Ephesians 4:16
“from whom the whole body, being fitted and held together by what every joint supplies, according to the proper working of each individual part, causes the growth of the body for the building up of itself in love.”
I love that last phrase, "the growth of the body for the building up of itself in love." Many criticize the church. True, we aren't perfect and our actions can reflect badly. However, nobody is perfect, so those that cling to these faults for their reason to reject Christ are being hypocritical.
Ephesians 2:10 says, "For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them." The word workmanship can also be masterpiece. That's the church. We shouldn't be ashamed of it. Far from it, we should be proud of it. Hebrews 2:11 says, "For both He who sanctifies and those who are sanctified are all from one Father; for this reason He is not ashamed to call them brothers and sisters". Jesus isn't ashamed, so we shouldn't either.
Jesus came to earth in a lowly state, was raised in a region of poor repute and chose to associate with the lowly. That should be the church's focus. We should seek to be with the rich and popular. We might find ourselves there, but that should be by God's doing.
Now back to today's verse, "the growth of the body for the building up of itself in love." The church builds itself up in love. A starfish may lose an arm, but it grows back. Something in the dna of it allows for this. The church does this as well. Health, healing and wholeness is all part of the church's makeup. It builds itself and others up.
Today's passage says this is all done in love. I Corinthians 13:13 says, "But now faith, hope, and love remain, these three; but the greatest of these is love." I John 4:8 says, "the one not loving has not known God, because God is love." God is love, so if a church lets God have His way, it'll be all about love. The people and pastors will all be loving. The new people will feel that love and seek to be involved.
There will still be conflict. The church is made up of people, so problems will arise. If all are seeking God, then each looks to Him for help. They will follow His way and lessen themselves and apologize and seek to make it better. This is the building itself up in love.
There will be those in the church that aren't in obedience to God. We go to him and attempt to make it right. If he refuses, then we are to take others with us and seek to persuade. If he still refuses, then he is asked to leave. (Matthew 18:16, 17). Some may think that harsh, but our bodies act like that with infections. We aren't speaking of petty issues, but ones that are contrary to scripture.
This kind of church discipline is love. Here's how Paul describes it in I Corinthians 5:5, "to deliver such a one to Satan for destruction of the flesh, so that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord." Basically if this one continues down this path, he isn't going to God. By removing him from the church, the worst that could happen is that he could die and still go to heaven before he completes his disobedience and ends up in hell. It's tough love. The eye is on the eternal, not the temporal. The church has been compared to a hospital, as we are all in some stage of healing. As we all look to Christ, we make loving choices. In turn, the one we had the conflict with feels the love and heals himself. The church builds itself up in love.
Thank You for the church, Lord. It’s the wonderful institution that builds itself up in love.