What is the Purpose of “Church”? If you had to choose just one “Purpose” that best represented the Church’s purpose or mission, what would it be?
Most churches have some type of “motto”, “mission-statement”, or “vision-statement” that describes their purpose, or what they believe their purpose to be. Generally speaking, most of these “Bumper-Sticker” purpose-statements are pretty good attempts at explaining in a just few words, what they do, or why they do it, and at 65 mph! However, it’s very difficult to fit on one small bumper-sticker, a statement so concise that it could describe all of the “purpose” words identified in the list below.
Of course, the Church has many purposes, and among them are the words below that came to mind today as I was laying in bed pondering this question. The following list describes just a few of them, which are in no particular order of importance:
| – Educate – Inspire – Motivate – Convert – Help – Change – Listen – Share – Evangelize – Console – Celebrate – Mourn – Advise – Mentor – Sing – Recreate – Build – Feed |
– Missions – Pray – Laugh – Baptize – Bury – Marry – Confirm – Dedicate – Mold – Save – Congregate – Guide – Preach – Protect – Prepare – Consult – Encourage – Befriend |
For me, if I had to choose the most important word or phrase to describe the primary purpose of the church, it would be “Christlike“, as in, “The Church’s Primary Purpose is to Help People Become Christlike”.
Notice that most of the words in the list are “verbs”, each of which describe an “action” that defines a single activity or purpose. But none by themselves are comprehensive enough in their scope to really convey in a single word, the larger, over-riding goal or purpose for the church’s existence, or it’s “Raison D’etre”. You no doubt have also noticed that “Christlike” is not in the list, as it is not a “verb” like most of the others, but instead, an “adjective” that describes the “end-results” attained through the use of all of those “action” words and activities.
My reason for choosing “Christlike” is that the “bottom-line” for what the church is, or what it should be, is to help people live and act as closely as possible like, and in communion with, Christ. If that one purpose were accomplished, the other words in the list above, while important, would just represent the many steps that were needed to achieve the fulfillment of that primary purpose.
Suppose we boiled-down all of those words into a bumper-sticker that read simply, “To Become Christlike“. Wouldn’t that be a better way to convey the church’s purpose at 65 mph? I think it could, but if not, it should at least let the person driving behind you know your destination!
Happy Driving!
Recent Comments