A couple of years ago a visiting speaker asked the church I am part of this question. We weren't sure how to answer. Would they? Do they care? We want to say of course they would. But are we certain that they would?
This question has continued to surface occasionally over the past couple of years. It has been a really good question that has helped us look beyond ourselves and into the community. Are we a blessing to the people around us?
Today a thought struck me. Isn't this question really self-centered? Doesn't imply that what matters is if the community notices us and cares about us? And how does this question fit into the teaching that Jesus gave us that we will be persecuted if we are his disciples? Is our primary mission about blessing others?
It seems to me that our primary mission is to bring God glory (and yes this does include blessing others just like Jesus did).
So, perhaps a different question we could ask is:
"If our church ceased to exist would God receive less glory in our community? Or would we just receive less glory?"
3 comments:
Hi Ben, Yes, I think you are on to something. It is NOT about us but HIM!! I continue to discover that I (perhaps we?) are incredibly self centered ... even when we gather as his church.
It is scary how selfish I truly am.
Great question at the end Ben! I liked this post.
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