Questions for Church Leaders (2)
Therefore, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God. 1 Corinthians 10.31
Not unto us, O LORD, not unto us,
But to Your name give glory… Psalm 115.1
Your kingdom come.
Your will be done
On earth as it is in heaven. Matthew 6.10
Not to us…
It’s easy to get the impression these days that churches exist—at least some churches—as ends in themselves. They want the people in their community to believe that, by coming to this church, they’ll find whatever it is they might need. Need friends? We got ‘em. Need a place for your family to find safe, clean fun? Got that, too. Need some healing? Restoring? Hope? Right this way.
And the fact is, a good many churches actually deliver on such promises. This is why people who go to those churches can get so excited when they talk about them. They love their church, their pastor, their church friends, their Bible study group. Their church is everything they’d hoped it would be, and they really, really wish more of their friends would come to their church.
Building-up the church becomes the ongoing goal of all church activities. Making church members who help build our church comes to mean more than making disciples who make disciples everywhere they go.
It’s easy to settle into the idea that the church exists to meet the needs of its members; a good many churches are doing precisely that these days. But the church exists as a sign and outpost of the Kingdom of God, which is far greater and of more importance, and which in pursuing both churches and church members find their true flourishing and joy.
Church leaders must always remember that nothing in the Christian life—including the church—exists for itself. Everything we are and have and do and aspire to is for Christ and His Kingdom.
…but to Your name, O LORD
Churches are called to be communities of love and service, where people experience the breaking into time of eternal beauty, goodness, truth, righteousness, peace, and joy in the Spirit of God, and where the Word of God lives and the grace of God provides the prevailing ambience.
The local church, in short, is ground zero, the point of the spear, and the focal point of Christ’s Kingdom, the place where we expect to see Matthew 6.10 most truly and abundantly realized.
Christ is building His Church as His Body, His witness, His Kingdom, His temple, and His people. No matter how wonderful your church may be, if all you can talk about or get excited about is your church, then your church is failing in its purpose. As the psalmist put it, “Not to us, O LORD, not to us, but to your name give glory”.
Every local church, as an expression of the Church universal, exists to bring glory to God. God, Who has called us to His Kingdom and glory, is most gloriously manifested in the Kingdom-seeking lives of churches and their members. As church leaders, when we are asked, “Why are we here?” we must respond by saying, “To realize more of the presence, promise, and power of God’s Kingdom, so that He may be glorified in all we are and do.”
The glory of God
Let’s be clear about one thing: God’s driving force in all things is to bring glory to Himself. He works all day, in all kinds of ways, to reveal His glory to the world (Ps. 19.1-4). Most people pay no attention, yet God persists, because He knows that human beings are made for the glory of God, and only in knowing and growing in the glory of God will they ever realize full and abundant life as disciples of Jesus Christ. God is determined that the knowledge of His glory will cover the earth as the waters cover the sea (Hab. 2.14).
And His glory is most fully realized within the new economy of His Kingdom. He is building His Church for just this purpose (Matt. 5.13-16; 1 Cor. 10.31).
The purpose of every local church, the reason we’re here, is to glorify God—to make God known, to boast of His greatness, demonstrate His goodness, show forth His beauty, proclaim His truth, embody His Spirit, and declare His salvation to the world. Worship is for the glory of God. Preaching, too. Christian education, fellowship meetings, prayer meetings, committee meetings, budgets, buildings, staff—all of this, and everything else, must be for the glory of God above and over all else. If our churches only point us to themselves, then they’re not true churches, but idolatry malls, and nothing more.
The Scriptures refer to the glory of God as the Presence of God, experienced by human beings as a kind of “weighty” or extraordinary spiritual Presence—a Presence that bows us, frightens us, penetrates us, lifts us, and fills us with dread and wonder and joy, all at the same time. The glory of God, when we encounter it, reaches to the depths of our souls with convicting power, to cleanse our hearts, illuminate our minds, re-order our consciences, and stretch and shape us increasingly into the very image of our Lord Jesus Christ (2 Cor. 3.12-18). Then, transformed in the Presence of God’s glory, we as disciples of the Lord go forth to live for the glory of God, demonstrating and proclaiming the hope of glory in even the most ordinary, everyday aspects of our lives (1 Cor. 10.31; 1 Pet. 3.15; Rom. 5.1, 2), calling people everywhere to join us in responding whole-heartedly to God’s call to His Kingdom and glory.
Why are we as disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ here? Why are our churches here? Not for us—at least, not finally for us—but for the Lord and for His Kingdom and glory.
For reflection or discussion
1. What is the Kingdom of God? How is it clear that seeking the Kingdom and righteousness of God is the primary aim of your church?
2. In what ways does the knowledge of the glory of the Lord spread from your church into your community?
3. At this time, as best you can tell, how should the question, “Why are we here?”, be answered?
Next steps—Demonstration: Continue praying daily for your church leaders. Make sure that the defining priority of your own life is seeking the Kingdom and righteousness of God. What will that look like today?
T. M. Moore
If you have found this meditation helpful, take a moment to give thanks to God. Then share what you learned with a friend. This is how the grace of God spreads (2 Cor. 4.15).
A good supplement to this ongoing study on the Church is our free PDF book, Pray for Your Church. Download your copy from The Ailbe Bookstore by clicking here. Also, we encourage you to visit our ReThinking Church page, where you’ll see a variety of free resources to help you church.
This week: Our Read Moore podcast is into a new series of readings from our book, The Joy and Rejoicing of My Heart. In our Crosfigell teaching letter, we will finish our study of the state of pastors and churches during the period of the Celtic Revival. And in our daily Scriptorium column we are studying the Gospel of Matthew. Click here to see all the other columns and writers available to you.
And please prayerfully consider supporting The Fellowship of Ailbe with your prayers and gifts. You can contribute online, via PayPal or Anedot, or by sending a gift to The Fellowship of Ailbe, P. O. Box 8213, Essex, VT 05451.
