What purpose serves the CHURCH?

What is the purpose and function of the church? The ‘church’, little c, as opposed to the ‘Church’, big c, which would be the universal Church. The church is the local congregation and assembly we gather in, a group of believers together worshipping, praying, and teaching/preaching the Word. So what is its purpose, its function? There are many ways we could parse out the idea of function and purpose of the local church. I want to look at this as primary and secondary functions/purposes of the church, and let’s look at Acts 2 as a basis.

PRIMARY FUNCTIONS/PURPOSES

I think there are four primary purposes/functions of the local church; teaching/preaching, fellowship, administering sacraments, and prayer. Look what it says in Acts 2:42 (HCSB) “And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching, to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread, and to the prayers.” In its simplest form, the local church, here at the very beginning, had none of the baggage we have placed on the back of the church today. We will look at each one and see how they are essential elements of a church.

Teaching/Preaching

It is a constant argument in some circles what preaching is and what teaching is and that they are in some ways COMPLETLEY different. I would argue good preaching will teach and good teaching will preach, but the point for this purpose is to show that the local church is to be primarily focused on delivering the message God gave us. The early church had the apostle’s message that they were entrusted with, we today have God’s Word. Paul, in training a young pastor in what was essential said, 2 Timothy 4:2 (NLT) “Preach the word of God. Be prepared, whether the time is favorable or not. Patiently correct, rebuke, and encourage your people with good teaching.”

Fellowship

“No man is an island entire of itself,” cleric John Donne said, in his famous poem, from his work ‘Devotions upon Emergent Occasions’ a devotional written in 1624. Obviously Donne thinks man was meant for fellowship, as he sees us all as part of the whole. The Hebrew writer encourages fellowship, “not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.” (Hebrews 10:25 ESV) I would even go so far as to say that fellowship is more important than teaching/preaching, for even if the truth is being told conflict within the local body destroys the witness, Galatians 5:14-15 (KJV) “For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this; Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. But if ye bite and devour one another, take heed that ye be not consumed one of another.”

Administering the Sacraments

The word sacrament comes from the Latin word sacramentum, which means sacred ceremony. “The term sacrament was adopted by the Latin Christians. For the first, because of the peculiar sacredness of the Lord's Supper; and for the second, because of that engagement which was implied in this sacred ordinance to be faithful to the commands of Christ. The same term was also applied, at an early period of the Church, to the ordinance of baptism.” (‘A Complete System of Christian Theology: A Concise, Comprehensive, and Systematic View of the Evidences, Doctrines, Morals, and Institutions of Christianity.’ Samuel Wakefield, Database © 2007 WORDsearch Corp.) Verse 42 doesn’t include baptism, but the previous verse does. Though the argument could be made who within the church does these ordinances (and even what the sacraments include), it is without question a function of the local church exclusively.

Prayers

The local church should be in prayer for their fellow members. It is a function of fellowship (again emphasizing the importance of it) that we can know those we worship with; feeling their hurts, pains, and sorrows. Our prayer life should be dominated by prayer for those we are most familiar with, James 5:16 (KJV) “Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.” Ephesians 6:18 (NLT) “Pray in the Spirit at all times and on every occasion. Stay alert and be persistent in your prayers for all believers everywhere.” Though Paul is commending us to prayer for believers everywhere, it is essential that it be done for the local members.

SECONDARY PURPOSES/FUNCTIONS

As you look at the end of Acts chapter 2, we see two basic practices that were secondary to the main purposes/functions of the local church. It is paramount that we understand that the primary produced the secondary, that is to say, without the proper primary the secondary will not be manifested. If I was to list the secondary they would be in two categories, which could be manifested in a variety of ways. They were service and witnessing.

Service

Luke tells us, Acts 2:44-45 (KJV) “And all that believed were together, and had all things common; And sold their possessions and goods, and parted them to all men, as every man had need.” Service would include meeting the needs of those we can reach. This is not to say that we can’t be used elsewhere, outside our local area. It does mean our service to others starts with the local church, Galatians 6:10 (KJV) “As we have therefore opportunity, let us do good unto all men, especially unto them who are of the household of faith.” Paul clearly teaches here a devotion to others, starting with the local church. Service could include a myriad of activities, such as; soup kitchens, food pantries, clothing giveaways, and/or even community service, such as cleaning up a local park.

Witnessing

Again, Luke describes the early church, Acts 2:47 (HCSB) “praising God and having favor with all the people. And every day the Lord added to them those who were being saved.” In verse 46 Luke describes them going from house to house, obviously reaching out into the community with the message. Jesus said that this would be the working of the local churches, Matthew 28:19-20 (ESV) “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” I think witnessing would include; personal witnessing (one on one), evangelizing, and apologetics. Each of these, as well as many other ways, are working towards the same goal, Luke 14:23 (KJV) “And the lord said unto the servant, Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled.”

CONCLUSION

You may disagree with these categories, or even the notion of primary and secondary, but it is hard to argue that the local church should not have each of these as a function/purpose. We too often complicate what I think the Lord meant to be simple, as history has proved. The church was very organic and responsive to local needs in its infancy. As the ‘Church’ became more organized and more institutionalized, it lost its local touch and richness. This is not an argument against certain denominations or an advocacy for the movement that espouses ‘organic’, ‘simple’, and/or ‘house’ churches. I am part of a denomination, myself. I am also part of a local church, and it is the local church where the vast majority of ministry is done.

A reason I see a clear distinction between these primary and secondary functions/purposes is that doing the secondary can be unrelated to the primary. For example, any cult or religion can witness and serve the community at large, but they are not doing ‘Christian’ service or witnessing. A church that teaches heresy may be feeding the hungry, but the end result is not a true Christian work. No, this is just a call to any local church to step back and discover the purposes/functions for which Christ said, “… I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.” (Matthew 16:18 ESV)

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