I have visited an untold number of churches of widely varying denominations. Often during these visits, I would find myself in the middle of very thoughtful and concerned discussions on how they can build their church. Often the discussions focus on increasing membership, increasing attendance, increasing revenues, increasing staff, replacing staff, changing the music, changing the décor, increasing programs, increasing facilities, building new facilities, utilizing social media, and so on. There are virtually unlimited ways that are proposed to address the problem of how to build a church.  How can we know what is the best approach to use?

I believe, as with any other problem, we must begin by gaining a thorough understanding of the problem that we are trying to address. What exactly are we hoping to accomplish? What do we mean by building a church?

To many people, the idea of building a church means to build up and strengthen the organization in which their church exists. This organization is composed of bylaws, a constitution, a governing board, and the staff they direct and the facilities and programs that they operate and maintain. So, it is only natural that they are concerned with all of the items mentioned above that are often the focus of their discussions on how to build their church.

However, in this brief study, I am not going to focus on how to build up a modern church organization, but rather on how to build up the church as set forth in the Scriptures. This church in the New Testament is not an organization. It is an organism, a living body. It is the body of the resurrected Christ.

This living body is composed of a multitude of people. These people are believers in Jesus Christ. These believers have been born again. They have been born of the Holy Spirit. These believers, upon being born again, have become living members of this living body of Jesus Christ, the church.

Our consideration in this study will be focused on how to build this church, the living body of the resurrected Christ. For guidance in this study, we will rely on the leading of the Holy Spirit and the teaching of the Holy Scriptures. So, as the Spirit directs, we will review various passages of Scripture and consider how they address the question of how to build the church.

Jesus said in John 3:14, “As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up.” Again, Jesus tells us in John 12:32, “And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to Myself.” Finally, in Matthew 16:18, Jesus promises, “I will build My church.”

Wow, this sounds so simple. Jesus promises that He will build His church. He promises that if He is lifted up, He will draw all people to Himself. So, what is required of us?

If Jesus will draw all people to Himself and He will build His church, what else is needed? What are we expected to do for the church to be built up?

It is necessary, just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man, Jesus, must be lifted up. This is our job. This is our portion of the work of building up the church. We are expected to lift up Jesus. He will then draw all men to Himself, and He will build His church.

So, how are we expected to accomplish our part of this task of building the church? To gain an understanding of God’s expectation of us as born-again believers, let us search the Scriptures for instruction.

In the book of Numbers 21:4-9, we read the account of the children of Israel murmuring and complaining, speaking against God and Moses. In response to this the Lord God sent poisonous snakes among the people, and the snakes bit them so that many Israelites died.

Then Moses interceded for the people, praying to God for deliverance from the snakes. God told Moses to make a bronze snake and mount it on a pole. God told him that whenever anyone that was bitten looks at the snake, they would recover.

This is the same message that we have for the world today. The poisonous venom of the serpent, the devil, has infected the entire human race with the deadly, rebellious sin nature. The only way that anyone can be delivered from the dominance and control of this rebellious sin nature is to look by faith to the Son of Man, Jesus.

When anyone believes and looks to Jesus for deliverance from the power of sin that leads to death, they will be saved. They will be delivered, set free from bondage, from slavery to sin. They will be set free to serve God in newness of life, in the newness of the new life that they receive in Jesus.

So, we can lift up Jesus by sharing with people that are lost and dying about the deliverance from the power of sin and of death that is freely available to anyone, simply by looking in faith to Jesus. No matter who they are or what they have done, if they will turn the eyes of their heart to Jesus, He will set them free and give them a new life, free from the power of sin and of death (Romans 6:1-14).

Once a person is born again by looking to Jesus and receiving a new life in the Spirit, they become members of the body of Christ, the church. As members of His body, they embark on a new journey. This is a life-long journey of growing in faith and being conformed to the image of Jesus Christ the Lord. This conformation, this transformation, is accomplished by the Holy Spirit that comes to dwell within every genuine believer. This indwelling Spirit transforms us into the image of Christ as we behold and reflect the Lord. This work of transformation is the Spirit’s doing (2 Corinthians 3:15-18).

The only requirement of the believer is that he continues, just as he began this salvation process, looking away to Jesus. We must continue to look away to Jesus, because He is the author and the finisher of our faith. We began our walk of faith by looking to Jesus; we can only complete this walk, arriving at maturity in Christ, by continuing to look to Jesus.

To build the church, we need to lift up Jesus, that people might be saved through faith, looking to Him. Also, to build the church, we need to lift up Jesus, that people might grow to maturity in Christ looking to Him. So, whether to be born again by the Spirit or to be transformed by the Spirit, we need to look to Jesus.

We have seen how we can lift up Jesus that unbelievers might be saved by looking to Him. But, how do we lift up Jesus so that believers might be transformed and brought to maturity in Christ? I think we can also find the answer to this in the Scriptures.

Paul writes in Colossians 1:28, “We proclaim Him (Jesus), warning and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone mature in Christ” (HCSB). What does Paul do to help believers grow unto maturity in Christ? It is very simple. He proclaims Christ! He lifts up Jesus and encourages the believers to continue to look to Jesus, walking by the Spirit.

In I Corinthians 14:26-33, Paul writes about what happens when believers gather together for worship. He says each one has a psalm, a teaching, a revelation, let everything be done for the building up of the church. He says two or three prophets should speak, and the others sitting by should evaluate. He says if something is revealed to someone sitting there listening to the prophets, the prophet should be silent and should let the person that received the revelation speak.

Paul continues saying, “You can all prophecy, one by one, so that everyone may learn and that everyone may be encouraged” (HCSB). Whenever an apostle, a prophet, or an ordinary believer that has received a revelation, speaks being led by the Holy Spirit, everyone can learn, and everyone can be encouraged. When anyone speaks being led by the Holy Spirit, Jesus is exalted. He is lifted up, and the believers grow in their faith.

Whenever any believer speaks in obedience to the leading of the Holy Spirit, Jesus is lifted up. As the believers then look to Jesus, they are fed, they are encouraged, and they are being transformed by the Holy Spirit and are being brought on toward maturity in Christ. The church is being built up.

In Ephesians 4:11-13, Paul tells us that Jesus “gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers, for the training of the saints in the work of ministry, to build up the body of Christ, until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of God’s Son, growing into a mature man with a stature measured by Christ’s fullness” (HCSB).

Notice that the apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers were given for one purpose, for the training of the saints. They were given to train the saints to do the work of the ministry. The work of the ministry is to be done by the saints. The work of the ministry that the saints are supposed to be doing is the building up of the body of Christ.

Also, notice how long these apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers are supposed to continue training the saints. They are to continue their work of training the saints until we all reach unity in the faith and grow into a mature man measured by the stature of Christ’s fullness. Have we arrived? If not, then the training work of the apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers must not be complete, and certainly the work of the ministry of the saints, to build up the body of Christ, is not complete.

The apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers are to train the saints to know the leading of the indwelling Holy Spirit, so the saints can learn to hear the Spirit speaking and to faithfully obey the Lord’s leading them by the Holy Spirit. Then the saints, by the leading of the Spirit and the guidance and oversight of their trainers grow in faith and maturity and become effective at lifting up Jesus, by speaking what the Spirit gives them to speak, when and how He tells them to speak.

Paul explains in verses 15-16 the practical application of this process where he says, “Speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all aspects into Him who is the head, even Christ, 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.”

From Christ, the whole body grows, fitted and knit together by every supporting ligament, by the proper working of each individual part speaking the truth in love, growing in every way into Christ who is the head. Jesus said in John 14:6, “I am the way, and the truth and the life.” When we speak the truth in love, we are speaking forth Christ, and Jesus is lifted up.

When the saints speak forth Christ in obedience to the leading of the Holy Spirit, everyone is able to learn, and everyone is encouraged. Paul writes in I Corinthians 14:23-25, “Therefore if the whole church assembles together and . . . if all prophesy (speak forth Christ), and an unbeliever or an ungifted man enters, he is convicted by all, he is called to account by all; the secrets of his heart are disclosed; and so he will fall on his face and worship God, declaring that God is certainly among you.”

When Jesus is lifted up, the hearts of unbelievers will be touched and brought to account, and the hearts of believers will be touched, taught, and encouraged. When Jesus is lifted up, He will draw all people to Himself.  He will build His church.

The most exciting thing is that every born-again believer has the opportunity and the ability by obeying the leading of the indwelling Holy Spirit to lift Jesus up, whether in the assembly of the church or in the course of their daily lives.

The genuine church, the church that Jesus is building, provides this opportunity for every born-again believer to prophesy, to speak forth Christ, to lift Jesus up. It also trains the believers to faithfully take advantage of this opportunity in the assembly of the church, where everyone can prophesy, one by one, that all might learn and that all might be encouraged, that the church might be built up.

Writings By Jon von Ernst

The Lord of All Things Series - A Trilogy of Truth 
Books in this series:
Book 1 - The Gospel of the Kingdom
Book 2- The Victorious Christian
Book 3 - Walking in the Light  -  Following in His Steps

*- Audio of these books are available free of charge at thepureword.net.