Ephesians 3:10
“so that the multifaceted wisdom of God might now be made known through the church to the rulers and the authorities in the heavenly places.”
I love it, the wisdom of God is known through the church. It's ironic as our culture mocks the church. While it's not perfect and mistakes are made, God is not apologetic, His wisdom is dispensed through the church. The world points out the mistakes made, education portrays it as backwards, not current and unenlightened.
The world mocked Jesus as well. He said in John 15:18,19, "If the world hates you, you know that it has hated Me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, because of this the world hates you." God knew this and didn't change. So, the world will hate us also. We still hold to His Word. We are to love them and tell them about Christ. They won't like that message, at least those who don't accept it.
We should be proud of the church. The world will mock, but God chose it. There is no shame there. We are to go to church and go deep in fellowship there. This is our community where we have deep relationships and love those that are unlovable. We aren't to form clicks, but to be open to and love all.
We are to invite people to church. Some hear the gospel that way. They would be blessed by the fellowship and love there. It's a magnet. The Word of God is taught and is that seed that's planted. It grows and can lead to real God connections and hopefully a born again life.
The church is like a farm growing wheat. God's Word is the wheat which does several things. It's food for the hungry. When the disciples asked Jesus if He wanted to eat, He said that He had food they didn't know about (John 4). He further said in that same chapter, "My food is to do the will of God and to finish His work". In the parable of the sower, Jesus describes the process of hearing and receiving God's Word. We all hear it, sometimes it takes and grows. Our hearts are the soil. As we go to church it's like we are bringing our gardens with us. Seeds from our gardens fall into the hearts of others and it grows. This transfer of seeds goes to unbelievers as well. This is how God gets His Word out.
God wants us to be farmers. We are to spread His Word where ever we go. Sometimes we get to return to the person we shared with and we tend that garden. We might share more seed, we might prune and water what was shared earlier.
To switch to another food metaphor, Galatians talks about the fruit of the Spirit, "love, joy peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self control", (Galatians 5). These are the traits the Holy Spirit works in our lives. I haven't thought of the fruit in this way, but these are for others to benefit from. In a sense it's nourishment for them. It's food for them to partake of. This is how we are a blessing to others. We practice the fruit of the Spirit. We are kind and patient with others.
These are like fruit as that is how they grow. God's Word gets in us as examples of how to be as well as the power to change into them. They are not of our making. Just as living creatures have dna, so God's ways are alive in us. It's His Word that is living and active (Hebrews). Isaiah 55:11 says, "So shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth; It shall not return to Me void, But it shall accomplish what I please, And it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it."
Billy Joel speaks for the world when he sings, "I'd rather laugh with the sinners, than cry with the saints. The sinners are much more fun." This is part of the foolishness of the world. Saints laugh and sinners cry. On balance, the joy of the Lord is far superior than the cruel laughter of the haters. The world doesn't understand or lies about the church. They say we can't have fun. Paul says "all things are lawful for me". There is freedom in Christ. Many in the world indulge themselves in things they think are fun and it leads to emptiness, addictions and broken relationships.
When I hear particular programs, they echo with arrogance and pride. This attracts many as they think that they are the smart ones. God values humility. This is quite foreign to the worldly wise. The pharisees were the religious wise, that's not in a good way. They were enemies of Jesus. He pointed out that they were missing God and His ways. Except for a few, they didn't understand either.
God, thank You for sending Your wisdom through the church.