Living With Purpose
Many years ago, there was a man who had a farm on the outskirts of a very small community in the country. He took great pride in making his acreage as attractive as he possibly could. He would drive in search of some flower, tree, or shrub he didn’t have growing at his farm, and he would transplant them on some favorable spot. Then one day he realized he had been thinking only of himself, so he started doing the same thing, but transplanted them on and around the grounds of his church. He continued this practice until he died. By the time he passed on, he had increased the flora of his native community by over a hundred varieties. What had once been a barren area, the church grounds became the most beautiful spot in the community. The special significance of the story of this man lies in the fact that he started looking beyond his own desires and took in the account of how he could make his community better, naturally. There’s plenty of people who are greedy to enjoy beautiful things just for themselves. This man took the whole neighborhood into his view and labored to make the entire community a delightfully beautiful place to live and worship.
Is there not a message in this for us in our relationship to the Christian church? There needs to be more emphasis in the necessity of making the church attractive in order that it be affective in winning people to Christ and encouraging the faith of other Christians. In the little country church where I serve, we are small in numbers, but mighty in Spirit. The members do a fine job in organizing and making special events attractive where people from different churches throughout the community come together.
Understanding the story, I shared, wouldn’t the church be an attractive light in the community for a new family that see’s the neighborhood as a beautiful place in which to live? The same principle works in relation to the church. If the church is attractive because of its spiritual graces and because love is cultivated, not only those who aren’t Christians will be attracted to it, but it will have the power to fascinate those who are already settled members in it. This power of love can bless the existing members, strengthen them, and barring a surrender to temptation, keep their devotion.
A good question for each of us to ask ourselves is, “What can I do to make the church more beautiful?”
There are several things a person can do to add beauty and blessing to the church houses.
First, you can be good. The power of simple goodness can never be over emphasized.
Second, you can practice brotherly kindness or be a good neighbor, we all have social needs. To attempt to shut ourselves out from the world is to stunt the growth of our own better nature. Where there’s activity and more things to do, worldly temptations are greater. Where’s there’s less things and the simple life is before you, a more wholesome disposition can be better cultivated. Genuine friendship within the church can help the lonely and the stressed to blossom into a wonderful fragrance, which in turn adds to the beauty of the church.
Another thing we can do is to be cheerful. There’s no place where cheerfulness is at a higher premium than in the church. People come to church usually after a hard week of toil and struggle. Many times, we go to church weary and bruised in our hearts and our spirits. Speaking a word of encouragement meets people in that condition. They need it even though they may not know it. A kind word, hearty handshake, or big hug can help the discouraged heart and make life worth living again.
Still another thing makes the church beautiful is the worship experience. Nothing so exalts a church family as genuine church family worship. It brings all the dignity and glory of the Lord right at the footsteps of every member. It causes us to forget about ourselves and our differences, and in a majestic way illuminates the very thing that brings us together, which is love. What wonder we possess because Christ came down from Heaven, emptied himself of all glory; being born into our likeness, yet gave his life as a ransom for us all. Christ said, “There is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends” (John 15:13).
The church is most beautiful when it celebrates what Christ has done and continues to do for all who trust him. God has commended his love to us, because while we were sinners, Christ died for us. Now, he lives for us and intercedes on our behalf when we pray. Let’s all seek to find what we can do to add to the church’s power of love and beauty. We magnify God’s love and our own capacity to love by voicing it in prayer and praise. Thank God for the privilege of life, liberty, and love.
