Stick to the Mission - Making Disciples

When I was in Graduate school I took a class called "Pentecostal Ecclesiology." The final project in that class was a presentation. I had to stand up in front of my professor and my classmates and answer this one question - What makes a church a church?

In other words, when you strip everything down, what are the basic, essential elements a group of people need in order to be considered a church?

I've been doing a great deal of thinking about this project lately and I'm coming to some conclusions regarding the church that are challenging me. I believe the church, particularly in American culture, has overcomplicated things.

I've come to the conclusion that Church should be much simpler.

Many people believe that the church must offer some sort of alternative to everything the world has to offer.  Indeed, we have created a whole industry around this: Christian books, music, movies, bookstores, and much more.

While there's nothing wrong with these things, in and of themselves, they can often lead to a life where the church becomes it's own, insulated subculture, rather than reaching into the larger culture and shaping it.

And then there's the mindset of the consumer - The mindset that says the Church must meet my long list of their needs. We need a class for this, a program for that, and a dash of special events thrown in just so we don't miss anyone.

But do we ever stop to ask, what's the actual point of the church? Should the church really be doing all of this? Is it all really necessary?

If we were to strip it all down and get rid of all the lights, smoke, programs, special events, budgets, buildings, committees, etc., what is it that really matters?

What if by trying to meet everyone's "needs" we have actually burdened down the Church?

What if we have created a scenario where we are forced to spend so much money, time, energy, and resources on maintaining our buildings, budgets, staff, programs, special events, and committees, and we have no time or energy left to accomplish the real mission?

Jesus' last word's on the Church's purpose/mission - Make disciples of all nations. Teach people to obey and live like Jesus.

Programs, events, budgets, committees, and buildings are all great when they serve the mission - But when they become a burden to the mission or become the mission themselves, we have missed it.

When they become a means to make the saved comfortable instead of tools for discipleship, we have missed it.

When we spend all of our money, energy, effort, and time acquiring and maintaining our tools instead of actually using them - it's time to either get some new tools or rethink our use of them.

Let's stick to the Mission - Making disciples.