The purpose of the church, while sermonized and complicated by many, can be summed up in three basic pillars: worship, fellowship, and discipleship. When the three are combined, the result is a healthy church. As each pillar grows, so will the church.
Worship
God created each of us with an empty hole of longing for Him. Saint Augustine wrote in Confessions, “Man is one of your creatures, Lord, and his instinct is to praise you. He bears about him the mark of death…But still, since he is a part of your creation, he wishes to praise you. The thought of you stirs him so deeply that he cannot be content unless he praises you, because you made us for yourself and our hearts find no peace until they rest in you.” (Augustine, Confessions, Translated by R. S. Pine-Coffin (London: Penguin, 1961), 21.)
When we finally find God and apply His salvation to our lives, the emotional result is joy, peace, and love, all the heavy-hitters of the “fruit of the Spirit” list in Galations 5. Our physical response to God, our praise, our sacrifice, our devotion, our righteous living, and even our service when motivated by our love for Him are defined as worship, and are referred to in the Bible repeatedly as the manner in which we, “glorify God.” As a father glows with pride when his son performs well, demonstrates honor, or offers compliments, so our Heavenly Father’s glory is intensified when we speak praise or demonstrate honor by our behavior.
Worship begins alone. It is the connection between a human soul and an infinite God. As worship grows, it includes more people. “For where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them.” (Matthew 18:20) Congregational or “corporate” worship serves both to set the tone for our private worship, and to exponentially multiply the glory to God. John speaks of the glory of God being a bright light which emanates from the Lord. (Revelation 21:11, 23) As the worshipping body of Christ grows, either in number or in sincerity and depth of relationship with Him, so His glory glows brighter. As the church, the bride of Christ, assembles and offers praise to God, it collectively calls to the halo of God’s presence, “Let there be light!”
Fellowship
Along with our natural draw toward the divine, God has put into each of us a desire for community. We long to associate with others with whom we share something in common. For Christians, the most defining characteristic is our Christianity. We need each other. When He realized the only flaw in His incomplete creation, “The LORD God said, ‘It is not good for the man to be alone.’” (Genesis 2:18) Our grouping together for the good of one another is called “fellowship.” Fellowship serves to glorify God as we encourage and support one another.
Christ charged us to don a new identifying characteristic. He commanded us to be known for the way we sacrificially love each other. “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” (John 13:34-35) We are made to function together to compliment and supplement each other. As Paul repeatedly said, “in Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others.” (Romans 12:5; see also 1 Corinthians 12:24; Ephesians 3:6, 4:25, 5:30; and Colossians 3:15)
As we spend time together, we learn to love, and are given more opportunity to demonstrate it practically. Regardless of how we choose to display it, as we “greet one another with a holy kiss” (Romans 16:16, 1 Corinthians 16:20, 2 Corinthians 13:12, 1 Peter 5:14) we share with one another a sense of belonging. Sharing with one another our time and service builds this sense of community, and strengthens relationships. When the inevitable trials come, the communal nature of our fellowship gives us each a means of sharing the burden. “Carry each other's burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.” (Galatians 6:2)
Discipleship
God wants us to share with one another as though we were one, but not just as an exclusive club or social organization. He equips us with the love, faith, and peace of knowing Him, and surrounds us with community of the fellowship of the saints, so that we can be prepared to follow his marching orders, “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.” (Matthew 28:19-20) The body of Christ has been assembled to increase itself. Width, one dimension of the church’s growth called for in this order, is called “evangelism.” Congregations that do not engage themselves about the purpose of evangelism tend to end up being identified by words like “clique-ish” and “friendly but exclusive.” When a church congregation finds contentment in this state, it suffers at least two problems: 1) their population ages, and is only replaced by whatever descendants they propagate; and, 2) they refuse to grow in spiritual depth, and become the milk-drinkers described by Paul in Hebrews 5:12-14. Deeper understanding of Spiritual truths will not allow a true disciple to ignore the call for service and outreach.
Evangelism is only part of discipleship. Jesus did not ask us to play Christian tag, recruiting new Christians, and then leaving them to fend for themselves. Once inside the congregational fold, members of the flock are also called to shepherd one another. We are to pass on what we have learned, “teaching them to obey everything I (Jesus) have commanded you.” This is another part of discipleship, to hone our skills as Christians on one another. Perfecting the ministries of love, forgiveness, gentleness, kindness, etc. requires practice. Who better to practice on than those around us trying to do the same thing? “As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another.” (Proverbs 27:17) We wield the sword of the Spirit with care as we spar with our partners, gently admonishing and instructing one another in the Word. “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God.” (Colossians 3:16)
The final part of discipleship finds itself in the ministerial purpose of all mankind. It amazes me that secular service organizations do more for their communities than most Christian churches. This should not be! Mankind wanders this world seeking the answer to the oldest question, “Why am I here?” The answer can be found without climbing an icy mountain to some obscure guru. It is spelled out clearly in the Bible. God’s purpose for His people is to serve one another. “For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” (Ephesians 2:10) We exist on this planet, which is really just a series of training tools, confidence courses, and testing grounds, to demonstrate our love for God in the way we serve others, and in so doing glorify God. This is the ultimate purpose of man, of Christians, of our local congregations, and of the worldwide Body of Christ.
Worship, our relationship with God; Fellowship, our relationship with others; and Discipleship, our responsibility to build others up into a relationship with God, are the three pillars of a healthy, complete church congregation. It is only as we recognize our purpose individually and in our local congregations that we can serve it as a part of the global Church.
