Why Do We Need the Church? Share the Keys
Matthew 16:18b-19a
“…Upon this rock I will build My church; and the gates of Hades will not overpower it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven…”
Did you know that you have a faith story? That is right; you have a story of how you came to faith in Christ. If you are a believer in Christ Jesus, then you have a story of turning from sin and trusting Jesus. This is His grace story of drawing you to Him in faith. It is your story to tell!
Kids Say the Darndest Things
When my daughter was a child, she trusted Jesus to save her. This was no casual conversation; we had talked about it, prayed about it, and waited for God to work in her life. She had lots of questions and we patiently walked with her to discern the timing of leading her to Christ. Then one day it occurred and we all rejoiced that Anna came to Jesus! It was a special time in our lives. However, little did we know that we were also raising an evangelist!
Not long after Anna was saved, she began talking to our son, Will, about being saved. She led with this phrase, “Will, you are going to hell because you haven’t asked Jesus in your heart.” I guess you might say that she got right to the point. Of course that led to some tears on Will’s part as he blurted out, “I don’t want to go to hell.” As you read this, I hope you understand a few of the things Gina and I were sensing at the time. First, we were grateful for Anna’s salvation and her desire to share with Will what had happened in her life. Second, we were a bit amused at her tactic, “Will, you are going to hell!” For Will, however, there was nothing funny about it. As you can imagine, since Will was a very young child at the time, he felt fearful. That conversation, however, prompted more conversations that, in time, led to Will's salvation and our rejoicing.
As I have thought about this over the years, I realized there is something entirely Biblical about what Anna did. She held the keys to the kingdom, the Gospel, and did not want her brother to go to hell. So, in her simple, child-like way, she gave Will the keys to the kingdom, the Gospel, so that he too might be saved.
The Keys to the Kingdom
In Matthew 16:17 - 19, we find the first mention of the Church in the Bible. Jesus tells us about the Church in this passage even before the Church was born. These verses follow a dialogue with the apostle Peter in which Peter made the declaration that Jesus is the Christ, the Messiah!
Then Jesus went on to tell Peter and the other disciples that He, Jesus, is the rock on which the Church is built. No, the Church is not built on Peter. Peter is not the foundation of the Church; that role belongs solely to Jesus. And then we come to Matthew 16:19, which some consider to be a very confusing passage. The Bible says,
“I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; and whatever you bind on earth shall have been bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall have been loosed in heaven” (Matthew 16:19).
Some interpret this to mean that Peter and the disciples were the first Popes of the Church and they, as Popes, were given the authority to say who gets in to heaven and who doesn’t. Let’s be clear; Jesus was not making Peter or any other of the disciples the head of His church or Pope. This is a gross misinterpretation. The idea of “the keys” is often associated with authority or power. For example, I have the keys to my house since I own the house. But the idea of “keys” also has another meaning: knowledge and information.
When Jesus told Peter and the disciples, “I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven,” He wasn’t giving authority to say who does or doesn’t get in to heaven. Instead, Jesus was giving the knowledge necessary to tell others how to be saved, how to go to heaven. This passage is not about authority; it is about responsibility.
Responsibility, Not Authority
Let me make this simple; Jesus was giving the disciples the Gospel, the good news of salvation, so they could pass on this good news to the world. And that is the same good news He gives to you and me. And we need each other - the Church - to spur us on to share the Gospel of salvation.
While her tactics needed some softening, Anna got it right. She held the keys to the kingdom, the Gospel and she wanted Will to know. Now here is an interesting follow-up to Anna’s story. Recently Anna’s oldest daughter had the same conversation with her little brother. She was saved and, using the same tactic her mother, she told her little brother, “If you don’t become a Christian, you are going to hell. I don’t want you to go to hell.” (It’s okay to chuckle a little here!)
Spurring Us On
So what does all this mean? It is pretty simple. Anna and her daughter acted as the Church to their younger brothers, sharing the keys of the kingdom with them. They were spurring the brothers on to salvation. We need the Church - fellow members of the body of Christ - to spur others on to salvation and also to spur us on to share our faith in Christ! We need the Church to remind us that we hold the keys of the kingdom, the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We can know and share that there is a heaven, that Jesus has provided a way for us to go there, and that if we will turn from sin and trust Jesus only, then we will be saved!
We need the Church to spur us on to tell others about Jesus!