What is Obvious About Your Church?

The church is called to make disciples. I think most of us would agree on that. Further, I think we would all agree that we are called to make disciples of all nations (people groups).

From this perspective, you would assume that every church would have obvious and overt practices, plans, and opportunities for all sorts of people to be discipled.  Unfortunately, from my experience, this is not the case.

In fact, if you sent an unbeliever without any church background into the typical church, I doubt that he would guess that their Great Commission is to make disciples. Instead, they might assume it is to make memories, make music, make meals, or make money. And while none of those things are wrong, isn’t it disturbing that they seem to take priority over making disciples?

If we really believe that we are called to make disciples of all nations, wouldn’t the church be engaging the community looking for lost people (aka ‘future disciples)? And wouldn’t the members of the church have some idea of the expectation of personal growth in their lives (discipleship)? And if we really believed that it was for all people, wouldn’t we go out of our ways to make sure that people felt welcome and loved no matter their socio-economic condition (all nations)?

I’m preaching to myself as much as I’m preaching to anybody else. And yes, I know there are churches that are making tremendous progress in fulfilling the Great Commission. But I also know that most of our churches have a long way to go… and yet, it’s really not that far away. It’s the message that’s been with us all the time. Really, I think it’s just time to take it seriously.

Wouldn’t it be great to hear someone visit your church and say, “It’s OBVIOUS that they are committed to the Great Commission?”