A story was told of a group of executives who was being showed around a fancy oil refinery.

The refinery was filled with some of the most state-of-the-art equipment that would transform crude oil into a useful product. Halfway through the tour, one of the visitors, a member of the marketing team, asked if he could see the shipping department. 

To his surprise, he was told there was no shipping department. The visitor asked how they shipped the products from the refinery.

“These machineries are so huge that it takes all the gasoline produced to run them,” came the reply.

What if this scenario is also happening within our churches?

Have we become so occupied with all our programmes and activities that we have no time to ship out the gospel to fulfil the mission of the Church?

It was Albert Einstein who said: “Confusion of goals and perfection of means seems, in my opinion, to characterise our age.”

This is especially true for the Church – we need to go back to what we’re supposed to do. We have all sorts of training materials and classes, and they’re all good and exciting – but we fail to empower every believer to be fulfilling the Great Commission.

As a result of that, the Great Commission has become the great commotion. We need to come back to the fundamentals. 

THE NEED TO RETURN TO THE CORE

The Greek word for church is ekklesia, it means those who are “called out”. Jesus said come, gather here.

We know from Ephesians 4:1, we are to walk worthy of the calling Jesus has given us. What has Jesus called us out for? The answer: So that He could give us a purpose and a mission.

Jesus called us to do something. So what are the deliverables of the Church? What is our KPI and mission?

In order to get back to the mission of the Church, we go back to the gospel. 

Evangelism is not a department in the church.

What was the first thing He did when He called His disciples? He said: “Follow me, and I will make you become fishers of men” (Mark 1:16-17 ESV).

This is the opening statement of Jesus, as He walked onto the scene of God’s dramatic redemptive show on earth.

I’ve been in show business. When a star walks out for the first time in a show, his first statement is very important.

The first time the Son of God walked out, He called His disciples and said, you follow me and you’re gonna do one thing – I will make you fishers of men. 

Evangelism is not a department in the church. It’s a mission.

In other words, everything we do in the church must be for the gospel’s sake.

It’s why Paul said: “To the weak I became weak, to win the weak. I have become all things to all people so that by all possible means I might save some. I do all this for the sake of the gospel, that I may share in its blessings.” (1 Corinthians 9:22-23)

That’s why everything we do must be for the purpose of evangelism. 

There’s only one thing I can do this side of heaven that I cannot do there – and that’s preaching the gospel.

The church is a gathering of believers that exists for the pre-believers. 

It was William Temple who said that the church is the only institution that exists primarily for the benefit of those who are not its members.

There’s only one thing I can do this side of heaven that cannot be done in heaven – and that is preaching the gospel. 

Therefore let me say this: your task is very simple. Don’t just care for your members – I’m not saying don’t care – but keep the goal in mind. Your purpose is to equip your members, so that they can serve the needs of the lost.

Do we also realise that new Christians are the best people to reach others for Christ? They’ve just met God; their hearts are glowing with the presence of God.

We need to re-examine our ministries. We must find God’s way for this generation to be able to share Christ.

As a Church, we need to be fighting-fit for Christ, so that every member can be expected to fulfil the mission. And if they can’t, then it’s our job to equip them.

This war is against the kingdom of darkness, so we need to be more than conquerors.

ARE WE MISSION OR MEMBER FOCUSED?

Is your church a modality (member-centred) or a sodality (mission-centred)?

There are two different structures in the Church. One is a modality, an organisation of people where you are part of on account of who you are. Singapore is an example. Your membership is on the basis of who you are. No one can really remove your membership. That is a modality – member-centred.

Then there are organisations that are sodalities. Your company that you work for is a sodality. You can continue to work in it because you can perform, because you meet your KPIs and are contributing to the bottom line. You’ve got a job, and if you’re not doing that job, you lose your job. 

We need to change, and it must begin with local church.

The Church of Jesus Christ must be a sodality – but the local church is currently a modality. In Singapore today, the sodality has become what is known as para-church organisations.

The local church has sunk into accepting the role that we are a modality, so that when members come in, all we need to do is meet their needs. We’ve lost that real focus of discipling every member into being a disciple-maker.

We need to change, and it must begin with local church. The church must rise up and be more of a sodality. We want to see a massive movement in the Kingdom of God.

This article is adapted from Pastor Lawrence Khong’s sermon earlier this year at Summit 2020, LoveSingapore’s annual prayer retreat for pastors and leaders.