Troubled in Building

Ezra 4:4

Then the people of the land weakened the hands of the people of Judah, and troubled them in building,

Building something is not easy, for if it was easy, everyone would be building something. Ezra was one of the great builders in the scriptures. God used him to rebuild a temple that was in ruin because of the sin of the children of Israel. As he started to build, he quickly discovered that there were troubles that would keep him from building that temple. The verse above says that he had adversaries from without who tried to weaken their hands to trouble them in building. To Ezra's credit, he found a way to continue building despite those who tried to trouble him.

One of the great problems in building a church does not come from those without, but from our own people who trouble us in building. We ought to want to build a great church for God, but there are many troubles that hinder many churches from building a great church, hindering them from reaching the lost of their city for Christ. Let me share several things that trouble churches and hinder them from growth.

First, a lack of desire has hindered many churches from growing. The apathetic heart of believers who could care less if their church grows or dies is killing churches worldwide. Many only go to church to punch a clock so they can feel religious for the week, but if their church died, it would not bother them because they really don't want to go to church. If there is no desire to grow a church, that church will die.

Second, unfaithfulness of God's people has hindered many churches from growing. There is no way you can grow a great church if the members of that church are unfaithful to the services. No church can gain momentum and grow when people are inconsistent in their attendance. The problem with unfaithfulness is that when one becomes unfaithful, the ones who that one influences will become unfaithful with them. Many believers will have blood on their hands because they're unfaithfulness to church influenced others to be unfaithful, causing the lost to go to Hell.

Third, lack of finances has hindered many churches from growing. It takes money for a church to function, and when God’s people cut back on giving their tithes and offerings, it hinders the ability for that church to grow. Just to pay the bills, the members of that church must tithe. It is when you give beyond the tithe and give an offering that helps the church to have the extra money to do the things it needs to grow so it can influence more people for Jesus Christ.

Fourth, lack of laborers has hindered many churches from growing. Even Jesus pointed out in His ministry that the lack of laborers is a hindrance to the harvest being reached. You can only grow a church to the degree that it has the faculty to reach and teach people. The lack of laborers is a multifaceted problem. We lack laborers because people won't grow to meet the standards of the church, and we lack laborers because people are unwilling to labor. Many people will go to Hell because there are no people willing to labor.

Fifth, quitters have hindered many churches from growing. Many people have started out well only to quit, leaving vacancies that cannot be filled due to a lack of laborers. Oh, these quitters may still fill a seat, but they are doing nothing for God. Take quitting out of your vocabulary and decide to serve God until He takes you to Heaven.