1 Corinthians 3:9 “We are coworkers belonging to God. You are God’s field…”
The picture on your left is of a healthy fruit tree after being planted in good soil, given a proper amount of water, and sufficient sunlight. Such a tree blesses all those who come to take from its limbs and enjoy the nourishment that it has produced. The second picture is a fruit tree that has not been properly cared for and is deficient in proper nutrients; as a
result it is sickly and cannot produce good fruit.
Some today look at the church scene and feel that it is better not to make a judgment, as if the church were not the instrument by which Christ will build them up in the faith, or not build them up at all, or tear them down. Judging motives behind the decisions that church leader’s make is strictly forbidden by scripture, however, to be careless about the place we choose to worship also goes contrary to Jesus’ instruction to beware of false prophets. In some churches the teachers need not be considered false prophets but neither are they the instruments for healthy spiritual growth; for this reason spiritual teachers will receive greater judgment (James 3 and 1 Corinthians 3).
We should love everyone, the Jehovah’s Witnesses that come to the door, Catholics totally oblivious to what their church teaches, etc. Equally we should love the church and respect the impact that it has on our spiritual life; a healthy church can take the seed that Christ planted in our hearts at salvation and grow it into a fruit that can bless all those who come into our lives, or it can cause us to shrivel up so that others will not even know that we belong to Christ.
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