We cannot say that in our time too little attention is being given to the upbuilding of the congregation. You see this mentioned everywhere, and many are working with the intention of building up the congregation. It is wonderful to dedicate yourself to the upbuilding of the congregation, because it is not our congregation, but that of the King of the church. All kinds of growth processes are considered, and much is undertaken to try and make the church grow. There is even talk about “growth churches.”

Yet it can happen that a number of essential parts for the upbuilding of the congregation are overlooked, even missing. When you forget essential parts when you build, you will encounter them sooner or later. And that can cause tremendous harm. That is why it is important to watch out for a number of “building regulations” that are not always in the specifications and should not be forgotten, if we want to do the work biblically.

Coming to Faith⤒🔗

There has to be a growing in faith, because standing still is going backwards, as we know for years and years. And there are quite a few growth obstacles to mention. Above all we need to keep in mind that the evil one not only opposes, but also counteracts, every growth in the life of faith and every growth in the congregations. He uses all kinds of resources and people for this.

When you have come to faith, it is normal that this faith grows, in depth and in breadth. One person’s faith will grow faster than another's, but everyone who truly believes will grow in the grace and knowledge of the Lord. This growth you can see in the deepening of the realization of your own sins, in coming further in faith in Jesus Christ, and in the increase of thankfulness.

But, if not everyone in the congregation has come to sincere faith, then what? Alongside living members we have those who have not yet been made alive. You may not expect anything from a dead person. What is dead does not grow either! A person who is dead in sin, as we read about it in Ephesians 2, can do nothing. We also cannot expect anything from him with regards to growing in faith and building up the congregation.

The first thing that is necessary is: the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God and live. Thus, we pray for the conversion of these members of the congregation. We commit ourselves to looking after them, visiting them, doing our utmost to get them involved, sometimes correcting them, showing more than once how glorious the service of the Lord is, to be a witness of the salvation that can be found in Christ.

There are members who for many years do not come to church. They also do not want to come. They made a totally different choice, one that is contrary to God and his commandments. You can visit them and say: come, go with us and do like us. You can involve young people in the congregation to go to them. You can entrust an elder with taking care of them. As consistory you can visit them every month, the one time by the minister, the next month by the elder, and the next time by both. With all that is in you, you pull them, or at least you try, in order to get them out of the darkness of unbelief and into the light. You may be an instrument in God’s hand for that. After all, he works through others!

We have so many addresses in the congregation where we are (perhaps) welcome to lead members of the congregation to the Lord.

Work of the Holy Spirit←⤒🔗

With all our efforts for the upbuilding of the congregation we are convinced that we do not make it happen. Sometimes we must be made aware of that, because we can also be hard in learning as far as that is concerned. As if it depends on our methods and our commitment.

We are in danger in this respect, especially in the time we live in, where everything seems to be doable. In the beginning you can generate a lot of enthusiasm and experience a lot of enthusiasm. It looks as if much has happened. But in no time you see that there is often a lot of short term commitment.

We can be busy with lowering the standards and who will say something bad about that. We may want to make it even easier to get others to come closer, and who would not want to commit everything possible to the service of the Lord? The love for the Lord urges us.

There once was a minister who had done his utmost to get as close as possible to the people. When he moved to another congregation, he asked an elder, who had given him advice before, what he could do better in the next church. This man said very honestly: Reverend, you have tried to make it simpler, still more simple and more simple again, but do not forget that the Holy Spirit has to do it!

The Holy Spirit must open the heart for the gospel. The Holy Spirit has to give a person a new heart. The Holy Spirit works real faith that trusts in the Lord. The Holy Spirit, who changes a person into a spiritual being, makes sure that there is growth in the faith that he has worked himself. 

We cannot be convinced enough that we need the Holy Spirit and his work for the upbuilding of the congregation and for the growth in the life of faith. You could call this a foundation for this upbuilding. He who would forget that will see that something essential is missing and that the “building” does not hold.

The Ministry of Holy Baptism←⤒🔗

You could say, What does that have to do with church building? When children are baptized, there is a certain sentence in the form that we should not overlook. It goes like this: “In order that we may now administer this holy sacrament of God to his glory, for our comfort, and to the upbuilding of the congregation, let us call upon his holy name.”

In other words, the ministry of holy baptism has everything to do with the upbuilding of the congregation. When there is hardly ever a baptism in the congregation, you may wonder. Are there no children being born? Now it can be that we are in a greying congregation, in which there are hardly ever children being born. It is also possible that no children are being born because the church members do not want children (except of course for those who would like to receive children and grieve that their marriage remains childless).

Because the number of children born in Christian families is significantly reduced in recent times, it is not surprising that there are also problems arising from this, with respect to church building. We can be so busy with all kinds of forms of evangelism, but if, in the long run, we do not have the people to continue, because there is no new blood coming from the congregation, it could well be that we leave a task that also belongs to marriage. You do not marry, in the first place, to get children, but severely restricting it or to exclude it is not helping the upbuilding of the congregation!

In addition, if we do not build the church through children, we will soon be outflanked by those who do not know from their upbringing how great the service for the Lord is. With all its consequences.

Pastoral←⤒🔗

It is known that pastoral care leads to a strong development of the congregation. One of our deceased professors once said about a church, that it fell apart because of a lack of pastoral care.

Also within the church federation of the churches to which we belong you see the same tendencies. For sure there were ministers who were exceptional in their preaching. The people came to listen. But with the departure of the gifted minister the churchgoers also disappeared. Even though after him another came, who was indeed a shepherd in the congregation and built the congregation with pastoral care.

In another church people spoke for years about their minister’s faithful service, through which the congregation not only became a unity, but also became strong. These years were remarkably blessed.

We therefore do not have to expect everything from management today. We may expect however a lot from careful pastoral care, in which members of the congregation can express themselves, receive spiritual leadership, be united to the Lord and each other, under the blessing of the Lord. 

The God of heaven will make it happen and we, his servants, will understand our mission and dedicate everything for the upbuilding of the church.

We can also confess it with Psalm 122 this way: “For the sake of the house of the Lord our God I will seek your good.” That is not just for a part of Jerusalem but for the whole city. Thus we pray for the peace of Jerusalem and so we commit ourselves to the city of peace.