Weakness of the Church

Text: 2 Corinthians 4:7

Series: Restoration Sermons

Date:

Speaker: Ed Rangel

Location: Waupaca Church of Christ

Bible Version: NASB 1995

Sermon Type: Expository

Learning Objectives

By the close of this lesson the hearer should be able to:

1. Distinguish the divine element of the church (its strength) from the human element (its weakness).
2. Locate the church's weakness honestly — in its members, not in its design.
3. Take personal responsibility for the work and worship Christ has left in human hands.

Thesis

The church is a divine-human institution: its strength is wholly in its divine element — God's plan, Christ's blood, His headship, the Spirit's indwelling — and its weakness is wholly in its human element, the frail members who carry the work; so the cure for the church's weakness is the faithfulness of its members.

Burden

We have a treasure in earthen vessels (2 Cor. 4:7). The treasure is flawless; the vessels are clay. When people are disappointed in the church, they often blame the institution, as if God's design had failed. It has not. The plan is perfect, the Head is faultless, the blood is sufficient — every weakness traces to us, the members into whose frail hands the work was placed. That is a hard word, but it is a hopeful one: if the weakness is in us, then the remedy is in us too. This lesson refuses to let us blame the church for what is really the failure of its members.

Introduction

There are many ways to look at the church; it has both strength and weakness. As the Bible is a divine-human book, so the church is a divine-human institution — divine in its origin and design, human in its membership. the sets the two elements side by side: the divine element (its strength) and the human element (its weakness).

I. The Divine Element — the Church's Strength (Acts 20:28; Eph. 5:23)

Everything about the church's design is perfect, because it is God's:

1. God planned it — its organization is perfect.
2. Christ purchased it with His own blood (Acts 20:28).
3. He is the Head (Eph. 5:23).
4. It is the temple of the Holy Spirit (1 Cor. 3:16).
5. Its strength lies entirely in this divine element.
6. Therefore no one should molest it or change it — to tamper with the divine design is to mar what God made perfect.

Whatever is wrong with the church, it is not the plan, the Head, the blood, or the Spirit. The treasure is flawless.

II. The Human Element — the Church's Weakness (2 Cor. 4:7; Mark 14:38)

But the church is not composed of angels; its members are frail human beings — and "the unskillful operation of a machine is no reflection on its inventor." The divine organization has been placed in human hands, and there the weakness enters:

1. In its government — sometimes a congregation is dominated by one man (as Diotrephes "who loves to be first," 3 John 9-10), sometimes by a clique or party; party politics disturb its peace, and some churches are filled with partisans, quarrels, critics, and self-righteous snobs.
2. In its work — the divine Head will not do the work for us, nor send angels to do it; if it is done, we must do it. And too often "we fall down on the job." No business would keep on its payroll workers who served it the way the average member serves the church.
3. In its worship — angels have sung the praises of God and of Christ (Luke 2:13-14; Rev. 5:11-12), but here and now the members must offer that praise — and many fail to.
4. In preaching and teaching — man must preach the gospel and teach the members; the Lord has assigned these to us.

And man errs in all of these. "The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak" (Mark 14:38). Hence the weakness of the church: not in its God-given design, but in the clay vessels that carry the treasure.

Application

Stop blaming the church for the failures of its members — and start with yourself. When the work goes undone, the worship goes half-hearted, the peace is disturbed by politics and pride, the fault is not in God's plan but in us. The honest question is not "what is wrong with the church?" but "what is my part in its weakness, and what is my part in its strength?" Take up the work the Head will not do for you. Offer the praise the angels would gladly offer in your place. Refuse the party spirit. The church will be as strong as its members are faithful — no stronger, and no weaker.

Conclusion

The church is a treasure in earthen vessels: divine in plan, Head, blood, and Spirit — and there is its strength; human in membership — and there is its weakness. The design never fails; the members do. So the weakness of the church is finally a call to its members: be faithful, and the human element will stop dragging down the divine. The treasure deserves better vessels — and by God's grace, we can be them.

Invitation

The strength of the church is the blood of Christ that purchased it — and that blood is for you. Come into the body He bought: believe in Him, repent, confess Him, and be baptized for the remission of your sins (Acts 20:28; Acts 2:38). And if you are a member who has been part of the church's weakness — idle, divisive, or half-hearted in worship — come back to faithfulness today, and add your strength to His. Come while we sing.

Word Study

Scripture Interlock Table

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Converted from H. Leo Boles, Outline 30. Doctrinal audit: core-framework — divine design of the church (planned by God, purchased by Christ's blood, Christ the Head, temple of the Spirit) vs. human weakness in the members; warns against one-man rule (Diotrephes) and party spirit; calls members to the work and worship Christ left in their hands. No correction. Style audit: OCR cleanup ("HUMA ELEMENT"→Human Element; "ORG AN 1ZAT 1ON"→organization; "III John"→3 John; references normalized).