Christian Living

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What is the job of the church?
By Chaplain Dan Langerock

What is the church’s job in the world today? Is it to be a social club, “Us four and no more?” No, it is to be a light to the world around us, but it has sadly failed in its mission, on the whole. Here are three mandates I see for the church today:
Reach
Reach out to a lost world. That is the substance of the Great Commission found in Mark 16, and elsewhere in scripture. If we are not doing this in whatever manner, then we are just a social club and nothing more. There are needs out there to be met, salvation, mentoring, showing love to outsiders, etc. But we cannot meet this command if we do not reach out as Jesus did.
Preach
God’s Word must be the foundation of what we preach or we will stray into forbidden territory. We must not only preach it but practice it in our lives so that others may see the difference that Christ makes in our lives day by day.—not just on Sunday. The world has had quite enough of Sunday-only Christians. We cannot be changed if we do not expect God’s Word to be preached from the pulpit as well as in the lives of its leaders and constituents.
Teach
Equipping those in attendance to go out and repeat the cycle all over again: reach out, preach the word, then teach others to reach out and beyond. How many churches have you been in where these three mandates are followed? When you do find it, stay there and absorb the teaching, then go out and meet the needs around you..
This is what the Great Commission and the New Testament are about, yet we have become distracted by other ‘priorities’ in our churches today. If Jesus were to walk in your church this Sunday, what would He say about what is being taught? Would He be pleased with your church’s mission statement? What do you think He would say? It is not too late to make the changes necessary, but the time is growing short. The King is coming soon. Are you and your church ready?

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