The Purpose 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.