9.03.2010

Paper Pt XIII: The Purpose of the Church

In claiming justice as the mission of the Church, we are rethinking commonly held beliefs and practices. This does not negate the need for evangelism, and compassion ministry, but rather places these essential pieces in their proper, more comprehensive, context of ‘salting and lighting’ the earth. The purpose of the Church is to proclaim the Victory of the Cross to the powers,37 but also to participate in and implement that victory as both a manifestation of the presence of the Kingdom, and a sign of its future consummation.

2 comments:

LindaFaye said...

I think it's so hard to narrow down the purpose or maybe the "calling" of one specific church as opposed to the general biblical purpose of the church universal. Everyone here in SC has a cause, and they are really good causes. Lot's and lots of social justice stuff. It's kinda overwhelming. So what is my church called to do? What do we say yes to and what do we say no to? As an individual too. I recently tried to adopt a baby from this lady who lives on the streets. I think it was the right thing to do... Then I started looking around at all the kids and babies who are homeless or in bad situations. Am I responsible for them all? What can I do? It was really overwhelming for me.

A bit of a ramble.

WTF?! said...

Hey Linda,

that is the exact question we are going to be discussing at our home group this Wednesday...

The real practical nitty gritty question, "OK, so that is the big call on the Big Church, but what is our place in it, and what is my place in that?"

At some point the answer has to become concrete enough that we say "this thing, right here, in front of me, whether it is 'God's perfect will' or not, I will do it, because I have to do something!" And trust in that, that our God will direct our path to His perfect will...