I once heard a random story about someone who shipped boxes upon boxes of frisbees to a third world orphanage. The response letter thanked this person for all the plates they sent, and informed him that the children figured out that, when the plates were turned upside down, they could be tossed and flew really well!
Knowing the intended purpose of any given thing is very important for appropriate use of the thing. Screwdrivers aren’t prybars. Pocket knives aren’t screwdrivers. Wrenches aren’t hammers.
And the Church isn’t a mission agency.
The Church is being mis-used. Many pastors and church leaders have forgotten the Church’s intended purpose. And, lacking purpose, the Church can be molded toward new purposes.
So, what’s the purpose of the Church?
The purpose of the Church is to glorify God.
Let’s start at the beginning. God creates all things, rightly ordered. In this order, God is King and humanity is invited to co-rule with God. This fails magnificently (our fault, not His). God inaugurates His salvation and redemption through a community (Israel). Throughout that history, God works to re-create what was originally intended: God and humanity in right relationship. At points, this is working. At others, it isn’t. When it is working, the defining feature of this relationship is acknowledging that God is King, worthy of worship and praise. To him be glory forever and ever.
Onto the scene comes Jesus, the Son of God. He comes preaching the gospel (Mark 1:14-15). The Gospel Jesus preached was the inauguration of God’s kingdom. The inauguration of this kingdom means the coming of the King. Jesus, being the King of all the world, lives, suffers, dies, and is resurrected to sit at the right hand of God. He has re-established what was intended from the beginning: God on the throne, with a human co-ruler (Jesus). He accomplished what we were unable to do because of sin.
With right relationship and right order re-established, King Jesus establishes his church (“…I will build my church…” – Matthew 16:18). The Church is a community that glorifies God as King. This glorification comes across in the actions of the Church: teaching, community, sacraments, worship, and mission.
So, why the Church? To glorify God in Christ.
How? Through teaching the Gospel, fellowship of believers, sacraments of Christ, worship of God, and mission in the world.
Earlier I said that the Church is not a mission agency. Let me be clear: we, the Church, must engage the mission of Jesus.
HOWEVER…
Many churches, leaders, ministry books, ministry organizations, etc. have mistaken the mission as the WHY of the church.
What God designed and revealed is that the flow looks like this:
Christ –> Church –> Mission (and other church actions for glorifying God).
Christ is the head of the church that acts in the world. Christ is the vine, we are the branches, and he bears fruit through us.
John 17 is Jesus’ high priestly prayer, and the order of the prayer reveals this same flow:
John 17:1 – “Father… glorify your Son, that your Son may glorify you.”
John 17:6 – “I have revealed you to those whom you gave me out of the world.”
John 17:20 – “My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message…”
The church is not a mission agency. It is a community called to glorify God.
Unfortunately, there is a movement within the church today that has misplaced the “why” of the church. They have done so very cleverly, and, I believe, with the best of intentions. Unfortunately, it slowly erodes the church’s true purpose and leads the church astray.
The church growth movement, the missional church movement, and much of the exponential church movement places the mission as the ‘why’ of the church. Their flow looks like this:
Mission –> Christ –> Church
The reasoning is simple, and I’ve heard it described like this: God is on mission and has SENT His Son, who established and SENT His church. Therefore, we must be on mission.
What this misplacement of Mission in the flow of ministry does is to place the unreached in the world as the goal… which is to idolize this group of people. Now, I’m not saying this is intentional. Rather, it is accidental. I don’t think most pastors, church leaders, etc. are trying to worship humans rather than God.
And yet, I think this is exactly what is happening. The idolization of the unreached people in our communities is seen through HOW church is done, HOW ministry is planned and accomplished.
Let’s take worship as an example. When the focus of the planning and execution of the worship service is on those who will attend, especially those who are unreached or unchurched, who is being worshiped? Is it not them? When what happens on the platform is intended to give the attenders an ‘experience’ of worship, when what happens on the platform is planned based on what the attenders like or don’t like, when what happens on the platform seeks to mimic things from the world, are we not worshiping those who attend rather than God?
Let’s go a little deeper. I love stained glass. Giant murals of stained glass creating a scene from scripture, allowing the light of the sun to shine in and cast colors all over the sanctuary to recreate a sense of the majesty of heaven from scripture, all working together to draw my gaze and sense of awe heavenward to the glory and majesty of God… well, this is an aid to worship of God.
And I believe this can be done with modern lighting as well. But is that what we see most often? Or, if we are honest, is most modern colored stage lighting used for the purpose of a sense of awe of those on the stage, as if they are where our gaze is meant to be drawn?
When mission is misplaced, the Church is being mis-used.
When mission goes first, we get the phrase, “ANYTHING short of sin for the unreached.”
When mission goes first, it makes sense to ‘unhitch’ from the Old Testament (or the whole Bible) instead of remaining faithful to the Word handed down to us.
When mission goes first, worship shifts toward the desires and likes of the attendees, becoming a performance in the image of the people instead of faithful service of adoration to the King.
When mission goes first, sacraments take a backseat… OR, they become what the people want to make themselves feel good rather than a means by which we encounter God.
When mission goes first, community and fellowship are about meeting needs instead of about discipline, accountability, encouragement toward Christlikeness, and discipleship.
When mission is misplaced, the Church is being mis-used. Worship, apostolic teaching, fellowship, and sacramental grace all suffer. And the Church becomes something it was never meant to be.
Why the Church? To glorify God, the King. Everything else flows from this. Let us give careful attention to our ministries and make sure He is the focus.
Keep going… Find Part Two here.
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