The Internal Mission of the Church

The internal mission of the church is to create and form whole disciples of Jesus.

What does it mean to be a Disciple of Jesus Christ?

Matthew 28:18–20 (CSB)

Jesus came near and said to them, “All authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth. Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe everything I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

Acts 2:41-47 Canvas Reference.

Worship

The declaration and adoration of God because of who he is and what he has done. We do this in song, and in our words and deeds.

Psalm 95:1–7 (CSB)

Come, let’s shout joyfully to the Lord,

shout triumphantly to the rock of our salvation!

Let’s enter his presence with thanksgiving;

let’s shout triumphantly to him in song.

For the Lord is a great God,

a great King above all gods.

The depths of the earth are in his hand,

and the mountain peaks are his.

The sea is his; he made it.

His hands formed the dry land.

Come, let’s worship and bow down;

let’s kneel before the Lord our Maker.

For he is our God,

and we are the people of his pasture,

the sheep under his care.

Romans 12:1 CSB

Therefore, brothers and sisters, in view of the mercies of God, I urge you to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God; this is your true worship.

Ministry

The active caring that should occur for other believers in the body of the church.

James 1:27 CSB

Pure and undefiled religion before God the Father is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself unstained from the world.

James 2:14–17 CSB

What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but does not have works? Can such faith save him? If a brother or sister is without clothes and lacks daily food and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, stay warm, and be well fed,” but you don’t give them what the body needs, what good is it? In the same way faith, if it does not have works, is dead by itself.

Fellowship

The building and maintaining of Christian community.

Proverbs 27:17 CSB

Iron sharpens iron, and one person sharpens another.

1 Thessalonians 5:11 CSB

Therefore encourage one another and build each other up as you are already doing.

Discipleship

Forming and teaching others to become like Jesus.

I Was Discipled By the Church

Somewhere along the way I picked up the idea that discipleship was about finding one mentor who could, with his wit and wisdom, heal my wounds and bring me closer to Jesus. I thought there’d be notebooks, coffee, and in-depth Bible studies. I imagined he’d be older, wiser, and profoundly interested in my life. Maybe you’ve found that kind of person—if so, great. But here is what actually happened: I was discipled by the church. My regular old normal church. I showed up and heard sermons. I attended classes and groups and get-togethers.

Teaching by Doing

In third grade, I saw my Sunday school teacher, Bud Whitlow, write a check for what seemed an insane amount of money, and give it to the church. I watched him write that check every Sunday for as long as he was my teacher. (Bud let his son, Steven, and me blow up milk jugs with a 12-gauge on his property outside of town.)

In sixth grade, Mrs. Amanda Jordan told me to read my Bible for myself, not just to listen to others do it. Then someone else taught me how. Then someone else told me to look for the narrative thread of salvation history in both Old and New Testaments.

In eighth grade, a young dad from church took me to visit the sick people and showed me how to pray with them. Sometimes he’d tell me to jump in his truck and take me to visit the people who were new to the church. He’d always put on his ball cap to drive and take it off when we were about to go inside. A few times people prayed to be Christians when we went to their home.

When I was a high-school freshman, my dad was my pastor. He took me and some men from my church to a pastor’s conference in Jacksonville, Florida, and we listened to sermons for two days. We drank coffee between sessions. I felt like a grown man.

Another man not much older than me volunteered to lead our youth group at church and taught me how to ask my friends if they wanted to be Christians. A few times I did.

I played football for Coach Wesley Dicks at Keystone Heights High School. He was also a deacon at our church and showed me how to live a godly life as a public figure in a small town. He probably thought I wasn’t paying attention, because by then I had started hiding my faith and acting like an unbeliever at school.

Time of Straying

When I landed in a South Carolina college and began avoiding her altogether, the church still had my heart.

I did my best to ignore Don Wilton’s sermons, but I still attended his church in Spartanburg with my girlfriend.

One of the leaders at our school, Rick Brewer, encouraged, cajoled, and bribed me to take my connection to the church seriously, but I transferred schools and left the state instead. (I always assumed he saw through my Christian charade. There was no hiding my love for the world.)

My brother and I moved to Shawnee, Oklahoma together. Since I was new in town, a pastor I’d never met came to visit our apartment and invited us to church. I tried to make him feel stupid. He walked away angry with me, but I closed the door knowing the church still wanted me. (Of course, this Baptist pastor probably thought it was a waste of his Saturday morning to knock on my door. But it was actually a part of my discipleship.)

Open Arms

Eventually, I returned to the church and found her happy to take me back.

A volunteer opened the door and smiled. A very kind older woman asked me to fill out a card and gave me a gift with the church logo on it. They put me in a group with people my age. Guys my age encouraged me to give 10 percent of my paycheck. The young-couples class discovered I could teach and gave me the opportunity.

I had treated the church so badly, yet the church eagerly encouraged me to pursue leadership.

Sometimes older, wiser men would cross my path and take an interest in me, but none of those guys possessed all of the spiritual gifts. I learned they’re just men.

If I was hoping for a spiritual guru or all-in-one spiritual guide, father, and pastor, they failed. But as parts of Christ’s body, they did their job.

These were good men, each deficient in some way. Individually they were less than what I needed, but corporately they were the body bringing me to maturity.

God never gave me a spiritual father who would play Paul to my Timothy, but I’m not sure that’s very common anyway.

Instead he gave me his very body. I was discipled by the church.

Theology & Doctrine

What do we believe and why?

Hermeneutics

How to properly study the Bible

Apologetics

How to defend what you believe in a way that makes sense to the hearer.

Worldview

Having a biblically minded view of the world.

Accountability

Helping each other live into what we are called to be.

Culture Engaging & Culture Creating

Offensive world engagement rather than reactionary.

Why do people leave the church?

Lifeway Research:

Nearly all — 96 percent — cited life changes, including moving to college and work responsibilities that prevented them from attending. 

Seventy-three percent said church or pastor-related reasons led them to leave. Of those, 32 percent said church members seemed judgmental or hypocritical and 29 percent said they did not feel connected to others who attended. 

Seventy percent named religious, ethical or political beliefs for dropping out. Of those, 25 percent said they disagreed with the church's stance on political or social issues while 22 percent said they were only attending to please someone else. 

And, 63 percent said student and youth ministry reasons contributed to their decision not to go. Of those, 23 percent said they never connected with students in student ministry and 20 percent said the students seemed judgmental or hypocritical.

The repentance of “church club”

The internal mission of the church is to create and form whole disciples of Jesus.

Philippians 2:12–18 CSB

Therefore, my dear friends, just as you have always obeyed, so now, not only in my presence but even more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. For it is God who is working in you both to will and to work according to his good purpose. Do everything without grumbling and arguing, so that you may be blameless and pure, children of God who are faultless in a crooked and perverted generation, among whom you shine like stars in the world, by holding firm to the word of life. Then I can boast in the day of Christ that I didn’t run or labor for nothing. But even if I am poured out as a drink offering on the sacrificial service of your faith, I am glad and rejoice with all of you. In the same way you should also be glad and rejoice with me.