Making Improvements To The Church

By Joe Slater       For a few weeks now we’ve enjoyed meeting in our newly renovated facility. Many would say that with new flooring and cabinets along with ceiling repairs and a fresh coat of paint we’ve made great improvements to the church. I know what they mean, and I doubt that calling the meeting house a “church” is as huge a problem as some make it. Nevertheless, however desirable sprucing up our meeting place might be, we ought to be far more concerned about improvements to the church.     Church properly means assembly. It includes, but isn’t limited to, the things we do when we’re together. The most obvious improvement would be for everyone to show up! Hit-and-miss attendance insults the Lord and drags the church down. When sports and recreation take a back seat to Jesus, the church will improve.     We publish assignments a month in advance to let worship leaders know what to expect. The church improves when each leader prepares carefully and prayerfully, well in advance, to fulfill his role. Our God planned and prepared from eternity to save us. Can we not plan and prepare to honor Him in worship?     The church, Christ’s spiritual body, improves only as each individual member improves. You are responsible to read and study God’s word, laying it up in your heart that you might not sin against Him (Psalm 119:11). You must deny ungodliness and worldly lusts while striving to live soberly, righteously, and godly (Titus 2:11). You must not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind (Romans 12:2).     This scarcely scratches the surface of what we need to do to improve the church. Let’s be thankful for a fine place to meet and commit ourselves to making improvements to the church!

- Joe Slater serves as minister of the Church of Christ in Justin, TX. He may be contacted through the congregation's website: http://justinchurchofchrist.com