Go Where You Go and Do What You Do- #2
Soon, it will be basketball season and I can hear ole' Woody Durham say in tight games "time to go where you go, and do what you do. Applied to the church, what does it mean to go where you go and do what you do? As we saw in the previous post- this means worship of the Living triune God.
Worship may be the most important thing a church does, but it is not all. A vital component of what a church does takes place outside the church doors. Ours is an inherently missional/evangelistic faith. The call to the great patriarch Abraham included this statement- "I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing" from Genesis 12. The selection of Abraham to be the "Father of many nations" was not simply a whim of the Almighty. God chose Abraham so that through him the rest of the world would be blessed. These chosen people were to be different, set apart, holy so that they could be a light to all the other peoples. This explains the harsh words of the prophets later on when the Hebew people started worshipping the false gods of their neighbors and following all the unjust, immoral practices of their neighbors.
Fast forward to the time of Christ. In the last words that Matthew records Jesus as saying we find the so-called great commission from Matthew 28. Folks who have a passing knowledge of the New Testament will know the words- "go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you..." What all of our English translations miss is that word "go" isn't an imperitive command. It's a participle, so literally Jesus is saying "as you are going."
It is assumed that we will be going and doing. It's who we are. It's in our DNA. The people of God simply must be in mission to the world or they are not being faithful to the very reason they were called. We go and do, not because we must do it in order to please God. We don't do it so that we can feel good and get a blessing, (that still amounts to being self-serving.) We go and do simply as a result of who we are. The people of God think first of how they can come to know their Lord better. As they know him better they gain eyes to see where God might be at work around them so they can join in.
For these reasons any mentality that views the church as an institution is antithetical to the Gospel. It does not exist for itself, its worth and wealth cannot be measured in dollars and cents. The best finance committee therefore is one where the essential quality is an understanding of mission and stewardship. Missing this crucial point makes the church no different from any other institution- whether it's a bank, restaurant, or non-profit. The church is an organism with Christ as its head and exists so that the world may come to know God through Jesus Christ.
Worship may be the most important thing a church does, but it is not all. A vital component of what a church does takes place outside the church doors. Ours is an inherently missional/evangelistic faith. The call to the great patriarch Abraham included this statement- "I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing" from Genesis 12. The selection of Abraham to be the "Father of many nations" was not simply a whim of the Almighty. God chose Abraham so that through him the rest of the world would be blessed. These chosen people were to be different, set apart, holy so that they could be a light to all the other peoples. This explains the harsh words of the prophets later on when the Hebew people started worshipping the false gods of their neighbors and following all the unjust, immoral practices of their neighbors.
Fast forward to the time of Christ. In the last words that Matthew records Jesus as saying we find the so-called great commission from Matthew 28. Folks who have a passing knowledge of the New Testament will know the words- "go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you..." What all of our English translations miss is that word "go" isn't an imperitive command. It's a participle, so literally Jesus is saying "as you are going."
It is assumed that we will be going and doing. It's who we are. It's in our DNA. The people of God simply must be in mission to the world or they are not being faithful to the very reason they were called. We go and do, not because we must do it in order to please God. We don't do it so that we can feel good and get a blessing, (that still amounts to being self-serving.) We go and do simply as a result of who we are. The people of God think first of how they can come to know their Lord better. As they know him better they gain eyes to see where God might be at work around them so they can join in.
For these reasons any mentality that views the church as an institution is antithetical to the Gospel. It does not exist for itself, its worth and wealth cannot be measured in dollars and cents. The best finance committee therefore is one where the essential quality is an understanding of mission and stewardship. Missing this crucial point makes the church no different from any other institution- whether it's a bank, restaurant, or non-profit. The church is an organism with Christ as its head and exists so that the world may come to know God through Jesus Christ.
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