Paul asked in his letters that certain believers reconcile with each other because he knew that their differences could harm the unity and spirit within the church. We shouldn’t cause divisions and we should try to heal those that occur. We are in a war with the forces of evil and we cannot be fighting among ourselves.

 

Love and Service: Just as the early Christians’ love was well-known to others in their community, we too must stand out as witnesses to the love of God, both in our words and especially in what we do.  Our service should be like that of Christ, who washed the feet of His disciples. Our ministries should always have the love of God at their heart so that those we serve might see Him in us.

 

Stewardship: We should never forget that all we have comes from God and that we are stewards of His many gifts and blessings. When we freely offer our time, talent, and treasure back to God, He can use what we give and multiply it for His kingdom.

 

Faithfulness in Adversity:  It’s never a pleasant prospect but we witness to God’s glory through adversity and how we deal with it. When difficulties arise, they should cause us to grow closer to God and to each other. Anger, blame, and recrimination are harmful to the Body. Allowing Jesus to be the Lord of the situation sends a powerful message to the world around us.

 

We are the body of Christ. May we continue to be conformed into His image.

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The individual posts in this blog have been collected into a book, Reflections From the Basic Truths Blog.  It is available for free as an ebook through Barnes and Noble, https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/reflections-from-the-basic-truths-blog-james-yarmchuk/1147055811?ean=2940181202702, Apple Books, and multiple other book websites. It is available for a minimal charge on Amazon and can also be purchased as a paperback through them.