IT TAKES SPIRITUAL TOUGHNESS TO START a church. And it takes rocklike strength and persistence to keep one going, sometimes against all odds. Jesus clearly had this in mind when he gave his disciple Simon Bar-jona—the first one to publicly identify the Master as the long-awaited Christ-Saviour—the name of Peter, or "Little Rock." "Thou art Peter," Jesus said, "and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it" (Matt. 16:18).
Not that Jesus expected Peter to single-handedly found the Christian Church. Actually, a whole team of earnest disciples mobilized the early Church. No, Jesus was saying that the Christ needed to be the foundation of the Church. That his followers would need to build on their rocklike faith in God's healing, saving Christ. Only then would they be secure. Only then would they—and their Church—be equipped to "preach the gospel to every creature" (Mark 16:15). Only then would they be able to live the good news that God's kingdom is come—curing illnesses, comforting the sorrowful, repairing moral breakdowns, melting down frozen dogma and tradition. Only then would their church become a movement—impelling humanity forward.
And—only then would they be able to face down the "gates of hell."
