Saturday, September 10, 2016

Maybe Your Church Shouldn't Be Purpose Driven

Don't get me wrong, I believe the bible is jam-packed with purposes for the church. And I believe no church should be lazy in pursuing biblical purposes. But I don't find scriptural warrant for a church being purpose-driven as a core part of its nature or identity. Just examine some of the biblical metaphors for the church - body, bride, family, temple*. These items are not things that are preeminently purpose-driven but nature-driven. Their identity is in what they are more than what they do. And they all define a relational reality more than a functional goal or purpose. Maybe the chief purpose of your church is simply to be what it already is vs to try to accomplish something in particular. So, given this, do you think if we regard our church as existing to be purpose-driven, in the typical way, we might be missing something? 

* see Rom 12:4-5, 1 Cor 10:17, 12:12, Eph 5:32, Rev 21:9, Mt 12:49-50, Eph 2:19, 1 Tim 5:1, 1 Cor 3:16-17, Eph 2:19-22, 1 Pet 2:5

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