Built Together As Living Stones
When I was a kid, our house had a kitchen and a dining room, and there was a wall, with a doorway, between the two.That wall is no longer there. At some point while I was growing up, my parents decided they'd had enough of that wall. They wanted to have one large wide open room, instead of two smaller rooms.
So dad took a sledgehammer to the wall and knocked it out. Of course, when they built the house in the first place, they knew that someday they might want to get rid of that wall, so they were careful to build the house in such a way that this wall was not a load bearing wall. It was supporting nothing. Nothing else anywhere in the house depended on it. It was, in a nutshell, useless.
The book of Ephesians tells us this:
Ephesians 2:19-22
So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints, and are of God's household, having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the corner stone, in whom the whole building, being fitted together, is growing into a holy temple in the Lord, in whom you also are being built together into a dwelling of God in the Spirit.
I Peter 2:4 adds to this image by telling us that we are not just stones in a building, but we are living stones, growing together as God has fitted us together.
But as God is building His house, He is not putting in any useless stones. There is no part of His church that He could point at and say "That living stone there doesn't support anything. Nothing else in My house depends on that living stone. That living stone is, in a nutshell, useless. I could take a sledgehammer to that living stone and it wouldn't affect anything else in the building."
We are all "load bearing" in the church. God has fit us together perfectly, designing each of us to bear and carry a load which was specifically designed for us. Galatians 6:5 tells us this: "For each one will bear his own load.
The good news is that the load is not an unbearable load; Jesus said in Matthew 11:30, "For My yoke is easy and My burden is light." In I John 5:3, John reiterates these words by assuring his readers that "His commands are not burdensome".
The loads we are each given are not unbearable, or unreasonable. But they are our burdens to carry. And in carrying our own load, we support and strengthen all the other living stones in the building with us, strengthening the entire structure. It is an exciting realization to understand that we are fitted so perfectly together by God, but with that realization comes an exciting responsibility as well - to build up, strengthen, and support the living stones all around us, who shoulder their loads side by side with us.
When Trent and I met for breakfast a couple days ago, we were talking about some of these ideas; it was interesting to see that even though we hadn't really talked for several months, we had the same ideas percolating in our brains, once again. (If you haven't read Trent's blog entry on The Fellowship Of The Believers, you should). As we talked, we ended up coming back to my blog entry back in September about Christian Ministry In Crisis Mode...
As each of us bears our own load, we strengthen one another...as we refuse our load, we wear down and weaken one another, causing ministries to run in crisis mode.
For anyone who is curious to know, we had a great missions conference meeting last night; the teens did a great job sharing about the different ministries they've been involved in over the course of the last year. Incidentally, the current number is $2,700. That's how much money the youth group has collected for the National Office Project in Moldova.
Posted On Nov 10, 2005 at 5:57 AM
On Nov 10, 2005 BackStage wrote: What wall are you talking about?
I don't remember any wall.....
Doug Replied: Wow! That was Before Your Time?
On Nov 10, 2005 Mr. T wrote: Yeah - that was before his time. He's just a young pup!
I (barely) remember that wall myself. I do, however, remember the table that was in the kitchen against that wall, under the phone in the kitchen.
Boy - that was a small kitchen!
On Nov 10, 2005 WOW wrote: You're all just "young pups"!!! Bet you can't remember when there was no house there!
Doug Replied: what? I thought that house was ALWAYS there!
On Nov 10, 2005 Mr. Physics wrote: Many years ago Christopher Wren revolutionized architecture as he designed the buildings that replaced those destroyed in the great fire of London. One of his buildings had an wide open span under an arch which was considered impossible by others of his day. They insisted that he place a column in a position to help support this enormous span. After debating with them at length, he eventually gave in and added the column. However, it you were to visit there today and were to be on a high enough ladder you would find that the column stops a few inches before it reaches the roof it is supposedly supporting. Talk about unsupporting members!! You can probably find a picture of this column on the internet.
On Nov 11, 2005 Trent wrote: Just reading this makes me feel like part of the family
Doug Replied: *sings*
I'm so glad I'm a part...
On Nov 11, 2005 WOW wrote: Trent should feel like one of the family! I check his blog each day when I check yours and Brian's to see if he has anything new. I always enjoy his thoughts.
On Nov 11, 2005 Doug wrote: and speaking of family...
who knew that some of my family got a mention in the Northwoods Sporting Journal?
http://www.sportingjournal.com/main57.shtml
On Nov 11, 2005 Trent wrote: Thanks for the nod WOW. Over the next little while I am hoping to be a more faithful at posting. (this is what is called throwing your hat over-the-wall....once you throw it over, you have to go and get it -quote "my sister")
Cool article on the Buck.
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