Ask average church members to tell you what the church’s role in the world is and they will immediately show you mission statements, action plans and strategy schemes. There is nothing wrong with these three things, but the body of Christ should be viewed from a much higher perspective. Christ designed the church to be a holy presence in the world, a community of believers – alive and vibrant. A church, any church, must be much more than a series of items on an action checklist.
The church’s role (what it does) is dependent upon its character (what it is). What we do, therefore, flows from who we are. First century Christians made a tremendous impact upon their world primarily because they worshiped God and lived as a holy community. Their character was conformed to the demands of Christ rather than to the demands of Caesar. They didn’t have as their primary purpose to turn the first-century world upside down. This happened, but it was because of who they were, not because of anything they did.
This character-oriented perspective is totally foreign to the achievement-oriented culture in which we live. We tend to evaluate people by what they do rather than by who they are. It is why many people choose a church to attend solely because of its warm fellowship, its programs, its location, or because it has adequate parking. These considerations are important, of course, but how long has it been since you heard someone say, “I decided to join a certain church because of its character as a holy community?”
Every church’s first task is to make disciples, not have an enormous membership. Emphasizing bigness is sometimes referred to as “counting nickels and noses.” Making disciples involves more than adding people to a church roll, for this is only the beginning. Conversion involves a nurturing and maturing of character, of putting off the old habits and ways and putting on the new. This ideally leads to a lifetime of growth, and it takes place in the context of the community of saints, the church.
The New Testament says the role of the pastor is to prepare church members to carry the good news of God’s love to others. The only way a church can become a lighthouse to its community is for every member to consider himself (or herself) a minister. French social critic Jacques Ellul expresses it this way: “The channel through which the Holy Spirit brings truth to the world is through the pastor, who teaches it to the laity, and they in turn translate it and put it to work in the marketplace, infiltrating the world.”
Everything a church does should be geared toward the training of its members to be representatives of Christ to its community. This involves specialized ministries – to the disabled, to youth, to the aged, to families, to the homeless, to those in prison, etc. Members of the body of Christ have individual specialized gifts that can and should be used to help the church be an effective conduit of the love of God to its locale.
Satan, not wanting any church to be a holy presence in its community, will seek to destroy it. If he cannot destroy it, he will seek to detour it into some side road – bad theology, personality conflicts, immorality, or in various other ways. When the church members in ancient Corinth were squabbling about their various gifts, the apostle Paul told them that the greatest gift – the gift that made them most effective – was love.
The church needs workers, not a wrecking crew. It is a workshop, not a dormitory. If you are a Christian you should know this: if you expect to answer when the roll is called up yonder you should worship God every time you can unless providentially hindered when the roll is called on Sunday at your church.
The Paper Pulpit 
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