Has the Church Lost Sight of Its Purpose?
One’s purpose determines the choices he makes and his level of “success” in life. The purpose of an organization determines its direction and its life cycles. Few people question their life’s purpose and too few organizations seriously determine their purpose. When an organization loses sight of its purpose it either redefines and owns its purpose or it will die. When a person loses sight of his life’s purpose he either needs to redefine his life’s purpose or he will spend the rest of his existence on this earth wandering aimlessly, frustrated, and empty.
Churches spend many hours in team meetings trying to define their purpose in a nice little sentence that will fit the leadership models that larger churches possess. This may produce another large church but does it fulfill the purpose that God has given to the church? It seems to me that the church ought to own the purpose for which it was designed. I realize that almost every church says they receive their purpose from the Bible, yet there seems to be so many interpretations of the Biblical purpose of the church.
I believe no one understood the purpose of the Church of Jesus Christ better than the disciples and the first century church. Maybe it would serve us well to forget the mega-church models and focus on the purpose of the church as defined by the Bible and understood by the first century church.
Now that we have translated some of the writings of the Early Church that have been discovered and we have been able to interpret the icons of the early church, we have a solid platform to understand their beliefs and practices. Most of the Early Church writings and icons refer to the Temple. The purpose and passion of the Early Church was to rebuild the Temple. Of course, all they did was about God and not themselves. Their base desire was to glorify God but their specific purpose was to rebuild the Temple. They understood the Bible to say that when the Temple was rebuilt the Messiah would return. They felt it was their responsibility to prepare for the Messiah’s return. Each one of their hopes and dreams was to see the Messiah return in their lifetime.
It was not hard for them to give their possessions to those in need. It was a privilege to suffer or even die for the cause of Christ. Their life was not about them and fulfilling their selfish desires. The purpose of their life was to rebuild the Temple so the Messiah would return.
This paradigm is far from what we see in our churches today. Although most of our churches have a purpose statement that includes something about making disciples and serving God, few truly focus on pleasing God. Church members get upset if someone sits in “their pew” or if the building is too hot or too cold. We complain if we do not like the style of worship music or even worse, if the preacher speaks too long. Our churches press for money to build a bigger building and beg for volunteers to help with another program. I am asking where is God in all of this? Our worship services seem to be about us and our wants instead of God and what He wants.
I am not proposing we change the purpose statements in our churches to include more specific language about worship to God. I am proposing we stop making excuses for our selfish lifestyles, get our eyes off of ourselves, and start looking at God. We need to stop twisting God’s Word to fit us and just read it. We need to take it at face value instead of trying to interpret it through a theological system. God’s Word is simple but we have complicated it by viewing it through our self-centered hearts.
When a person’s life purpose is to be happy, he will never be happy. When a person’s life purpose becomes to please God, then his life will be happy and full. This what Jesus said in Matthew 10:39.
I know I sound “preachy” in this article but I feel it is time to start applying what we have learned from the archaeological finds of the Early Church. God has revealed these artifacts for such a time as this. It is time for us to be the Church God has called us to be.
© Dr. Steven L Smith 2016
Churches spend many hours in team meetings trying to define their purpose in a nice little sentence that will fit the leadership models that larger churches possess. This may produce another large church but does it fulfill the purpose that God has given to the church? It seems to me that the church ought to own the purpose for which it was designed. I realize that almost every church says they receive their purpose from the Bible, yet there seems to be so many interpretations of the Biblical purpose of the church.
I believe no one understood the purpose of the Church of Jesus Christ better than the disciples and the first century church. Maybe it would serve us well to forget the mega-church models and focus on the purpose of the church as defined by the Bible and understood by the first century church.
Now that we have translated some of the writings of the Early Church that have been discovered and we have been able to interpret the icons of the early church, we have a solid platform to understand their beliefs and practices. Most of the Early Church writings and icons refer to the Temple. The purpose and passion of the Early Church was to rebuild the Temple. Of course, all they did was about God and not themselves. Their base desire was to glorify God but their specific purpose was to rebuild the Temple. They understood the Bible to say that when the Temple was rebuilt the Messiah would return. They felt it was their responsibility to prepare for the Messiah’s return. Each one of their hopes and dreams was to see the Messiah return in their lifetime.
It was not hard for them to give their possessions to those in need. It was a privilege to suffer or even die for the cause of Christ. Their life was not about them and fulfilling their selfish desires. The purpose of their life was to rebuild the Temple so the Messiah would return.
This paradigm is far from what we see in our churches today. Although most of our churches have a purpose statement that includes something about making disciples and serving God, few truly focus on pleasing God. Church members get upset if someone sits in “their pew” or if the building is too hot or too cold. We complain if we do not like the style of worship music or even worse, if the preacher speaks too long. Our churches press for money to build a bigger building and beg for volunteers to help with another program. I am asking where is God in all of this? Our worship services seem to be about us and our wants instead of God and what He wants.
I am not proposing we change the purpose statements in our churches to include more specific language about worship to God. I am proposing we stop making excuses for our selfish lifestyles, get our eyes off of ourselves, and start looking at God. We need to stop twisting God’s Word to fit us and just read it. We need to take it at face value instead of trying to interpret it through a theological system. God’s Word is simple but we have complicated it by viewing it through our self-centered hearts.
When a person’s life purpose is to be happy, he will never be happy. When a person’s life purpose becomes to please God, then his life will be happy and full. This what Jesus said in Matthew 10:39.
I know I sound “preachy” in this article but I feel it is time to start applying what we have learned from the archaeological finds of the Early Church. God has revealed these artifacts for such a time as this. It is time for us to be the Church God has called us to be.
© Dr. Steven L Smith 2016