A stranger in a certain town asked a passer-by “Can you tell me where the church is?” The passer-by thought for a moment, looked at his watch, and then replied: “Well, some will be at home and some will be shopping, but by now, most of them will be at work.” He walked off, leaving a puzzled stranger who was none the wiser!

We know that the church is God’s people, not the building. But sometimes we forget that we are still the church when we are dispersed in our daily occupations, and not merely when we are gathered together.

Why Church?

We have already seen in the earlier talks that God is interested in every part of our lives, not just the “religious” bits; that God wants us to live as disciples of Christ in every part of our lives; and that He wants us to share our faith in every part of our lives. So, then, what is the church for? Why can’t we just get on with living as Christians in our lives out there? Why gather? Why have local churches at all?

In his first letter, the apostle Peter says that we are God’s chosen people, gathered and called to Him to declare His praises (1 Peter 2: 9-10). This could describe what we do when we are together in worship and outreach. Then he goes on to say that we are to live our lives in such a way that others begin to glorify God as well (v12). This relates to what we are doing when we are dispersed throughout the week in daily tasks.

Jesus was making the same point when he said, “You are the salt of the earth ... you are the light of the world.” (Matthew 5: 13-16) Salt and light are both natural things that can be gathered into one place – in a salt pot or a lamp – but only have effect when they are scattered – in food or in darkness. That’s why Jesus said we shouldn’t allow our salt to lose its savour by not using it, nor should we cover up our lamp once it’s been turned on – that would be ridiculous!

Church is gathered in fellowship and worship when we are encouraged and taught and gain a fresh vision of God, and also scattered in service and evangelism when we act as agents of shalom in the world.

However, church is never that simple, is it? What are our primary preoccupations as churches? Someone has summarised them as “A, B & C”: Attendance (who’s coming and who isn’t, and how many?), Buildings (maintaining, improving, keeping them up) and Cash (staff, buildings again, costs and budgets).

If, by contrast, we were to ask what Jesus’ primary occupation was and is, we would have to answer with a “D”: Discipleship. The twelve and the seventy-two were the focus of Jesus’ earthly ministry and at the end of it, following His death and resurrection, He commissioned those disciples to go and make more disciples like themselves. The church should be a disciple factory – we’re in the business of making disciples of Jesus Christ, not merely attracting attenders or producing converts.

I have only recently come to realise that church life really operates on three levels, and all three are important (see the following diagram).

Firstly, we are called to live together as the body of Christ, using our gifts to build one another up in the faith. Secondly, as a church placed in a local community, which is also where most of us live, we are called to witness alongside other Christian communities in that place. Thirdly, we are called to witness on the “Frontline”, where we are sent week by week at college, at work, at leisure, as volunteers. Some will be called to serve more in one (or two) of these three levels than the others, but together we serve in all three.

So finally, how can the local church help to equip us to live as disciples in all these three levels, in the whole of life? The following table shows some of the important things we will need to tackle, all based on the primary focus of making disciples.

In one of the famous Peanuts cartoons, Linus was watching TV, when Lucy comes in and demands he changes channels. “What makes you think you can just come in and tell me what to do?” he asks. “These five fingers,” replies Lucy. “Individually they’re nothing but when I curl them together like this into a single unit, they form a weapon that is terrible to behold.” “Which channel do you want?” asks Linus. Then, turning away, he looks at his own fingers and says, “Why can’t you guys get organised like that?”

I believe that as churches we need to get organised to this purpose of making and equipping disciples together. Are we up for it?

Our Preoccupations and Jesus’ Preoccupation

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