SLOPPY TERMINOLOGY PART #2

Welcome back! I pray you are being blessed as these devotions come your way. I enjoy posting them and encourage you to leave a comment. God bless and let's begin...

How about the term "Church?" Is the Church a building? It is if you listen to people talk. For instance "Let’s meet at the church", or "How many people does your church hold?" And so it goes. Why is it that so often we are more concerned about the paint on the walls of a building than we are about lost souls? Could it be because we know that Christ died for the Church? And since the Church is a building we better make sure the air conditioning works properly. After all, Christ died for the Church so it better be taken care of or we will have to stand before God. Right? Does this sound as silly to you reading it as it does to me as I type it?

The term "Church" is used for the Greek word ekklesia. A proper translation would be "Assembly" or "Congregation." It literally means the "called out ones." We need to make sure we remember for whom Christ died. It was not for a building. It was for the Body of Believers. We have grown sloppy!

One of my pet-peeves is the term "Worship." Since when is Christianity to only worship for an hour on Sunday mornings? Evidently, many congregations, individuals, only worship one hour - It says so in their bulletins: "Sunday School: 9 a.m. to 10 a.m. – Worship: 10 a.m. to 11 a.m." Some congregations, individuals, evidently worship for only a small part of that one hour. They have "Worship Leaders" that come out and all they do is sing and lead singing until the preaching starts. Is that all there is to worship? According to God's Holy Spirit, NO!! Paul, as he is inspired of The Holy Spirit, writes in Romans 12:1-2 "Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect." (NASB) Are we only transformed for an hour on The Lord's Day, and not conformed to the world for that same hour? God forbid!!

True worship sounds like a lot more than just a few minutes on Sunday morning. It also includes much more than singing. We have grown sloppy!