What is the church here for? What is God’s purpose of the church? Why are we called together? These are pretty basic questions, and Rick Warren dealt with them years ago in his great book The Purpose Driven Church. Yet, as I have had occasion to visit many churches, and talk to pastors, and their people, I have found that way too many folks are confused about God’s purpose for the church, and some people are just plain wrong about it. Let me share some things that might help to clear up confusion, and perhaps make some think again about what God wants the church to be and to do.
I believe there are five parts to a Biblical purpose for the church. These all come straight from scripture. Most written church purposes include some of them, but I have seldom seen a church that proclaimed all five as the reason it exists.
The Purpose of the Church in Five Parts:
Part 1 – The church exists to glorify God. That is the purpose of all creation. All through the Psalms we are reminded of this fact. In particular, the church exists to proclaim the glory of God, our Savior. This part of the purpose of the church overarches the other parts. All the rest are ways that we glorify God. Everything the church is and does should be designed to give glory to the Lord.
Part 2 – The purpose of the church is to reach out to those who don’t know Jesus with the message of salvation and discipleship. Jesus’ last words on earth make this very clear:
Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age." Matthew 28:19-20 (NIV)
But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth." Acts 1:8 (NIV)
In Matthew 28:19-20 Jesus told his followers to make disciples of all nations. Notice that he didn’t say to go get people to make decisions; instead he said to make disciples. It is not enough to push people into a moment of decision. We are to lead people into a life of following Christ. In Acts 1:8 Jesus told those who were on hand for his ascension to be his witnesses everywhere they went. We are to reach out by simply telling people what Jesus has done in our lives and showing them what it means to be a disciple as we reflect his love and hope on those around us.
Part 3 – The purpose of the church is to grow up to be like Jesus in our thinking, standards and maturity. Take a look at Ephesians 4:11-13:
It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, to prepare God's people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.
Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of men in their deceitful scheming. Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into him who is the Head, that is, Christ. From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work. Ephes. 4:11-16 (NIV)
Seems to me that this means we all have a lot of learning and growing to do, and that we must never stop doing what needs to be done to become more like Jesus.
Part 4 – The purpose of the church is to grow together in the fellowship of Christian love for each other.
"A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another." John 13:34-35 (NIV)
Christ-followers have to learn to love each other. Sometimes that is a breeze, and sometimes it is nearly impossible, because we can be impossible. The love that we share must be a love that others can see and desire to experience. It is also a love that wants as many people as possible to be part of it. The church is to be an open, inviting, fellowship, not a closed clique or club.
Part 5 – The purpose of the church is to lift up those in need simply because they are in need and we have help to offer.
"Then the King will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.'
"Then the righteous will answer him, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?'
"The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.' Matthew 25:34-40 (NIV)
This part of the purpose of the church is often missing in written purpose statements. Sometimes, it is thought to be included with the “reach out” part, but I think it stands alone. The church is to help people with out expecting anything in return. If you don’t think Jesus is serious about this read, the whole context of the quoted passage: Matthew 25: 31-46. He is not messing around. He means for us to do it.
The temptation for a congregation and for a pastor is to pick the part of the purpose that they find the easiest, and concentrate on that. That is the reason that there are a lot of small churches that love each other deeply, but don’t do much to bring other people to the Lord. Other churches feel like a school where people have piles of notebooks from all the church courses they have taken. The members do a lot of training, but they never get into the battle. Still others do a lot for their communities, but they have become little more than simply another charity that does good, instead of being a place with more to give to those in need than a warm meal or free clothes. And some churches like to count the rear ends in the seats, but that is all that happens. People come to those churches for the “show”, but there is nothing beyond “the show” for them.
A friend of mine says the purpose of the church is to “grow more and better disciples with emphasis on the more.” He finds that churches tend to concentrate on things that are comfortable. Reaching out to the unchurched is often uncomfortable. Most churches tend to be more enthusiastic about the other parts, so they have to be encouraged to reach out. He may well be correct. I think a church needs to be and do the whole package to the glory of God. Is your church doing all these: reaching out, growing up, growing together, and lifting up? Why not? Small church, large church, and everything in between, all of us, need to live the whole calling of God. The church was God’s idea. It was paid for by his Son’s sacrifice. So it stands to reason that we should do church his way. Are we?
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