What a Body to Do?
How to determine your church's specific calling.
Marshall Shelley
January 1, 1984
If you look at the official statements of purpose for most churches in North America, you might conclude they are a franchise operation. A religious version of McDonald's or K-Mart, with each establishment identical except for its location.
Almost every church claims Christ as its head and some variation of the following as its purpose: "To glorify God through worship, fellowship, outreach, and service."
The wording will differ, of course. Some churches keep it short and sweet: "To disciple the body; to evangelize the world." Others wax alliterative:
Exaltation-the church existing for Christ
Edification-the church existing for itself
Evangelism-the church existing for proclamation
Extension-the church existing for action
The similarity of stated goals, however, camouflages the vast differences between churches. Even within denominations, each local body is a unique expression, with different gifts, callings, and ministries. Some emphasize missions and give half their budget to overseas work. Others major in the worship experience, or small-group fellowships, or door-to-door witnessing. Still others invest their energies in children's programs, from choirs to camps to Christmas pageants.
Most churches, however, don't like to admit they specialize. As one Oklahoma pastor says, "We all want to be full-service churches, even when we don't have the resources. We try to be all things to all people, surrounded by other churches vainly trying the same thing. The result: we're often bland and mediocre. To reach one group well, you may have to sacrifice something else."
Effective ministry does have an exclusive side. Though loving the world, God chose a particular place-Palestine-and a particular people-Abraham's race-for his most direct work. ...
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