Church – The Whys Behind the Whats

Join us as Ben Stuart kicks off a new collection of talks, “Church – The Whys Behind the Whats,” which explores how the Church impacts us and how we impact the Church.

The deepest longing in a human heart is belonging and mattering. We want to be a part of a community that loves us, and we love them. We want to be a part of something bigger than ourselves that matters. It’s intimacy and impact, community and cause.

In this deep longing, we can often choose to invest in unhealthy relationships and causes, but we have to remember that we are meant to take our desires to Jesus.

So, how do we position ourselves to take our yearning to the places where it can be truly nourished? How can the Church create an environment that’s conducive to healthy growth?

As a church, we have guiding principles that come from the words of Jesus.

First, in Matthew 22:36-40, Jesus gave us the Greatest Commandment by telling us to love God with all our heart, soul, and mind. He called that worship. The greatest command wasn’t so we could have a program, it was so we could know the God who made us. The truth about Him becomes affection for him. The second command is like the first because it is so closely related. Love your neighbor as yourself. That’s service. Love for others always steps down into the practical.

Next, Jesus proclaims the Great Commission in Matthew 28:18-20, giving us our marching orders. He tells us what to do. He, who is God, has the authority, and He tells us to go and make disciples of all nations. The gospel isn’t intended to be a little club; it includes every tribe and tongue, so we are to spread the good news. This is evangelism. We baptize them. It serves as a symbol of the entrance into the family of God. He doesn’t just wash our sins away; He adopts us into the family of God and knits us together with Himself, the Father, the Son, the Holy Spirit, and one another as brothers and sisters. Baptism is a connection to the community of the triune God and all those who believe in His offer of grace.

Lastly, Jesus tells us to teach those who follow Him to observe all He has commanded. It’s education with an action orientation. This is discipleship. A disciple is someone who is learning something with the intent to apply what they’re learning.

How do evangelism, community, discipleship, service, and worship apply to Acts 2 in the context of how a church runs?

As the Church was being started, those who received the gospel were baptized. Three thousand people joined the church in one day! That’s evangelism. Then they devoted themselves; they changed their lives to learn the apostle’s teaching. That’s discipleship. While doing this, they spent time together, ate, and prayed together. The breaking of bread was them taking communion together. This is communion and discipleship linked together. Because they had come together in community, they cared for each other's needs out of their resources. That’s service. A result of all of this was the awe that came upon every soul. Every day, they attended the Temple together. As they continued to worship in the community, the Lord added to the number of saved people.

So, we see the prescription in Matthew and the description of it in real time in Acts. These are the principles that drive our programs. Principles do not change, but programs can meet the need at that time. We’ll never be married to a method, but we’ll use the method to preach the message.

A healthy church has a program for every principle. The question is, how can you take the next step in obedience in your church?