All Things for Edification

Pray for Your Church: Members (4)

Let all things be done for edification. 1 Corinthians 14.26

But we do all things, beloved, for your edification. 2 Corinthians 12.19

Let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth, but what is good for necessary edification, that it may impart grace to the hearers. Ephesians 4.29

Builders with Jesus
We began this series on praying for your church by explaining that building His Church is Jesus’ main focus as He rules from His throne at the Father’s right hand. There are two good reasons for this, and they also relate to Jesus’ agenda and our calling. 

First, the Church is the incubator of disciples. Making disciples is our mission as followers of Christ (Matt. 28.18-20). In our church and by its various ministries, Jesus intends that we should grow from infancy to maturity in Him. The stronger our church, the more we expect to make and send disciples to our community.

Further, the Church—and every local church—is the sign and outpost of the Kingdom of God, to which God has called us (1 Thess. 2.12), and the seeking of which Jesus established as the defining priority of every disciple’s life (Matt. 6.33). Jesus builds each local church with a view to how its presence in a community will signal and advance the presence of His Kingdom of righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit.

So the Church—and every local church—has a very special place in the eyes and work of our Lord Jesus Christ. He is building His Church so that none of the counsels or schemes of hell can keep it from realizing its full potential for making disciples and advancing His rule.

And the exciting, truly thrilling aspect of all this is that Jesus enlists us, every church member, in His work of building His Church. For we are called to be builders in our church, edifiers who build-up one another with our gifts and callings, so that our church can realize its full potential in the divine economy. Whatever we do as church members, and whatever we say to our fellow believers, we must do for edification, both for them and for our church.

And we’re more likely to do this if we will pray for all the builders in our church to take the calling of edification seriously and practice it diligently.

No spectators
Being a Christian is not a spectator sport. Belonging to a church is not a matter of sitting before smart professionals as they lead us in music, proclaim the Word of God, teach us His truths, and coordinate whatever other activities we may require. All the things our church leaders do must be done for edification, so that all the rest of us as members of the Body of Christ can take our place in building-up one another as disciples and our church as a sign and outpost of the Kingdom of God.

As our church is being built, no one has the leisure of leaning on a shovel. Everyone has gifts for ministry. Every church member has a calling. All of us must learn to think “Edification” as our basic orientation to church membership. 

How exciting to think that God can use our words and works, be they ever so humble or few, to edify our fellow Christians in their walk with and work for the Lord and to build our church in unity and maturity. Edification is both a mindset and a heartset. We must know what it means to edify and be edified. And we must eagerly desire to fulfill our role in this important work.

Jesus is building His Church, and He is pleased to use every believer to build their local church for making disciples and advancing the Kingdom of God.

What did you build today?
Each of us should be able, at the end of the day, to look back on the day with satisfaction and thank the Lord for specific instances and opportunities which He provided for us to edify our fellow believers and build His Church. We can even encourage and edify one another by asking the question, “What did you build today?” That’s certainly a more focused and more specific question than “What did you do today?” and using that question with one another and before the Lord in prayer can help to nurture a mindset and heartset of edification.

Jesus is building His Church. He has an army of builders, busy about the task. Let us pray for one another and encourage one another, that every day may see our works of edification raising a bit higher or making a bit firmer the walls and ramparts and fortifications of the glorious City of the Lord—our local church and the Church of Jesus worldwide.

Here’s a prayer you can use for yourself and your fellow builders:

Thank You, Lord Jesus
that it pleases You to use me
and all my fellow believers
in Your work of building Your Church!
Create in us a heart for edification.
Grant us understanding,
make us ready and consistent builders,
and use our works each day
to raise Your Church
as a holy temple for Your glory!

For reflection
1. Building a local church in unity and maturity as a sign and outpost of the Kingdom requires every member’s work. How are you presently working for edification in your church?2. What can you do to encourage your fellow church members to take up their calling as builders?3. Whom will you encourage today? How will you contribute to the edification of others and of your church?

Next steps—Transformation: Pray that God will give you a more constant mindset and heartset for edification. Pray for specific daily steps to edify others and build-up your church.

T. M. Moore

Give thanks
If you have found this meditation helpful, take a moment and give thanks to God. Then share what you learned with a friend. This is how the grace of God spreads (2 Cor. 4.15).

Other columns of interest this week: Read Moore (from the book, Revived!); from Crosfigell, “He Knows What He’s Doing”, on the work of the Holy Spirit; and “The Bitter and Sweet Word” from our daily Scriptorium series, “Jesus throughout the Scriptures.” And new in our bookstore, Let God Be True and Enjoying God, both free to download and share.

Thank you.
Many of you are faithful and generous in praying for and supporting Crosfigell and The Fellowship of Ailbe. Thank you. I encourage all our readers to seek the Lord about becoming a supporter of The Fellowship of Ailbe. It’s easy to give to The Fellowship of Ailbe, and all gifts are, of course, tax-deductible. You can click here to donate online through credit card or PayPal or Anedot, or send your gift to The Fellowship of Ailbe, P. O. Box 8213, Essex, VT 05451.

Except as indicated, Scripture taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.