The purpose of the Church
The other day I listened to an interview with a United Church of Canada minister who says she is an Atheist but thinks she should keep her position in the church.
She gave some interesting reasons why she thought she should keep her position but to my mind she missed the reason for the existence of the Church.
Jesus told his disciples,
“Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.
Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
Matthew 28:18-20.
This is the purpose, the primary duty of the Church to make disciple, believers, of all nations. To point the way to God in heaven. Everything else, all the good works the church does come from that. But they are not the primary purpose of the church.
My question to this minister is “if you are an atheist who does not believe in God how can you point people to God.”
I think this person is the product of the failure in many churches and denominations to emphasise the primary duty of the church.
Many churches today place more emphasis on doing good works than on pointing people to heaven.
Don’t get me wrong good works are important. It is important that Christians do good works. Show love and understanding to those around them. Many times it is those good works that show a none believer there is a God who loves them. Actually pointing the way to God.
Unfortunately for many in the church the good works have taken over and pointing people to Christ is forgotten.
Many churches have become big institutions or even social clubs.
As someone who is in the evangelical wing of the church, I see many going to church simply to feel good. To sing hymns, or contemporary music and do a few good deeds on the side just to feel good.
I see those in the so called “mainline churches” as following a ritual, or even compromising their beliefs, rather than reaching out to non-Christians with the salvation message.
Throughout the years, the centuries, unfortunately the church has picked up a lot of baggage. Baggage it need to get rid of.
This United Church minister is I believe not a lone. There are many who attend church, even some pastors who are not true believers in Christ.
I believe it’s time the church started getting back to its roots. To start studying the Bible in context. To start studying the bible with an aim to get back to what Jesus and the apostles taught. It can be done
At our small church we started an interesting Bible study which I lead. Our purpose is to get the truth within the scriptures.
I use a bible with a commentary as the base for our instruction. But we don’t stop their. Everyone comes to the study with various versions of the bible so that we can get an idea of the true meaning of the scriptures. We even have a computer with a huge resource of Biblical material on it.
We also study the history and the Jewish roots of the bible so we can understand things in context of the time it was written.
When we think it applicable, we even watch a video from a well known and trusted bible scholars and teachers.
We have no time frame when it comes to the study. We don’t set any length of time to study a given passage. We let God lead. Sometimes it takes us one session to cover a paragraph or a chapter. Other times we cover a couple of chapters. It all depends on what questions arise.
The results have been interesting to say the least. It has brought us I believe back to the basic beliefs of the Bible.
Such a bible study can be done in any church without the need for expensive lesson plans. All it requires is a good study bible with commentary and an openness on the part of the participants.
By open I mean a willingness to admit that some of what the participants thought was true is not and a willingness to change.
It is no good studying the scriptures to find the truth, then when you find it failing to act on that truth.
The key to any good Bible study is to find the truth and put it into action in your life.
Please think about it.
The other day I listened to an interview with a United Church of Canada minister who says she is an Atheist but thinks she should keep her position in the church.
She gave some interesting reasons why she thought she should keep her position but to my mind she missed the reason for the existence of the Church.
Jesus told his disciples,
“Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.
Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
Matthew 28:18-20.
This is the purpose, the primary duty of the Church to make disciple, believers, of all nations. To point the way to God in heaven. Everything else, all the good works the church does come from that. But they are not the primary purpose of the church.
My question to this minister is “if you are an atheist who does not believe in God how can you point people to God.”
I think this person is the product of the failure in many churches and denominations to emphasise the primary duty of the church.
Many churches today place more emphasis on doing good works than on pointing people to heaven.
Don’t get me wrong good works are important. It is important that Christians do good works. Show love and understanding to those around them. Many times it is those good works that show a none believer there is a God who loves them. Actually pointing the way to God.
Unfortunately for many in the church the good works have taken over and pointing people to Christ is forgotten.
Many churches have become big institutions or even social clubs.
As someone who is in the evangelical wing of the church, I see many going to church simply to feel good. To sing hymns, or contemporary music and do a few good deeds on the side just to feel good.
I see those in the so called “mainline churches” as following a ritual, or even compromising their beliefs, rather than reaching out to non-Christians with the salvation message.
Throughout the years, the centuries, unfortunately the church has picked up a lot of baggage. Baggage it need to get rid of.
This United Church minister is I believe not a lone. There are many who attend church, even some pastors who are not true believers in Christ.
I believe it’s time the church started getting back to its roots. To start studying the Bible in context. To start studying the bible with an aim to get back to what Jesus and the apostles taught. It can be done
At our small church we started an interesting Bible study which I lead. Our purpose is to get the truth within the scriptures.
I use a bible with a commentary as the base for our instruction. But we don’t stop their. Everyone comes to the study with various versions of the bible so that we can get an idea of the true meaning of the scriptures. We even have a computer with a huge resource of Biblical material on it.
Everyone can have their say,
The participants are free to bring thoughts and ideas from other ministers, evangelist and teacher from outside the church.We also study the history and the Jewish roots of the bible so we can understand things in context of the time it was written.
When we think it applicable, we even watch a video from a well known and trusted bible scholars and teachers.
We have no time frame when it comes to the study. We don’t set any length of time to study a given passage. We let God lead. Sometimes it takes us one session to cover a paragraph or a chapter. Other times we cover a couple of chapters. It all depends on what questions arise.
The results have been interesting to say the least. It has brought us I believe back to the basic beliefs of the Bible.
Such a bible study can be done in any church without the need for expensive lesson plans. All it requires is a good study bible with commentary and an openness on the part of the participants.
By open I mean a willingness to admit that some of what the participants thought was true is not and a willingness to change.
It is no good studying the scriptures to find the truth, then when you find it failing to act on that truth.
The key to any good Bible study is to find the truth and put it into action in your life.
Please think about it.
No comments:
Post a Comment