Imagine if you will, a very remote village located deep in the Congo Jungle of Africa… for 2000 years villagers have existed in this village, subsisting on hunting and the small amount of crops that could be grown and harvested among the high trees that canopied them.
Hundreds, and perhaps thousands of years ago, so long ago that no one really remembers when, the forefathers of this village dug a canal to bring freshwater through the jungle and near enough to their village that their women wouldn’t fear attack on the long traverse to and from the water’s edge. The stories about the building of the canal were matter of legend. Stories were told of the villagers fighting off attacks from neighboring tribes and defending the canal to the point of death. Many individuals died in the project that ultimately took years to finish.
Those that completed the task were considered heroes. The villagers named their children after the men that gave their lives to the canal that brought much needed life-giving water the village.
But now the canal is dry. The life giving water that once flowed between its mighty banks has long since gone missing. The river had been diverted and the tributary that once fed this canal has also run dry. But the canal is still there. It still bears the marks from where the waters used to rise and fall with the rainy season. The villagers still name their children after the engineers, and they often still engage in battles to defend the now lifeless banks of a canal that used to be worth something.
The villagers had long since misunderstood the source of life—They thought he canal was to be reveared, the canal was to be honored, the canal was to be fought for… but the canal did not give to them life. The canal did not quench their thirst. The canal did not offer anything in and of itself. The canal was simply a channel, through which life was delivered.
Now make no mistake about it, the canal was essential. It was the vehicle that carried the water to those in need… but now it was simply an empty ditch, a vacant trench that carried no life giving or redeeming qualities.
Nearly 2000 years ago, a man walked this earth, and he claimed to be someone different. He claimed to be the son of God; he claimed to be God himself.
And when he left this earth, ascending into heaven under the watchful eyes of the disciples, he brought into being the church. The gathering of believers.
And it brought life. The gospel of Jesus was carried the ends of the earth and people were filled with living water, never to thirst again (John 4). People were fed spiritually and became spiritually well. People who never had hope, now were filled with the fruits of love, joy, hope, and peace. Fruits that were watered by the life-giving gospel carried to the far corners of the earth by the church.
And many died to protect it from attack. And many suffered and bled in its construction.
And the church became honored. Those that helped to build and sustain it were counted as heroes. People named their children and streets and buildings after those who had worked so hard to make it all that it was.
But we, just like the villagers of the Congo, often misunderstand the source of life.
Because the church in and of itself offers no redeeming qualities. The redemption comes from what the church carries. Life comes from the truth that is vehicled through the church’s methodology, programming, and witness.
And all of this begs the question: Is the Church still the bastion of living water, or is it a dried up ditch? On a more personal level, the Bible tells us that Jesus is alive inside of all of us. (Galatians 2:20). Are you a vibrant channel of God’s grace, allowing Him to use you to pour out his life-giving power on all you come into contact with (John 7:37)? Or are you an empty well that used to be filled with goodness, but now offers no more redemptive value.
I want the Church to be a channel of God’s grace and salvation. I want our church to be a tributary of the main branch that feeds and fuels and brings life to those that we come into contact with. I want my life to be a channel of God’s grace and salvation. I want people to find life in the life that I carry within my own.
And I will fight for that church. I would die for that church. But there is little use for an empty ditch.
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