The Church and Evangelism

The Purpose of God in the Church

If we consider the ultimate purpose of God, I believe we can see that God wants to bring us into eternal fellowship with Himself. How that works out in eternity may be dim to us at the moment, for we can only see "in a mirror dimly," but it is very clear that at this time, this fellowship has its fullest expression in the church. It is there that we together experience the depth of God's love. Not only that, but in the church God has made every provision for building up each member to a place of maturity. All of the grace gifts of God contribute towards this goal in the structure of the church. The gifts of the Holy Spirit also function primarily in the church, expressing the presence of God in reality. The focal point of God's working in our time is His people gathering in His presence, meeting with God and having spiritual intercourse with Him together.

For a person to enter into fellowship with God with other members of the body of Christ, he must first repent from sin and then be made alive unto God by the Spirit. Only living stones may be built into this house. This is a personal dealing between an individual and God. The church is not a place for unregenerate men and women. Paul makes it clear in I Cor. 14:22-25 that an unbeliever may visit and be touched as he senses the presence of God. But the church is the bride of Christ, and the focus of the gathering of the church is not sinners, but God.

We find no place in scripture, either by teaching or by example, to justify the common practice of "inviting people to church" in the hope that they will come to salvation there. In fact, if we see more clearly the nature and purpose of the church, I believe we will do the opposite. To bring casually interested persons into the meeting of the church can actually dampen the Spirit and restrict what God wants to do. Light cannot have fellowship with darkness. This does not mean that one who is sincerely looking for God cannot come and meet God in the midst of the gathering, but this is quite different from inviting multitudes to "come to church" to be saved.

These practices often prevail because of an inadequate revelation of what the church is. The church is often seen as an organization to facilitate various functions. The focus is often on buildings and programs, with the belief that these give visibility and a testimony to the world. But nowhere in scripture do we find that God intended for a building to be the focus of our witness. The witness should be the lives of saints lived out in the world. "But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth" (Acts 1:8). This requires a real and personal relationship with Jesus, and one of the main purposes of the church is to nourish this relationship in every member.

For various reasons, many gatherings find themselves with a core of committed believers (maybe 20%), with the remainder only "nominal Christians." (But of course there is no such thing as a "nominal Christian." We are either in Christ or not.) The reason the crowds are there may vary, but it is usually because something other than Christ has been used to draw them in. Some common reasons are music, social activities, a common culture or language, a gifted speaker, or a special cause (such as missions). These and other things appeal to the natural man, and when done in the context of Christianity, they can seem appealing and noteworthy. Because of this, the focus of the meetings is often toward the 80%, trying to bring them to a greater commitment, and the building up of the believers is too often neglected.

If we carefully consider the account of the early church and the teaching of the epistles, I daresay we will not find any of these things. The saints of early times gathered for one reason: they had come into a living relationship with Christ by the Spirit. Only Jesus was held before them, and those who did not want Jesus did not associate with the church. (In fact, even though the early believers were held in high esteem for their integrity and good works, unbelievers feared to join them.) The promise of the Lord himself is that where two or three are gathered together in His name, He will be in the midst of them. That puts no emphasis on numbers, and there is nothing to draw but God himself. This is the nature of the church, both then and now. Under the leading of the Spirit, there will be other types of meetings to reach out to the lost, but these are not gatherings of the church.

Brethren, let us be convinced of these truths. If they do not seem clear, let us search the scriptures again with open hearts and minds and allow God to show us the true nature of the church. Only as we see this by revelation, being willing to accept the truth laid out for us by God in the scriptures, will we be able to deal properly with the subject of evangelism.

Next: The Responsibility of Every Member