Page 15 - Ecclesiology revised short_Neat

The Church is Born

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0dAKR0kRVus

The Focus of the Church – what it is NOT!

Jesus had a purpose and reason in creating the church. He has ordained specific
tasks and duties that His church is to accomplish here on earth. So, let’s take a look
at what God intends to be the central focus of His church. But before we do that,
let’s look at some things that the church is NOT to focus on…

1. Spending their resources on themselves. Today, some people think of a
church as a building located on the corner of two streets. The closer we get to
Christ’s return, the more the buildings and programs of the church receive special
attention. Christianity Today recently published the results of a survey of 2,200
churches from around the country (USA). They reported that 47% of the income of
the church was spent on salaries for staff, 22% was spent on the church property, 4% went toward
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programs, less than 5% went toward spreading the Gospel in international missions spending.
Considering that the primary command to the church was to spread the Gospel to the nations, it is a
shame that the church congregations today seems to be focused on themselves rather than focusing on
the needs of the world.

2. Programs that attract people to the church. The emphasis among many churches today in the
world is to create special programs that will meet the “needs of the members” or attract new members
to come. You can look at some church calendars, and they are filled with events that may not have
anything to do with missions or evangelism or discipleship but solely concentrate on entertainment or
fellowship. I had a pastor who called a music director. His top priority was to see if the candidate had
the ability and experience in creating huge performances throughout the year to attract new people to
the church. Churches host sporting events, boy or girl scouts, men’s fellowships, or older folks’ meetings
and during these events no consideration is given to God’s Word or sharing the Gospel. The focus of
many community events is totally humanitarian: feed the hungry but don’t offend them with the
Gospel. Meeting the physical needs of the poor to the neglect of their spiritual needs is missing the
focus of what the church is called to do.

John Macarthur shared this story in Grace to You from I Corinthians 12. “Some churches use amazing
gimmicks to fulfill what they assume is their responsibility:

a. Gospel Birds - One ad said to attend a certain church because that coming Sunday they were
featuring the Hanson Gospel Birds. The ad said, "These birds eat with a fork, fly backwards, open
padlocks, ride airplanes, and swallow small swords." Those were the Hanson Gospel Birds.

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