CHRIST, THE GUEST OF HONOR
Many of our Christian church services center around the music or the preaching or the something else about us. What if we made Christ the Guest of Honor in all our gatherings? This message is taken from my book The Coming Divine Reset of the Body of Christ.
Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and will dine with him, and he with Me (Rev 3:20).
Jesus said “For where two or three have gathered together in My name, I am there in their midst” (Matt 18:20). The word we translate “midst” means to be in the middle of something. When we gather in His name we are saying that Christ is to be our Guest of honor. He gets to sit in the middle of the gathering and facilitate the sharing because He just happens to be the King of the Universe, the Creator of all things. What a blessing to have Christ with us!
When we gather as His family, He is the Head, the most important person in the room and we must treat Him with the highest respect, listening intently to what He has to share. This of course assumes that Christ still speaks to believers through the Holy Spirit and that we have ears to hear what He says (Rev 2:7, et al). This is how prophecy works. God reveals something encouraging to the heart of someone and they speak it out to everyone. Paul says that we can all prophecy in this sense as the Spirit leads (1 Cor 14:24, 31). Christ deposits truth into our hearts and we share it with others.
What this really means is that our gatherings as His church are meetings in His honor where He is able to communicate with us His strategies for our spiritual growth and His glorification. Paul tells us “. . . whatever you do, do all to the glory of God” (1 Cor 10:31). They are not meetings for an elite preacher to impress us with his special oratorical skills or for professional musicians to perform. The gathering is an opportunity for the family to enjoy one another in the company of their King to His glory. It’s to be a family meeting where sharng is encouraged. That’s fellowship.
The church is His ekklesia, His ruling body on earth to whom He grants His authority. As Paul put it: “For He rescued us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son” (Col 1:13). We are “ambassadors for Christ” (2 Cor 5:20) representing Him to a planet of darkness. Our church gatherings, then, are meant to invite the reigning King of His kingdom into our midst on a regular basis to consult with Him and hear from Him concerning His will.
Unfortunately, we have made the “church service” about us and He is often outside the door knocking for permission to come in (Rev 3:20). If anything in the gathering is about us it should be about how we can glorify Him by being genuine, loving members of His family. That, in the end, is what encourages and builds us up spiritually. That is precisely why prophecy is so important — it is Christ speaking through us to the others so that we can be built up, encouraged and consoled (1 Cor 14:3). It is not about filling our heads with knowledge but about getting to know Him and His people in a deeper way.
Think about it this way. If someone is hired to plan out the gatherings of the saints each week and put together some worship songs, scripture reading, a sermon and other stirring activities, where is Christ in this picture? If He is to be the Guest of honor why is He left out of the planning and actual implementation of the event?
I know some of you are thinking, “Well, our pastor always consults with the Lord in planning out the service.” On the other hand, if Christ is our Guest of honor should we not let Him plan out and implement the get together? When He walked with His disciples on earth do you see how He started the conversations? He asked questions and told parables that invited their input. He allowed for their responses but since He was the Messiah His word was always final.
This one simple point will make a big difference when we gather in His name. Instead of the same thing every Sunday, imagine if we allowed the King to have His say and committed ourselves to hearing and following through on His words. Faith comes from hearing Christ and faith results in wonderful manifestations of His presence and ongoing blessing from the Lord (Rom 10:17).
Maybe things like this would happen:
But if all prophesy, and an unbeliever or an ungifted man enters, he is convicted by all, he is called to account by all; the secrets of his heart are disclosed; and so he will fall on his face and worship God, declaring that God is certainly among you (1 Cor 14:24, 25).
