The Porpoise

Question #1: Why did the dolphin cross the road? .....to get to the other tide!

Question #2: What is the purpose of the church? Seems like an important question to ask when seeking out a church. The harder question comes when asking if the church is carrying out it's purposes. Then comes the even harder question of asking if a church's methods of carrying out it's purpose are good, not so good, or if there's a better way.

A description of the purpose of a church sounds like a good place to start. Rather than till plowed ground, here is a sample summary I found through a wonderfully convenient internet search tool you may have heard of called Google: http://www.gotquestions.org/purpose-church.html (See for some scriptural references also)

This is probably not a complete list, so feel free to help me out with what I'm missing.

From Acts 2:42 and other scriptures the believers met together for:

1) teaching biblical doctrine

2) providing a place of fellowship and encouragement for believers

3) observing the Lord’s supper

4) praying

5) corporate worship

6)A group of believers also has the responsibility of proclaiming the gospel of Jesus Christ through word and action and to minister to those in need.

When a church (group of believers) meets together, what should it's purpose be? Knowing that there is disagreement on this subject, I have come to the conclusion that #1-5 should be the focus of believers for a regular corporate meeting together, and that #6 is a natural expression to the world and how a believer responds to the grace of Jesus Christ in their day to day encounters with the world. The thought of organizing the regular gathering of believers around #6 and neglecting any of #1-5 I feel stifles being "the body" that Paul talks about in 1 Corinthians 12. I'm not saying that #6 can't happen or a gathering of believers can't focus on #6 on occasion, but rather I'm speaking directly about the focus or the priority of the church gathering together in a normal meeting.

A gathering of a group of believers, or a church service, or whatever you want to call it should have one goal in mind, and that is Jesus. When the 1st century believers gathered together, it was about Jesus. While I nor anyone I know sat in a gathering of 1st century believers, one can pick up on verses in the New Testament that hit on certain undertones of what it might be like. My picture of a 1st century church meeting is that of the believers spending time remembering Christ and His sacrifice, and teaching each other with Scripture and personal experience of what He had taught them, and worshiping the Savior through hymns and spiritual songs, and spurring each other on to become more like Christ, and encouraging one another to endure trials, and praying, and being anxious together of awaiting His return, and the list could go on and on. That pretty much sums up #1-5, and #6 doesn't seem to be involved or a priority of the church meeting but rather something that flowed out of a life focused on Christ.

If #1-5 are about Christ, then any nonbeliever that comes into the church service should get a vision and a picture for who Christ is and the passion for Him by the believers of the church. As an example, in 1 Corinthians 14:22-25 (read the whole chapter for context), Paul stresses that prophesy is for believers and speaking in tongues is a sign for unbelievers. When in a church gathering and everyone is prophesying and ministering to believers, Paul describes an unbeliever coming in and "he will be convinced by all that he is a sinner and will be judged by all, and the secrets of his heart will be laid bare. So he will fall down and worship God, exclaiming, "God is really among you!" Proclaiming the gospel of Christ and evangelizing in a church gathering can still happen, and nonbelievers can be a part of the church gathering, but the focus or priority of the meeting should not be about the nonbeliever. It should be about worshiping Jesus Christ and equipping, encouraging, and edifying the believer to become more and more like our Savior.

Now there is a sometimes difficult balance between #1-5, and #6 for a church. A group of believers can meet together for #1-5 and devote their entire time to ministering to those inside the body and completely neglect #6, reaching the lost and ministering to those in need. The church becomes 'inward focused'. A church should never lose sight of being a light in a dark world and sharing the good news of salvation through Jesus. A focus on #6 should also be a priority of a group of believers for Christ, but it should not be the primary focus when gathering together. It should rather be a natural response and desire of the believer to minister to the lost and to tell others about the hope in Christ.

With these thoughts I have established for myself a base or a ground in looking for a church that is following it's functions. If a church is not intent on worshiping God, equipping and edifying believers in their church gatherings, and are just as intent on sharing the love of Christ to nonbelievers through evangelism and ministry, then it is not for me or my family.

All this generic church discussion above doesn't fully capture my thoughts though, so soon I'd love to get into the trenches and practicality of a church gathering. I want to tackle those deeper, more personal, and more specific questions of if a church's methods of carrying out it's purpose are good, not so good, or if there's a better way.

I leave you till next time with this thought.

With minor variations and rearrangements, the model of a weekly protestant church gathering is:

-Greeting

-Prayer or Scripture Reading
-Song Service

-Announcements

-Offering

-Sermon

-Benediction

Let's make it personal. In each of these parts of your own church service, which ones are solely about worshiping our Lord and equipping, encouraging, and edifying believers? Do these individual parts of the service accomplish what they are meant to accomplish? Is there a better way? These are the questions that have been tugging at my heart and mind.