The Church, Training Ground or Hospital?

     Many people today have the idea that the church is a hospital for the spiritually ill. Now I understand that there are some individuals who are weak in the faith, or those who struggle in their Christian walk, and these should receive help. It is scriptural (Gal 6:1; 1 Thessalonians 5:14).
    It is also true that an unbeliever may come into the assembly, but the presence of God should be so noticeable to them that they are either truly saved, or feel uncomfortable enough in their sin, to not play church for the rest of their lives (1 Cor 14:24-25; Acts 5:11-14).
     In acts 5:11-14, great fear fell upon the people after the deaths of Annanias and Sapphira. Notice how unbelievers did not associate themselves with the church. The presence of God was there, and a casual individual did not want to go in and hang around and yet have no desire to repent and serve Christ. Yet we see that people were indeed being saved and added to the Church.
     The difference is this. The Church of Acts was going out and winning the lost, then bringing them in and making disciples. Today, we want them to come in, and we hope that in time something will click and they will get saved. Sadly, we see people spend their entire lives in church trying to overcome multitudes of sins and habits, needing to be led through all manners of issues affecting their homes and relationships, all because they are not getting saved. The church is seen as a divine hospital for the patching up of sinners, and for the most part, that is all that is happening, a lot of patches, but very few transformed lives.
     Once again, I understand the need for compassion, and the call on our lives as Christians to reach out to help the weak and needy, but we are going about it wrong for the most part.
     We are told in the book of Ephesians that the assembly of believers, the Church, is where we come to be equipped for works of service (Ephesians 4:11-12). The Church is comprised of true believers, who have been born into the kingdom of God. The epistles are written to Saints, ones who are separated unto the service of God. These are holy people, not unrepentant sinners.
      It is true that Jesus tells us that there will be tares sown along side the wheat. A tare looks like wheat, but does not bear "fruit". In the world there will be individuals who may pass as Christians, but in reality they are not. Many of them fill our churches ever week (Matt 13:24-30, 36-43). We must do what we can to make sure that any unbeliever who would be in one of our churches would come to a saving knowledge of Christ, but this is not the purpose of our gathering together as believers!
     As I said, the Church is the gathering of redeemed people, the Bride of Christ! We are to be equipped to go out and do the works of service that God has called us to. Paul tells us that we are to grow up into maturity, no longer being tossed back and forth like children, carried away by false doctrines (Ephesians 4:13-14).
     The writer of Hebrews exhorts us to press on to maturity (Hebrews 6:1). Many of us can relate to the fact that we ought to be teachers, but are in need of being taught the basics after years of Christianity (Hebrews 5:12-14). I believe that much of this comes from a hospital mentality; the church exists to fix us and patch us up. Sadly many never seem to get beyond the patching up stage.
     We are called to go into all the world and make disciples, and the Church is where the training, and praying, and encouragement, happens. This is where many of the missionaries of old received their callings (Acts 13:1-3). Men were made strong in the presence of the Holy Spirit, in the midst of the gathering of the Saints of God. We are called to encourage one another on to good deeds, as we assemble together (Hebrews 10:24-25).
     We are in a war of a spiritual nature, and need all the training and edification that we can get. We cannot remain infants, and expect to be effective in our service to Christ our King. We are to be advancing the Kingdom of God in the face of a wicked world dominated by satan, and all his devices. We must be strong, we must be filled with the power and presence of the Holy Spirit. We must grow to a mature man, complete in Christ.
     If you are struggling, find true deliverance in Christ Jesus, and press on to maturity. Don't settle for a life of struggle and bondage. The Christian life is one of victory. We are more than conquerors through Christ (Romans 8:37). Go on to maturity, and do your part to fulfill the great commission (Matthew 28:18-20). Come to church and be encouraged to go out to the battle field!