The Purpose of the Church

The Purpose of the Church

Just before He ascended into heaven, Jesus spoke these final words to His disciples: “… you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth” (Acts 1:8). We Christians are to be witnesses of Jesus Christ. The purpose of the CHURCH is to be a witness to Jesus Christ in the world. This is the church’s primary purpose; all other functions of the church are secondary to it.

What does it mean to be a witness to Jesus Christ? It means to reach out to the world by word and deed to draw men and women to Him. It means to be a light in the world. Jesus said: “… let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven” (Matthew 5:16). Let your light shine. That means we are to be Christ’s ambassadors in the world. Paul wrote: We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors (2 Corinthians 5:20). And our work as ambassadors is to reconcile men and women to God.

Finally, to be a witness of Jesus Christ means to go into all the world and make disciples. Jesus said to His disciples: “… go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you” (Matthew 28:19-20).

What is the motive for our being witnesses? It is love. The second greatest commandment says: Love your neighbor as yourself (Mark 12:31). We believers have found the bread of life; if we love our neighbor, we will want to show him where he can find it too.

The reason Jesus calls us to Himself and makes us into His church is so that we might go and bear fruit. Jesus said: “You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit—fruit that will last” (John 15:16). In this context, fruit primarily means new disciples. Jesus said, “As the Father has sent me, I am sending you” (John 20:21). Why was Jesus sent? He was sent into the world so that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life (John 3:16). Think of it! We are being sent into the world in the same way and for the same purpose that the Father sent Jesus! Today we, the church, have been appointed to continue the work of Jesus upon this earth, to be a light showing men and women the way to heaven and to eternal life.

Thus we see that the overriding purpose of the church is to reach out—just as light “reaches out” into the darkness. Sadly, many churches, once they have been established, become preoccupied with their own internal affairs. They become like clubs or private societies. The members think only about the blessings they hope to receive from the church, and they stop thinking about the blessings they should be giving to others through the church. The church was never meant to be merely a safe haven for Christians. The church was meant primarily to prepare and send out witnesses—that is, ambassadors, fruit bearers, disciple makers, missionaries.

The church of Jesus Christ is a witnessing church, a missionary church. How did the church start in Europe? It started because someone named Paul went to Philippi in Macedonia (Greece) and planted a church there (Acts 16:9-15,40). How did the church start in India? It started because Christians traveled to India to preach the GOSPEL. Many say that the first missionary to India was the Apostle Thomas himself. How did the church start in China? In Korea? In Africa? Same reason: witnesses went to those places and preached the Gospel.

Of course, not every member of the church is called to go to a distant place and preach; in fact, only a few are called to do this. But every Christian is called to be a witness wherever he or she lives and works (Acts 1:8). And every church member needs to keep in mind that the main purpose of the church is to be a witness, not only in the local area but also to the ends of the earth.

The church is like a body (1 Corinthians 12:27). The heart’s main job is to pump blood; the lungs’ main job is to breathe; the ears’ main job is to hear; the legs’ main job is to walk. But the overall purpose of each organ is to help the body live and work. And so it is with each member of the church.

If any church is not witnessing, not reaching out, it is a dying church. Indeed, the spiritual health of any church is best measured not by the number of Christians it attracts, but rather by the number of missionaries (witnesses) it sends out.

Some people say that missions outreach is only one of several equally important functions of the church. They describe the church as a four-legged stool, with the four legs being worship, fellowship, teaching, and missions outreach. But that is an inadequate representation of the church of Christ. The missions outreach is the light that should be sitting on top of the stool! A stool only needs three legs—worship, fellowship, and teaching. Worship, fellowship, and teaching are not ends in themselves; they are means to an end. They are the means of supporting the stool—of supporting the missions outreach of the church.

So, again, we must state that missions (witness, evangelism) is the primary purpose of the church of Christ. In other words, missions isn’t just one of several programs of the church; it is the one all-embracing program of the church.

When we keep this truth in mind, the ministry of the church and of each believer will remain in proper balance. Often as Christians we get caught up in secondary causes, and we lose sight of our overall direction and purpose. These secondary causes (social justice, protection of the environment, better health, better education, economic development, etc.) are all very good and important concerns, and Christians must be involved in them. But these concerns are secondary to the primary concern of leading men and women to Jesus Christ and to SALVATION. Giving a person a few years of improved life on this earth is a very small gift compared with leading that person into eternal life in heaven. We always need to keep our eye on the ultimate goal of all ministry: to reconcile people to God and to bring them into His kingdom (see 2 Corinthians 5:18-20 and comment).

Jesus kept His eye on the goal. He preached, taught, healed, and performed miracles, but the goal of all these activities was one: to reconcile men to God. His healings and other miraculous works were not ends in themselves; they were signs demonstrating that He was God’s Son, and that therefore people should listen to His words. He didn’t want to become known as a miracle worker; He instructed almost everyone He healed not to tell anyone about it. He didn’t want to take people’s eyes off their spiritual need. When the people tried to persuade Him to stay in their village and keep on healing them, Jesus refused to stay, saying, “I must preach the good news of the kingdom of God to the other towns also, because that is why I was sent” (Luke 4:43). Jesus’ main work was to bring men and women into the kingdom of God; and if that was His main work, it is also ours—both as individuals and as a church.

There is a final thing to say about the purpose or mission of the church: when that mission has been fulfilled, Jesus will come again and the world will end. Jesus said: “And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come” (Matthew 24:14).

Jesus is waiting for us to proclaim the Gospel to every tribe and cultural group. There are many thousands of these distinct cultural groups in the world. In Matthew 24:14 and 28:19, these groups are called nations.¹ It is estimated that there are approximately 10,000² of these groups which still have no permanent indigenous witness among them. The supreme task of every Christian is to help spread the Gospel of Christ to these remaining unreached cultural groups, and to help establish a witnessing, self-reproducing church within each group. Until this is accomplished, the purpose of the church will not be fulfilled, and Christ will not return.

How big is the task? Because of the growth of world population, there are today more non-Christians in the world than ever before in history. On the other hand, there are also many more Christians available to accomplish the task than ever before. The task can be done. In 100 A.D., there was one witnessing Christian for every 360 non-Christians. In 1950, there was one witnessing Christian for every twenty non-Christians. In 1996 there was one witnessing Christian for every seven non-Christians. By the year 2000, the ratio of non-Christians to Christians was estimated to be only four to one. The task can indeed be done!

There are 2 billion people on earth who have not yet had the chance to hear the Gospel in a relevant way. The purpose of the church of Christ is to reach these people. Some Christians are called to be senders of missionaries—that is, to pray for them and to support and encourage them. Others are called to go themselves. God needs both senders and goers. But regardless of whether one goes abroad or stays at home, every Christian must be a witness. Jesus demands the same degree of commitment and consecration from each one of us, wherever we are called to serve.

¹ The Greek word nations in Matthew 28:19 does not mean countries in a political sense, but rather groups of people with a similar language and culture.

² The Greek word nations in Matthew 28:19 does not mean countries in a political sense, but rather groups of people with a similar language and culture.