Church is for the Church
The church is for the church. This statement may sound weird, maybe a little obvious, or at least loaded. Here is what I mean.
What is the church?
The biblical definition of the word “church” (Greek: ekklesia) is the gathering of the saints who are called out from the world by the proclamation of the Gospel. This means the call of the Gospel goes out into the world, and as people respond in faith by making the confession “Christ is Lord," they gather together as an assembly to worship and honor Christ and edify each other.
Most churches agree with this definition. However, we start to find our differences when we hear church leaders discuss their approaches to church liturgy. Many modern, contemporary churches design their worship services not with the Christian in mind, but the unbeliever. They cater to the lost by making a welcoming and inviting atmosphere that is unoffensive to unchurched people.
The problem with the mainstream contemporary church model
This strategy may sound harmless, loving, and even good. After all, we want to be attractive to the world, right? What we end up actually doing, though, is starving the hungry sheep who need to be fed the deep, nourishing Word of God and experience the depth of true Christian fellowship. Programs and superficial experiences get elevated above actual relationships. The pastor becomes the primary disciple-maker from the pulpit, rather than equipping believers to be on mission in the context of their everyday lives. Christians become convinced that they’re fulfilling their Christian duty by attendance and tithing. Church staff and budgets are prioritized by things the Bible never mentions while ignoring things the Bible explicitly says the church did (see Acts 2:42-47).
The ends don’t justify the means
Pragmatism (an emphasis on things that are practical) is a very American way of assessing whether something is good. In other words - we like to justify the means by the end. Most churches who hold to this sort of “missional” model of church point to their numbers as validation that they’re truly doing the Lord’s work. “Look at how many people we’re reaching! Look at our baptisms!”
Pragmatism is a very short-sighted and elementary approach to ecclesiology (the study of the church) and missiology (the study of the church’s mission). We rarely ask the question - can this type of growth actually be a hindrance to the mission of the church as Christ has defined it?
We don’t get to define our church model
We must remember the church is Christ’s, not ours. He said He would build His church upon the confession of Jesus as the Messiah - the son of the living God (Matthew 16:13-18). He has given us orders to “go and make disciples” (Matthew 28:18-20). The biblical vision of the church is an assembly of believers who are thoroughly equipped and edified in their gatherings to go out and make disciples. It isn’t to make Christians dependent on inviting their friends to come for a fun social hour with elaborate programs the whole family can enjoy and hear the few qualified holy men teach them the ways of God.
I suppose my encouragement to my fellow church leaders is to take seriously the warning God gave to Moses - “See to it that you make everything according to the pattern shown you” (Exodus 25:40, Hebrews 8:5).