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An Escape
from the World By Dr. Bill Lewis |
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Conflict and discord seem to be the appropriate descriptive terms for our day. No matter the sector of our culture you examine, relationships are strained and people are arguing over any and almost everything. Wars and conflicts are the mainstay of our daily news, and even families are falling apart in large numbers. Peace is illusive, and many, today, have no hope of ever experiencing peace. In the middle of a chaotic world, the church alone possesses the answer to these trying times; yet, so many churches are so tied up in the battles of life themselves that the answer is buried under an ever accumulating trash heap of worldliness. It is time for our sanctuaries to be more than beautiful buildings with ornate windows and comfortable seating. It is time for our sanctuaries to become shelters from the cares and woes of an ever declining world. Paul pleaded with the church at
Ephesus to become such an earthly sanctuary when he wrote, “I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you to
walk worthy of the calling with which you were called, with all lowliness and
gentleness, with longsuffering, bearing with one another in love, endeavoring
to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit,
just as you were called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one
baptism; one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all,
and in you all” (NKJV, 4:1-6). Paul
also encouraged the Corinthian church, “Now I plead with you, brethren, by
the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all speak the same thing, and that
there be no divisions among you, but that you be perfectly joined
together in the same mind and in the same judgment” (NKJV, I Corinthians
1:10). And to the Romans, Paul wrote,
“Therefore let us pursue the things which make for peace and the
things by which one may edify another” (NKJV, 14:19). Paul really
believed that the church ought to be characterized by harmony and unity. Paul knew that the world would never
provide peace and that people’s lives would be forever in turmoil. He understood that the visible church must
be the sanctuary into which weary souls could come to find rest. A peaceful sanctuary that
provides relief from the conflicts of the world is what we want to establish
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