Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us~ 1^st Peter 2:12 NIV

 Over the course of the last thirty days or so, I have heard the same quote repeated three times, by three different speakers in three entirely different settings. The quote in question came from an old tome entitled: Christianity and The Social Order, by William Temple (1880-1944). The quote itself reads:

 “The Church is the only organization that does not exist for itself, but for those who live outside of it.”

 Contextually, it’s important to note every speaker citing the aforementioned quote used it to make the case for their belief the only real mission of the church is to evangelize the lost. Each one stated (in slightly different ways) the church exists to reach those outside the church and every activity the church engages in ought to be focused entirely on reaching people who do not yet have a relationship with Jesus.

 Okay, so.  

 This is a bit a bit of a rabbit trail, and I’m more than a little reluctant to bring it up at all. Mainly because pointing out the following pesky little detail makes me look like a smarty-pants-know-it-all jerk-face.

 That said:

 I cannot remain silent. In the context of the book the quote had nothing at all to do with with evangelism, reaching the lost, missions, or becoming a mission minded church. Mr. Temple’s book is all about making a case for for ministers and Christians getting on board with the implementation of state-sponsored welfare systems. Whatever you believe about state-sponsored social welfare, it’s not exactly an evangelistic enterprise.  

 Now back to the actual point I was attempting to make here.

 Long before I knew anything at all about Mr. Temple’s beliefs or motivations, the quote did not sit well with me (which is super weird because I’m typically all about reaching the lost). Admittedly, I had a hard time putting my finger on why I was struggling to agree with the statement.

I totally agree that the church does not exist for its own selfish gain nor is it to devolve into a spiritual “country club” for the redeemed. The New Testament is painfully clear: Christians and the churches they belong to are to be other-centered (Romans 12:5, 1^st Corinthians 9:19, Galatians 6:10, Philippians 2:4).

 But does that mean evangelism is the churches only purpose?

 Nope.

 Contrary to popular belief, the church does not have a single purpose or mission. Rather, it has several. Some of those purposes are spiritual in nature (evangelizing the lost, worshiping God, proclaiming Jesus until He returns). Others are more down-to-earth (teaching believers, providing for the poor, widows and orphans, spreading peace, bringing justice to unjust situations). Essentially, every purpose of the Church will fit fairly neatly into one of three categories:

 1. Glorify Jesus (make Him look good)- Romans 15:6, Romans 15:9, 1^st Peter 2:12

 2. Encourage the spiritual growth of Christians- Ephesians 4:11-14, Colossians 1:9-11, 1^st Peter 2:2, 2^nd Peter 3:18

 3. Reach the un-churched with the gospel- Matthew 28:18-20, 2^nd Timothy 4:1-3, Romans 10:13-15

 Our inclination to rank the significance of tasks or purposes is a big part of our fallenness and why we fail at so many tasks. Anytime we begin ordering the significance of a set of tasks or purposes, a priority list is formed and something always gets pushed to the bottom of the list.

 In the case of the 21^st century church, the priorities of glorifying Jesus and developing spiritually mature believers have taken a backseat to reaching the lost. Somewhere along the line we got it in our heads that teaching a saved person what the Bible says about how to live a holy life is somehow less important than getting that person saved in the first place. The sad result of our prioritization of the purposes of the church is that fewer people are getting saved, and the ones who do are more likely to fall away and are less likely to lead someone else to Jesus.

Sigh.

 None of the above listed purposes of the church are any more or less important than any of the others. That said, we will never effectively evangelize the lost if we do not equip Christians for works of service (Ephesians 4:10-12) and glorify Jesus by living holy, God honoring lives.

 Period.