The Bible refers to the church of Christ as the very “house of God” (1 Tim. 3:15). In Galatians 6:10, Paul described the church as the “household of faith.” As Paul penned the book of Ephesians, he called the church “the whole family” of God (Eph. 3:15). In light of these passages, God’s people ought to be greatly concerned about the condition of the church. Our physical houses are important, but the spiritual house of God is far more important. Therefore, each Christian should be willing to exert time and energy to help improve the church. This does not mean we have the license to change, alter, or add to God’s plan. The divine aspect of the church is perfect. This includes the organization, worship, doctrine, means of entrance into the church, etc. However, the human side of the church has imperfections and stands in need of improvement. The human side of the church includes each individual Christian who makes up the church, because after all, the church is not the building. Therefore, when we speak of improving the church, we are encouraging every member of the body of Christ to look in the mirror of their soul and put forth effort to improve their self. When we improve ourselves, we will be improving the church. Here are a few ways we can do this:

First, We Can Improve the Church by Realizing There is No Such Thing as a Perfect Congregation. It does great harm to the church when individuals refuse to stay put in a certain congregation and work through difficulties. There certainly are situations which would make it needful for a person to leave a congregation, and in those circumstances, finding a new congregation is understandable. If a congregation is not worshiping properly, teaching error, or supporting public sin, an individual puts himself at risk spiritually by staying if the problem is not trying to be corrected. God’s word says “a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump” (1 Cor. 5:6), and this point was brought up by Paul with regards to the entire congregation being affected by the problem which plagued the Corinthian church.

However, there are members of the body of Christ who are never satisfied with any congregation. Some find fault with the preacher. Others clash with the elders. They may not get along with some of the members. A person may not like the singing. They may even want something the church there is not offering. Each of these are reasons why individuals leave a congregation in search of another. In some cases, there are Christians who drive for many miles to worship, and in so doing, they pass several faithful congregations of the Lord’s church. However, they refuse to worship in their own community or with these closer congregations, and it is all because of their silly and selfish reasoning. The reality is, if a person is looking for a congregation without flaws, they will never stop looking. A perfect congregation does not exist, and if you find one, the moment you become a member it will cease to be perfect. When an individual changes congregations, he is simply swapping problems. To improve the church, stop looking for a perfect congregation, and do your part to help this congregation to be stronger.

Second, We Can Improve the Church by Refusing to Allow Negative Thinking to Control Our Minds. Satan desires our mind. If our adversary can gain control of our mind, he can gain control of the very control center of our body. God’s word reminds us as a person “thinketh in his heart, so is he” (Prov. 23:7). One of the ways Satan can work against the cause of God is through negative thinking. If the devil can get us to only see the negative, constantly complain, and never see the positive, he has gained control of the body’s control center. The church is filled with individuals who are counter-productive to the work of the church. They think they are doing the church a favor by constantly criticizing, fault finding, and complaining. However, they are actually doing the church harm, because negativism is destructive to God’s cause.

If anyone doubts the destructive power of negativity, they should read Numbers 13-14, because the negative report of the 10 spies led to mass doubt, inactivity among God’s people, and sin. If a person is looking for something to complain about, they will always find it. If a person is only looking at the group in the church who is not working, growing, and serving, they will only be ignoring those faithful Christians who are doing great things in the congregation. When a person constantly complains about what is not happening in the congregation, they will likely be failing to see all that is happening within the congregation. One thing is certain, if we want to improve the church, we need to start having a more optimistic attitude. This does not mean we will never see negative things, but these things will not dominate our mind-set and control our thinking. If we want to improve the church, we need to kick a negative attitude to the curb, because it is sinful and counterproductive to the church. [. . . to be continued]