The Mission Of The Church (Various Authors)

B. C. Goodpasture

It is not the mission of the church to furnish amusement for the world or even for its own members. Innocent amusement in proper proportion has its place in the lives of normal people, but it is not the business of the church to furnish it. The church would come off a poor second if it undertook to compete with institutions established for the express purpose of entertaining people. It would make itself ridiculous if it entered into such competition.

Again, it is not the responsibility of the church as such to furnish recreation for its members. A certain amount of recreation is necessary to the health and happiness of the individual. All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy, it is said, and rightly said; but it is not the function of the church to furnish the play. The church was not established to feature athletics.

Rather it emphasizes the principle that "bodily exercise is profitable for a little; but godliness is profitable for all things; having promise of the life which now is and of that which is to come." 1 Timothy 4:8. Sometimes one would conclude, from the emphasis given to recreation, that godliness is profitable for a little, and that bodily exercise is profitable for all things.

For the church to turn aside from its divine work to furnish amusement and recreation is to pervert its mission. It is to degrade its mission. Amusement and recreation should stem from the home rather than the church. The church, like Nehemiah, has a great work to do; and it should not come down on the plains of Ono to amuse and entertain.

As the church turns its attention to amusement and recreation, it will be shorn of its power as Samson was when his hair was cut. Only as the church becomes worldly, as it pillows its head on the lap of Delilah, will it want to turn from its wonted course to relatively unimportant matters. Gospel Advocate, 1948

N. B. Hardeman

Again, I say to you, with caution and thought, that it is not the work of the church to furnish entertainment for the members. And yet many churches have drifted into such an effort. They enlarge their basements, put in all kinds of gymnastic apparatus, and make every sort of an appeal to the young people of the congregation. I have never read anything in the Bible that indicated to me that such was a part of the work of the church. I am wholly ignorant of any Scripture that even points in that direction." (Tabernacle Sermons, Vol. 50)

Guy N. Woods

The self-sufficiency of the church in organization, work, worship and every function required of it by the Lord should be emphasized. This lesson is much needed today. Religious secular organizations are always trying to encroach on the function of the N. T. church, interfere with its obligations, and attempt to discharge some of its functions. The church is the only organization authorized to discharge the responsibilities of the Lord's people. When brethren from organizations independently of the church to do the work of the church, however worthy their aims and right their designs, they are engaged in that which is sinful.

Don R. Hastings

Church buildings with kitchens and fellowship halls are quite common for the social gospel is very popular. Some will not assemble to worship God unless they have been promised a meal for the body. How sad this is. If you don't believe this, just look at the attendance when a meal is offered and compare it with the attendance when no meal is planned.

Jesus said, "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled." (Matthew 5:6) This "hunger and thirst" is "after righteousness," not hamburgers and coke. Many have almost no appetite for the Word of God, which is the food for the soul, but an enormous appetite for food for the body. "As newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the word, that you may grow thereby." (1 Peter 2:2) It is far more important that we feed the soul than the body.

Jesus said, "Do not labor for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to everlasting life, which the Son of Man will give you, because God the Father has set His seal on Him." (John 6:27) Many disobey Christ for they work diligently "for the meat which perisheth," but put forth little effort to obtain spiritual nourishment. We have a perverted sense of values.

Jesus rebuked those who followed Him for the purpose of having their physical appetite satisfied. He said, "Most assuredly, I say to you, you seek Me, not because you saw the signs, but because you ate of the loaves and were filled." (John 6:26) Do you think the Lord is pleased with those who must be enticed to worship Him by offering them "loaves"? Do you think He is pleased with those that offer the "loaves"?

The glorious mission of the church is not to feed our bodies, but to satisfy the needs of our souls. In Romans 14:17, we read, "For the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit." It is the responsibility of the home to provide physical nourishment. Paul strongly condemned the church of God at Corinth because they were assembling to feed the outward man. "What! Do you not have houses to eat and drink in? Or do you despise the church of God and shame those who have nothing? What shall I say to you? Shall I praise you in this? I do not praise you." (1 Corinthians 11:22)

God's condemnation will rest upon all who pervert the spiritual mission of His church! Let us not degrade the gospel of Christ by offering games, gimmicks and food to get people to come. Such may be in order for promoting a circus, but not the Lord and His church! You cannot save the soul by going through the stomach! If you will not go and worship God solely because you love Him, He won't accept your worship.

Paul R. Blake

Churches that draw in people with a fellowship hall will lose those people to the next church that builds a fellowship hall and a gymnasium. And the ones with the hall and gym will lose their crowd to the church with the hall, gym and a daycare center - and so on. As one evangelist from years gone by has said: "If a man is converted by fried chicken and iced tea, he is as dead as the chicken and as weak as the tea." The Gospel of Jesus Christ is the drawing instrument in His church; not extra-biblical activities. Romans 1:16 - "For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek."

A neighbor once asked me, "What does 'your' church have to offer the young people?" I answered, "The Gospel." He said, "No, I mean what activities for the young people?" I said, "We have Bible classes twice each week." Again, he responded, "I'm talking about fun things." I could only say, "Anything more is not the work of the church. Wouldn't it be better if we filled these needs as individuals with a personal touch rather than the institutional way?"

1951 - Gospel Advocate Teacher's Annual Lesson Commentary, page 229

Building recreation rooms and providing and supervising recreation activities at the expense of the church is a departure from the simple gospel plan as revealed in the New Testament. The church might as well relieve the parents of feeding and disciplining all the young people at church expense as to take over the job of entertaining and supervising their recreation at church expense.

Robert L. Willis

The sophism that the early church met in private homes in which there were kitchens, and thus it is right to have kitchens in our church buildings today is plain foolishness. We may point out that the early church in all likelihood, in some areas, met in private homes where the barn for the animals was an integral part of the buildings. This, however, would not justify the building of barns onto our church buildings today. The church today must meet in certain areas in dance halls and other such buildings. This does not mean that what we may find in these buildings should be a part of the church building when such is later erected.

If all of us would become as concerned about working for the Lord as we are about eating and drinking and playing, we would probably become a little more successful in our religious action. There are some in the church today who seem to think that the whole sum total of Christianity is to 'eat, drink and be merry.' About all they know how to do is drink coffee and play." (Quoted by Eugene Britnell in an article, 'Eating In The Meeting House' [Searching The Scriptures, 1968] - "Robert L. Willis in reply to one by Burton Coffman which appeared in the Gospel Advocate, February 20, 1964")

Another quote from the above article by Eugene Britnell: "'There is nothing to offend me in the modern church. The minister gives a sermon on juvenile delinquency one week, reviews a movie next week, then everyone goes downstairs and plays bingo. The first part of a church they build nowadays is the kitchen. Five hundred years from now people will dig up these churches, find the steam tables and wonder what kind of sacrifices we performed.' These are the words of a Jew in Life Magazine, October 6, 1958."