© St. James’ Church Westgate & Garlinge 2012
“Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labour is not in vain” (1 Corinthians 15.58)
This is the 2012 motto text – and I hope that most, if not all, of you will have received one of the attractive motto text-cards as a reminder of this verse throughout this coming year. With a number of changes ahead of us as a church-family, I hope that this verse will be a great encouragement to all of us. In particular, this verse reminds us of some hallmarks of the Christian, or the church, who are truly growing in their walk with the Lord.
“Therefore” is the first word of that verse, pointing us back to all that the Apostle Paul has already been saying, not least in this great chapter (chapter 15 of 1 Corinthians), which focuses on the Resurrection of the Lord Jesus and the Resurrection to come of all Christian believers. Just as the Lord Jesus received his resurrection-body beyond death, so too Christian believers can look forward to the certain prospect of their resurrection-bodies in eternity to come. (See the “Any Questions?” article in this magazine for more on this topic!) “In the light of this great assurance,” says Paul, “I am going to spell out for you some of the distinguishing features, or hallmarks, of Christians who are making sound progress.”
1. “my beloved brothers”. Quite deliberately Paul picks up the theme of LOVE in the church. This is a topic that Paul has had much to write about in this Letter. Although Paul genuinely loved the Corinthian Christians, they did not respond with love towards him – instead, they were highly critical of him. What is more, they displayed a lack of love towards each other, so that Corinthian church-life was marked by rivalry, jealousy and factions. This is why Paul included the well-known chapter 13 of this Letter – all about love – in order to show the Corinthian Christians what they should be like, but were not. So here, in 1 Cor.15.58, Paul addresses the church as his “beloved brothers (and sisters)”, in order to remind them that a growing church is marked by love.
2. “be steadfast, immovable”. Again Paul deliberately chooses his words, because he has in mind the need to stand firm on the GOSPEL. The Corinthian Christians, or many of them, were in danger of drifting. At the beginning of this chapter Paul has sounded a warning that they need to “stand” and “hold fast” to the Gospel message (not least the message that Christ died for our sins and rose again), otherwise they will have believed in vain. Here is a warning to any Christian, and any church, that backsliding is possible, if we are careless about Christian truth – and sadly this does happen. We need to be reminded that a growing church stands firm on the Gospel.
3. “always abounding in the work of the Lord”. Here the emphasis is on WORK. Many of the Corinthian Christians thought that a truly spiritual Christian was one who abounded in wisdom, knowledge, blessings and prosperity. But Paul has to tell them that the genuine evidence of God at work in a Christian’s life is abundant work (or working hard – Paul uses the same word in both ways earlier in the chapter). Here is an encouragement to keep on keeping on in the specific jobs that we have undertaken in the life of the church-family. Sometimes the work seems hard, but we are to stick at it, because it is the Lord’s work and we are doing it for him. A growing church gets on with the work.
4. “knowing that in the Lord your labour is not in vain”. Christians need to have an eye on the FUTURE and to be assured that nothing that we do in the Lord’s service is ever useless.
We need to read again the whole of the chapter, to be reminded afresh of the glorious future that Jesus has achieved for all who put their trust in him. So we can have confidence for the future, as we stick at whatever he has given us to do. Only eternity will reveal what our meagre efforts here and now have achieved – and we may be in for some surprises! A growing church has an eye on the future.
Here, then are four hallmarks of Christian men and women – the church of Christ – making progress and seeking to be fruitful. Let’s encourage one another in all this throughout the coming year and beyond.
With Christian greetings,
Yours,
Robert Bashford
Dear Friends