It was Graham Cooke who said something to the effect that if you want the presence of God, look up all the ‘one-anothers’ in the Bible, and do them,  and you will have the presence of God.

What inspires my thinking this morning are the words of Paul in Galatians chapter 5.  There he writes,

“For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision means anything, but faith working through love” (verse 6).  

And then, 

“For you were called to freedom, brethren; only do not turn your freedom into an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another” (verse 13).  

I shall never forget first setting foot in our new church home, Mt. Hope Church.   It was culture-shock.  We had come from a small church whose primary focus was fellowship–relationships, that is; a close-knit community where our fellow believers pretty much constituted our lives.  Mt. Hope  was a very large place by comparison, and after pastor Dave Williams finished the sermon, the place emptied out within minutes.   We were left scratching our heads, wondering where everyone went!

Mt. Hope at the time was entirely outward in focus; evangelistic, you might say.  There were big events, organized outreaches, and church plants.  There was an ‘altar call’ after every Sunday service; and many people came forward to receive Christ. There were, however, virtually no relationships.  Though thousands came forward, the church did not grow in numbers.

In an attempt to find out why people would come and then go–they would come in the front door, so to speak, and then leave by the back door, pastor Williams called a commission.  In short order it was determined that there was a need for personal relationships.  It wasn’t until about ten years later that through the leadership of executive pastor Kevin Berry, this began to become a reality.  

Mt. Hope has been, for many years now, in the process of a cultural change; and it has been slow going.  Presently, there is a focus both on the inward and the outward, and that is a good thing.  God’s church, to be the church of His design, is to be both.  

Jesus, you see, not only gave us The Great Commission, but The New Commandment also.  We are to go into all the world and preach the gospel, making disciples; at the same time we are, as Paul emphasizes in Galatians, to use our freedom in Christ to serve one another.  Our faith is to be seen in our service.  

In my reading these things I am encouraged in this.  Faith works through love; it does not work any other way.  Without love, faith is invalid, worthless.  “Show me your faith without works, and I will show you my faith by my works” (James).  Love for God, the writer of Hebrews tells us, is demonstrated by our ministry to the saints.  

The church, by definition, cannot be effective in one way or the other; no, it must be both inward and outward.  What have we to export if we do not have it ourselves? Inasmuch as what we do speaks of who we are, so it is that what the church does tells who she is.  Your outer kingdom, pastor Williams says, is determined by your inner kingdom.  Evangelism is done by the evangelized.  

As I said, I am by Paul’s words encouraged.  In recent days we have been hearing about having a heart for the lost, and we all made the commitment to be as was Phillip in Acts 8.  And this is and has been my prayer, to have God’s heart for the unsaved.  Yet at the same time we are commanded by Jesus to be loving one another, and here by Paul to be demonstrating that love through service to one another.  Again, it is both, inward and outward.  This is the church as Jesus would have it.