Purpose of the Church? Content with the status quo...

[Darrell Beck]

I'm sure we have all heard the common phrase in Real Estate of "location, location, location"; chapter 1 can be summed up with a similar phrase of "foundation, foundation, foundation" when it comes to rethinking the foundational questions presented by Mr. White.  I think we can all agree that our society and even the church has rapidly evolved into a proverbial mosh-pit where one can believe whatever they want but it's not "PC" to take a stand or believe in the Bible as the very Word of God as our moral and ethical compass. What we must do now as the Church in 2012, more than ever is determine that we will not compromise the very foundation of what the Word of God says.  One quote that caught my eye in this chapter was made by Allan Cox which states, "an organization that has lost sight of its purpose has no soul."  It has been said that hind sight is 20/20 and if this is the case, then we must re-establish our foundation by going back to the model of the first century church that is found in the book of Acts 2:42-47.  Here we find that just as the church was devoted to the apostles' teaching, we must be committed/devoted to discipleship.  The early church was devoted to fellowship, we must be committed/devoted to community. The early church was devoted to coming together as one in unity, one mind and in one accord in worship.  The early church was devoted to meeting the needs of other people, we must be committed/devoted to ministry. And finally but definitely not least, it was devoted to growth, particularly through conversion not transplants!  What has happened to the fire of evangelism within our churches today?  Does anyone care for the lost anymore or are we simply content with our ticket to heaven and let the rest of the world go to a real devil's hell on our watch???  I believe that these five pivotal points that the early church exhibited over 2000 years ago need to be actively reintroduced to our churches if we are going to make an impact within our churches first before we can ever think of making an impact to our community!  It's time to lay down traditions of men and take up the fire from the very altar of God and let it once again burn within each of us.  Don't wait for someone else to ignite the spark.  I'm no longer content with the status quo.  If I'm perfectly honest, I'm frustrated with the status quo.  Break me if I need broken, Mold me if I need molding, Remake me if I need remade, but don't just let me stay the same.  I leave you with this quote from Mark Batterson "A church that lives within its FOUR WALLS is not a church at all."