Who Does The Church Exist For?

Since about 1995 I have been having a debate with mostly myself, but not always. I know the year because it was the year Rick Warren's Purpose Drive Church was released. Since then there have been days I have won the debate, thus settling the issue. And there have been days the debate has raged on. The debate centers around the question, “Who does the church exist for?”

Over the years my answer to this question has flipped flopped many times. Sometimes I am sure the church exists for those outside the church, the yet-to-be Christians. Sometimes I am sure the church exists for those inside the church, the all-ready-Christians.

The reason this debate continues in my head is because it has profound implication for my philosophy of ministry, the purpose of church and the way I teach Scripture.

The reasons for both answers are really simple.

If church exists for the yet-to-be Christians:

• The environment needs to be non-threatening.
• The teaching needs to be accessible, easily digestible and highly applicable.
• The structure needs to be simple to engage with.
• The motif centers more on grace than law.
• The reason for church is about introductions to the faith.
• The tolerance for immaturity is high.
• The hope for involvement is low.
• The inside church culture is almost seamless with the outside church culture.
• The approach is spoon feeding.
• The greatest sin is to be distasteful.
• The vocabulary is common and ordinary.
• The expectation is on the mechanism or institution to make converts and disciples.

If the church exists for the already Christians:

• The environment is not as important has the information.
• The teaching is challenging, comprehensive and direct.
• The structure is true to Scripture.
• The motif centers more on truth than relevance.
• The reason for church is about equipping the faithful.
• The tolerance for immaturity is low.
• The hope for involvement is high.
• The inside church culture does not need to match the outside church culture.
• The approach expects self initiation.
• The greatest sin is “easybelieveism.”
• The vocabulary is theological and biblical.
• The expectation is on the people to make converts and disciples.

However, I think for the last 15 years of ministry I have been advocating for the answer wrong (not matter if I was for the insider or the outsider.)

Q: Who does the church exist for?
A: Everyone who needs Jesus.

Debate over.

Letting Other People Speak For Me

Some time last year I acknowledge that I have feeble, weak and anemic prayer life.  Not a crazy or shocking revelation, but an honest one none the less.  It stemmed from wanting to be more connected to God and yet not being able to talk with him or express my heart and mind to him.  After reading Scot McKinght's Praying with the Church, I decided to do something to strengthen my prayer life.

The course I took was to write out and memorize some prayers.  Some were Scripture (Ps. 22 and the Lord's Prayer) and some where not. The point was to have something to say to God right on the tip of my tongue and to develop a routine of regular prayer. This worked great for a while, but after losing my flash cards I fell out of practice and forgot most of what I memorized.

However, this week I picked up the practice again. I started with a prayer I wanted to pray every morning:

"Lord, God, almighty and everlasting Father, you have brought me in safety to this new day.  Persevere me with your might power so that I may not fall into sin, nor be overcome by adversity and in all I do direct me into the fulfilling your purpose through Jesus Christ, my Lord, Amen."

Its not long or fancy, but it has had an impact on me even though I started memorizing it just this week. Here's how:

1. Memorizing prayer have given me a better sense of connection with God.  This prayer is better than one I could written or recited, thus allowing my heart to express, with someone else's words, what I could not pull together.
2. I find myself coming back to this prayer several times a day.  Just in the quest to memorize it, I am practicing it when my mind has idol time or is just wandering.  It is interesting, I find myself thinking more about God and talking with him than I did before.
3. This prayer will at some point serve as a model for me as I strengthen my prayers and and I return to freestyle prayers.
4. I don't know where this prayer originated, I got from a Phyllis Tickle's book The Divine Hours:Prayers for Autumn and Winter, but for some reason I feel connected to a larger community who may be praying this same prayer.  I feel more connected to the history of the faith I shared with millions of people throughout the world and throughout history.
5. I believe this prayer is adding to spiritual development. It feels healthy to growth in that which is good and right, instead of always lamenting my arrested development and sin.

Hopefully this time I will not lose my flash cards, but continue in this discipline or prayer and memorization.