Byrnesys Blabberings

Someone once said to me that "Church is the only organisation that exists primarily for the people that dont belong to it" I kind of like that, although I wouldnt run to far with it, because while I am absolutely for the Church being the living, breathing, loving, serving prescence in the community there is also a role of the Church which is to glorify God. Obviously there is massive overlap here and basically the call to the people outside the Church is a call of Love, which is given by God to outwork in us to his Glory.

Hmm….So what I am saying basically is that our prescence in the community may not actually be Primarily for the community, this is something I sometimes miss when I get all caught up in missiology, and Church outreach methodolgy. When Jesus is asked what the most important commandments are he answered (in paraphrase) Love God, Love your neighbour, everything that has ever been said in Old Testament has been based on the desire that people follow these commandments.

So it would seem that Yes the Church does exist to Love the people outside of it and this primarily so that they will be drawn to the Love of God and be brought into God family on earth. But I also think there are acts that the Church do, which are not necessarily motivated for the benefit of the people outside of the Church.

These types of things are Musical Worship, Eucharist, and discipleship are all I can think of off the top of my head. These acts all glorify God in their own way, and certainly have an effect on evangelism, but are not primarily enacted in order to directly draw people into the Church, they are like an intimate expression between the Church and Christ. Musical Worship is an expression of thansgiving, love, and adoration and a vehicle which enables people to be drawn into the prescence of God, and see a glimpse of who he is in ther place. The Eucharist, is something I could never define within a few lines, but at very least it is a communion with God which acknowledges the amazing gift that has come from the cross. Discipleship, can be a broad term but I reference it here in relation to times where we set aside times or moments in our lives to deepen our relationship to God through the renewing of our minds, hearts and actions.

The Church clearly exists with a strong calling on it to the lost, and even the elements we have mentioned which dont directly exist for the sake of the people outside they all have played their part. When the prescence of God comes in the middle of a musical worship time it can be the strongest evangelism ever as something of Gods power is sensed by someone who has never experienced it before. Although I have never actually met anyone this has happened to, I know of occurances especially back in the day when everyone and their gran went to church that people are hit by the power of the sacrament and give their lives to serving Christ. Also discipleship is development on Christian maturity which surely brings about a strong emphasis on the love of the lost.