How to Build Up

 Build up. Build up the church. Build up each other. Build up yourselves. When I was little in Bible class every Sunday we sang about how the wiseman built his house on the rock, while the foolish man just built his house on the sand. We don’t want to be fools! Just like the wiseman, our foundation needs to be on the rock - Jesus Christ and his teachings.  

 

So, how can we build up the church? Matthew 28:19 commands, “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” If we do this, we are building the church. We can build up the church through sending missionaries to other countries and backing up the work with prayer and support. 

 

There was once a new Christian who was in East Africa who was eager to serve. He and his friend started a church under a tree in his own back yard. The church there grew and now there are hundreds of Christians in that part of East Africa. More than a dozen churches have been established all because one man shared the gospel with his neighbors. Through the love of God this man started a strong church that is still growing. I want to build up a church like that.  

 

A weak church will struggle to evangelize and build up other congregations. So we should work to build each other up. Hebrews 3:13 tells us, “but exhort one another daily, while it is called ‘today,’ lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin.” Encourage one another. Help each other to constantly stand up to sin. 

 

In recent years covid-19 struck. When the church did video worship it led to some not returning to worship at all. Our work is to build those people back up. We fail them when we choose not to reach out to them. We can avoid such failures by praying for them, talking with them, and even taking them to lunch to chat. We must put in the effort to build each other up. 

 

How do we build ourselves up? We can’t build up the church if we aren’t building up ourselves. Jude 1:20 says, “But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most Holy faith, praying in the Holy spirit.” We can build ourselves up by praying, reading the Bible, taking communion, singing, and learning more about God.  

 

I know that I always feel much better focused on spiritual things when I go to Christian gatherings, like devotionals or Bible studies. I also love going to the FHU lectures, Polishing the Pulpit, and Lads to Leaders convention where I can be around lots of other people who love God too.

 

Whether we’re talking about the church, each other, or ourselves, building up takes action. Nehemiah took action to build a wall for Jerusalem. Zerubbabel took action to rebuild the temple. We too must take action to rise up and build!  It may seem like a big task, but as Philippians 4:13 states, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.”