The point of the church

I have no interest in maintaining a church that wishes to avoid the pains of living, the messiness of discipleship, and the discomforts of serving.

What’s the point of such a church anyway?

It doesn’t seem to be a church.

Why does a church exist at all? It is a community gathered for a few purposes. I’ll summarize into three main points. 1. Upward — to glorify God. The purpose of the church is not about its own existence. It’s not a social club. It doesn’t exist to for it’s own survival and maintenance. It exists for the purpose of carrying out the mission that God has for it. And once that mission is fulfilled, the church no longer needs to exist. It is temporary. It exists as long at it pleases God. And it all belongs to God. And it all can change in order to fulfill the mission. It grows (however you want to define that — in raw numbers, or in depth of faith) because of God. This means it is connected to God as its main source. Jesus talked about this as “I am the vine, and you are branches.”

2. Inward — The edification of the saints, or the making of disciples. Again, this isn’t about being a social club. Sure, we can bring comfort to each other when afflicted. But it’s not about making the environment always comfortable and avoiding discomfort and change at all costs. Living things and living faith means change. Discomfort is a part of growth. Being a disciple means growing in faith. The beauty of being part of a community of faith is that we don’t have to do this journey alone. We do it…