Church: What’s the Point?

Big Idea: The church aims to guide both believers and non-believers to become devoted followers of Jesus Christ through clear vision, careful planning, and bold actions.

Let's pray. Father, we're kicking off a new year of ministry. Today I want to share my heart with these people. I want to spell out where I sense you're leading me. I'm very excited about the future of Richview Baptist Church, but I hope it's not just me speaking today. I pray that your Spirit's voice will be heard by every person in this auditorium. I pray this in the name of the Head of the Church – the one who died to make us holy. I pray in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

This morning, I would like to pose a question to you: What do you believe is the purpose of Richview Baptist Church? If we surveyed everyone here this morning, we'd get a range of answers. In fact, I'd like you to watch what happened when some people were asked this very question while leaving another church.

[Show video of people exiting church; each shares a different perspective on the church's purpose.]

I think that you could safely say that there is a lack of clarity surrounding purpose in most churches today. I need to begin by apologizing to you. During my summer break and study hiatus, I felt a strong conviction about this matter. Although I recognize there are some mitigating circumstances, I still believe it is necessary for me to apologize. I need to apologize for not sounding a clear trumpet for the church. I apologize for not clearly communicating our church's vision and purpose. I know that I was new at the church; I know that I had to get a sense of where things were at; I know that there are others in leadership besides me. But as the point man of this church, I need to stand up and say that I have not put our vision as a church in front of you as clearly as I should have. But that's going to change, and it's going to begin this morning as we ask ourselves the question, "Church: what's the point?"

A pastor was flying out of an airport one day. As he did, he saw two children playing – or at least he thought they were playing. One chased the other, until he finally caught the other one. And as they began to wrestle, the boy on top began to pound the other boy's head into the hard airport floor. I forget how the story ended, but the pastor left shaken. What is going to help two kids like that? Is government the hope of the world? Can the government pass laws that will change the heart of a kid pounding somebody else into the pavement? Is school the solution? As important as education is, is education the answer? Are social agencies going to make the difference?

The pastor walked away from that scene realizing that the church is the hope of the world. Only a church that effectively embraces its mission to reach the lost for Jesus Christ, empowered by the Holy Spirit, can truly impact people's lives.

Three Promises

This summer, I felt strongly about our mission. I've been convicted that we need to take steps to be the kind of church that's going to reach lost people for Jesus Christ.

My first promise: We will be crystal clear in communicating our vision.

Up until now, we have not been clear in communicating why we exist as a church. We have not championed why we even exist as a church. For some time, we've been wrestling with how best to express why we exist. We have S.W.O.R.D. – the five purposes of our church, that we're going to cover over the next five weeks. But those are our methods. Why do we even exist as a church? And we've come up with this summary statement. It's not fully original, but it best expresses why we're even here as a church. It's based on the Great Commission, found in Matthew 28.

Jesus came and told his disciples, "I have been given complete authority in heaven and on earth. Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age." (Matthew 28:18-20)

Based on this, "Our mission is to lead all people to become fully devoted followers of Jesus Christ." Let me break this down. Our mission is to lead all people. It means unbelievers and it means believers. The Bible tells us that God wants all people to be saved, and so we are going to target those who don't know Christ. We're going to be very aggressive evangelistically in this church. But we're also going to target the believer. God wants you to be discipled and to fully commit to and obey Jesus Christ. We're going to target all people.

And what's our goal? To lead all people to become fully devoted followers of Jesus Christ. Christ's goal for each of us is that we would be fully obedient to all the commands he's given us. The church's role is to guide everyone, both believers and non-believers, to Christ and help them grow in spiritual maturity and devotion to him. That's our reason for existing as a church. And we're going to be crystal-clear in communicating it. We're going to say it over and over again in different ways. But it's a non-negotiable. It's a stake in the ground. It's our reason for existing.

My second promise: We will be wise in transitioning.

During the concert of prayer this past Tuesday night, I was deeply moved by one person's prayers. She has been hurt by a recent tough decision made by the board, which I wasn't involved in, but it has affected her and others. And as she prayed, she broke down as she prayed for the leadership of the church. She prayed for me and for other leaders. She prayed that God would give us wisdom as we make decisions. She prayed that nothing would be done outside of God's will. And she prayed that the church would follow the leadership of those God has brought to the church.

Her tearful prayer reminded me of the wisdom and sensitivity we'll need this year to communicate and live our vision. John Kotter, author of "Leading Change," states that significant organizational changes are often difficult to achieve for various reasons. A pastor of a church in Florida (Dan Southerland) writes in his book Transitioning, "You must go slow if you want to stay long… If you are not willing to go slow, don't change." Doug Murren, who pastored a church in Seattle for many years, said, "The reason 99 out of 100 churches that try to make major transitions fail is that they go too fast."

In Matthew 7:24-27, Jesus uses the story of two houses—one built on sand and the other on rock—to show the importance of having a strong foundation. "If you rush the preparation process for vision, you will end up with a shaky foundation. Chances are that your vision will not stand when the storms come against it" (Dan Southerland).

I hope that you know me by now. I hope that you realize I'm not going to come in with guns blazing and an agenda to change everything in a week. I'm not saying that we'll never make mistakes as leaders – or that we haven't already made mistakes. But I'm telling you this: we're going to go slow, and we're going to do our best to get it right. This fall, my main focus will be on communication: updating you on our current situation, explaining the need for change, and inviting your feedback. I will not be setting the future direction of the church in an authoritarian manner. I know that at times decisions will be made that are not popular. I know that it is my responsibility to lead. But we will involve you in helping us set a strategy for the future of the ministry here at Richview.

Friends, my desire is not to alienate any particular age group or any particular person. We will not disenfranchise those who have spent forty years building this church. You mean too much to us. But I'll tell you something else. We're not a healthy church in every area. 50,000 people live within two kilometers of this church – 50,000! There are over 45,000 people within two kilometers of you who do not know Jesus Christ as their Savior. They do not have eternal life. How many of these people are we currently reaching? Do we have the option of not living out our vision? One day we are going to stand before God and give account for what we did as a church to reach the lost in our area.

I'll tell you: you can argue about preferences, you can argue about how to do things. But you can't argue with the fact that we need to become a healthier church and that we need to reach the lost around the world, but also in this area. Amen? But at the same time we will be wise in transitioning. We will aim to be strong-minded and yet tender-hearted.

Let me give you a roadmap. This past month, I have met with key leaders in the church to spell out where I see our church going. As I have met with each of the leaders, I have told them, "I don't have a word from God from Mount Sinai. What I'm telling you is open to change. But what isn't negotiable is the fact that our church needs to move to become a healthier church."

In a month, I will connect with about thirty to forty leaders from different ministries. Once again I will share with them about our current situation, and about what our future is. Within about three months, we will have a dessert night as a church. Someone will give their testimony on "Why I love my church." I will begin to share with the entire church about our current situation, and our need for change. I will unfold to you how I want you to be a part of deciding Richview's future. I will not be dictating decisions; instead, I will be asking you to become part of Richview's future. My primary task this fall will be summarized in one word: communication. And we will do so with all the wisdom and sensitivity that God will give us. And we ask for your prayers.

My third promise: We will be courageous in living our vision.

There will be a cost involved. But I'm ready to pay the cost. It will stretch me out of my comfort zone; it's going to stretch you out of your comfort zone. But nothing great was ever accomplished without courage.

Endure hardship with us like a good soldier of Christ Jesus. No one serving as a soldier gets involved in civilian affairs—he wants to please his commanding officer. (2 Timothy 2:3-4)

This year my challenge is that all of us will endure the hardship required to be a good soldier, a good servant, of Jesus Christ. My primary goal is going to be how to please my commanding officer, Jesus Christ. You see, I could easily be a chaplain here. I could easily spend my days just preaching nice messages and maintaining the status quo. Or I could lead the church to courageously live out its vision. Which one would you rather have me be – a chaplain, or an agent of godly change?

At the beginning of this message, I began with an apology. I'd like to challenge those of you who see yourselves as the loyal opposition. I'm not talking about those who will disagree with me on issues – I expect that. But you can disagree without being disagreeable. You can walk hand-in-hand without seeing eye to eye. No, this morning I'm not talking to those who might not agree with me on everything. I'm talking to those who make a habit of being opposed.

A man by the name of John Maxwell was a young pastor – only 25 years old. And he was called to a church where there was a man named Jim who was elected to a key position – sort of the lay-leader of the church. He was the most negative person in the church. Whenever there was a problem, you could just bet that he was in the middle of it. About two weeks before he became the official pastor of the church, they had a congregational meeting. And at that meeting, they were discussing whether or not to build an activity center. And because he knew he was about to pastor that church, he slipped up into the balcony to watch what would take place that night. Well, what Maxwell witnessed was a four-hour fight in which they did everything but duked it out in the aisles. And Jim, the negative guy, was leading the charge. At the end of the night, the church pretty much ended up split.

For the next few weeks, John Maxwell spent a lot of time in prayer and asking God how to deal with the situation. On the very first day on the job, he called Jim up on the phone and said, "Jim, I'd like to see you." And to give you the picture, Jim was 65, and the new pastor was 25. And Maxwell said to him, "I've been thinking about my relationship, and about our relationship. I want to share something with you."

"It's not anything I've learned firsthand, because it's my first day on the job. But what I've learned from the congregation is that you're very difficult to get along with. I've heard that you're negative. I've heard that if there's a battle you're going to be leading the charge. And I've been thinking of how we'll get along."

"I've come to a couple of conclusions and getting your feedback."

"I've first committed to do everything within my power to work with you. I am committed to walking with you, and to sharing things with you. I'd like to meet you every Tuesday for lunch at the Holiday Inn. My commitment is that I'll give this a good shot and I want to work with you."

"But obviously, it's got to be a two-way street."

"So what I want to ask you is if you'll give a shot at working with a young kid who just became pastor of this church."

"But before you answer, let me paint a scenario for you."

"Imagine that ten years from now, you suddenly die and you're with the Lord. The Lord asks you, 'What were the last ten years of your life like?'"

"You could say one of two things."

"You could say, 'This young kid came to our church. For the last ten years I've tried to help this kid preacher. I decided to put my arm around that kid and love him and help him.' You could say, 'For the past ten years I've done everything I can to make him succeed.'"

"Or, 'Another preacher came to town. There was a lot of fighting. We did battle. The church didn't grow much.'"

"Here's what's amazing about this meeting today. I'm going to give it my best shot to work with you. But what's also amazing is that you can today write out the story of what you'll say to God one day. I need a lot of help in this church. But today you can write the story of what you'll say to God one day."

"I'm just a kid, but what do you say, Jim? Will you be my partner in ministry?"

Jim got out of his seat. He hadn't said a word the whole time. He was a big man, 6 feet 5, 245 pounds. He got up and walked out into the hallway and, without saying a word, leaned over the drinking fountain. And when he finally got up, his face was filled with tears. He extended his hand, and then stepped forward and gave John Maxwell a huge hug. He said to his new pastor, John Maxwell, "You can count on me from this day forward to be in your corner."

That decision changed the church from that point on. For the next three years, the number one question in the church was, "What happened to Jim?" Within a few days his wife called and said, "What have you done with Jim?"

There may be some Jims here. And today I make a commitment to you: I will do everything in my power to work with you. I will be open with you. I am committed to walking with you and to working with you. I will give it my best shot to be the best pastor I could possibly be. But you have a choice. You can leave here upset and making threats, but in ten years, you'll realize you've wasted that time complaining and causing problems for yourself and others. Or you can stand before God some time in the future and say, "I've spent the last ten years of my life helping out our new pastor. The church has expanded. I did everything I could to pray for him and support him." And the amazing thing about this morning's service is that you can write what you'll say before God one day. What will it be? Will you be my partner in ministry?

In the next five weeks, we will discuss the five purposes of the church: service, worship, outreach, relationships, and discipleship. If you have any questions or feedback after this message, I'd invite you to talk to me.