What in the World Are We Here For? · Christianity For Today

"The church" is not a building, but rather a group of Christian believers who meet together for several reasons. Some groups are large and some are small. The size often meets the preferences and needs of individual believers. But regardless of the size, "The church" is not a building, but rather a group of Christian believers who meet together for several reasons. Some groups are large and some are small. The size often meets the preferences and needs of individual believers. But regardless of the size, the church has the same purpose and mission.

Theologically speaking, the church is the Body of Christ, that is, people who have Jesus Christ at the center of their lives and therefore at the center of their group. Christians are individuals, who have received the grace and mercy of God into their lives as provided for by the death of Jesus, God's Son, on the cross. This means that our sins are forgiven, the Holy Spirit enters our lives and we receive the gift of eternal life with our Heavenly Father in heaven.

Perhaps you noticed in the preceding paragraph that I referred to God in three ways: the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. This is called "The Trinity," the ancient formulation that accounted for the fact that the early church believed that there is one God in three persons. Christians are monotheistic. Nevertheless, God has revealed to us that he is three persons, one in essence yet three in manifestation. True, this is hard to comprehend—really it is beyond comprehension. Not a problem! We don't have to fully understand all we believe in.

And so, the church is a group of people, who have experienced the Triune God's love and mercy by giving us the free gift of salvation from sin. We didn't deserve God's grace. But he gave it to us anyway.

We gather together, usually once a week at a minimum, as God's people. But what do we do when we get there? Well, some churches are very formal and liturgical, maybe stiff. Other churches are quite informal, one might say, "chatty." And then, of course, there is everything in-between. That's where I find myself- in-between. I don't prefer high liturgical worship services and I certainly don't care for highly informal services. I enjoy an order to worship that allows for the warmth and expression of the Presence of the Holy Spirit of God.

What do we do—to come back to the question? Generally speaking we do three things. We sing hymns and meaningful worship songs. We pray. We listen to the teaching of God's Word. All of this is done to encourage us in our Christian faith and practice.

There are really two great reasons for what we do and the existence of the church—large, medium or small. Every church should be the same in terms of these two expressions. If you've seen one, you've seen them all. The reason the church exists on earth is for purpose and mission.

The purpose of the church is to worship and glorify God. That's the first duty of individual Christians and of the corporate Christian body. As believers we live and gather in groups to worship and glorify the Triune God. That's what the hymns are about. That's what the praise songs are about. The words focus on the character and blessings of God. This is what prayer is about primarily, to express our love for God and deep appreciation for his blessings in our lives. That's what the teaching of the Word of God is all about. The Bible is taught from the pulpit and tells us about humankind's sinful condition, what God, the Father did about it through the cross of God the Son, and about the Presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives. So, all we do in our gatherings—singing, praying and absorbing the Word of God is worship. It is God-focused.

The second reason for the gathering of believers together is mission. And mission has two parts. The first part is Christian fellowship and the second part is evangelism or outreach.

Christian fellowship means that we use our gifts and graces to encourage and assist other believers. That can happen right during the gathering and it also happens outside of the church services. There are many spiritual and natural gifts that God has given each believer. They are meant to be put to use in words and deeds. We are to help one another in spiritual and practical ways.

Outreach is the effort we make to tell others outside of the church of the saving grace of Jesus. We desire that they might be saved from sin and hell and receive the gift of eternal life—a forever home in heaven. We are all witnesses. People are watching our lives. They read us—our actions and attitudes. When our lives reflect Christ, we are bearing witness to others of what God can do in any life. Of course, no one is perfect this side of heaven. We are all on a journey. God is at work in our lives in making us more like Jesus. Others will note our progress.

Some Christians are able by gifting and training to explain in words and from the Holy Scriptures God's plan of salvation. Hearing the plan, the Holy Spirit, who is the main evangelist, uses our words and the words of the Bible to convince people of their need of salvation and to help them to open their hearts and lives to the Savior- Jesus.

The church is not all about worship alone. Nor is the church all about mission alone. It is in combination of these things that a healthy, balanced church fulfills its reason for existence in the world—worship and mission.

If the church as a group is to worship God and exercise mission in the world, then all of us must do that as individual believers as well. Each believer must learn how to worship God, assist other believers and tell their story of faith in Christ with words. Only as we do this individually can we do it corporately.

So, I must ask you, my reader: Do you worship God, assist your fellow Christians and seek to bear a Christian testimony before a watching world? We can't do all of this perfectly at the beginning of our Christian lives. In fact, we will always be learning how to do these things more perfectly throughout our Christian lives. The key is to get started. And if you have started, examine yourself from time-to-time to see if you are making progress in these two great reasons for Christian living on earth—purpose and mission, i.e., worship, fellowship and evangelism.

Are you actively involved in the reason for which your church exists?

Photo Credit: C Balch, La Mirada, CA