You had one job

We've all seen the meme that says "You had one job." It's usually said when someone messes up or fails to do the job they were given.

The church has one mission. That mission is the same for every church regardless of size or denomination. It is to fulfill the Great Commission and the Great Commandment. The Great Commission tells us to go into all the world and lead people to a saving relationship with Jesus Christ and help them grow as disciples. The Great Commandment tells us to love God with our entire being and our neighbor as ourselves. That's it. One job.

Business leaders are often told to ask themselves two questions. "What business are we in?" This is followed by "How's business?" So church leaders, what business are you in? In other words, what are you supposed to do? Then ask yourself, "How's business?"

What are we supposed to do? As I wrote earlier we have one job: to fulfill the Great Commission and the Great Commandment. So, is your church doing that?

The sad fact is that many of our churches are not. Among Baptists and other denominations baptisms have long been one way to determine our effectiveness at evangelism. Those numbers are down and have been for several years. Many churches have not reported a baptism in years, even decades.

As dismal as our evangelistic efforts are, disciple-making might be even worse. I talk with very few church leaders who are happy with the discipleship ministries in their churches. They talk about the difficulty in getting people to attend Bible studies, Sunday schools or small groups. Usually, only a small percentage of those in morning worship services are involved in any type of discipleship program. The result of this is that Christians are often spiritually immature and struggle to understand even basic Christian doctrine which also means they are less likely to live according to those teachings.

If we are not learning the doctrines of the church and not living them then can we truly say we are loving God with our entire being? Jesus said if you love Him you will keep His commandments.

The church needs to recapture its evangelistic zeal. That begins in the pulpit. If the pastor is not a soul-winner it's unlikely the church will be as well. There needs to be a clear call from the pulpit that the mission of the church is the winning of souls for Jesus Christ. There is time for other ministries that can impact our communities, but our one thing must be the winning of people to Christ.

With that there must be clear expectations that people are to grow in their faith. If people are not willing to grow then they should not expect to be placed in positions of leadership. The church needs to find a discipleship ministry that will work in its context and let people know they are expected to take advantage of it. Build your future leaders out of those who are growing deeper in the Lord.

Some might argue that their church is too small to do anything I've suggested. Perhaps that's why you're small. You've done nothing to reach new people for Christ and nothing to help people grow in their faith. Why would God want to send anyone your direction. BTW- The Great Commission doesn't say we are to wait until people show up at our front door. It tells us to go to where the people are proclaiming the saving work of Christ for all people.

We have one job. Now that you know what that is, what will you do to fulfill it?