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God’s Purpose for Your Church
To him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.
Ephesians 3:21
When David had served God’s purpose in his own generation, he [died].
Acts 13:36
One of my hobbies is gardening. I think one reason I enjoy it so much is because it fits the way God wired up my personality: I love to watch things grow. I have always been fascinated by the different ways plants develop. No two plants grow in the same way, at the same rate, or to the same size. Each plant’s growth pattern is unique. The same is true of churches. No two churches will ever grow in identical ways.
God intends for your church to be unique.
Of all the growth patterns I’ve observed as a gardener, the growth of the Chinese bamboo tree is the most amazing to me. Plant a bamboo sprout in the ground, and for four or five years (sometimes much longer) nothing happens! You water and fertilize, water and fertilize, water and fertilize—but you see no visible evidence that anything is happening. Nothing! But about the fifth year things change rather dramatically. In a sixweek period the Chinese bamboo tree grows to be a staggering ninety feet tall! World Book Encyclopedia records that one bamboo plant can grow three feet in a single twenty-four-hour period. It seems incredible that a plant that lies dormant for years can suddenly explode with growth, but it happens without fail with bamboo trees.
As I conclude this book I want to offer you this final advice: Don’t worry about the growth of your church. Focus on fulfilling the purposes of your church. Keep watering and fertilizing and cultivating and weeding and pruning. God will grow his church to the size he wants it, at the rate that’s best for your situation.
God may allow you to labor for years with little visible results. Don’t be discouraged! Underneath the surface things are happening that you can’t see. Roots are growing down and out, preparing for what is ahead. Even when you may not see the wisdom of what God is doing, you must trust God. Learn to live with the assurance that he knows what he’s doing.
Remember Proverbs 19:21: “Many are the plans in a man’s heart, but it is the Lord’s purpose that prevails.” If you are building a ministry on God’s eternal purpose, you cannot fail. It will prevail. Keep on doing what you know is right, even when you feel discouraged. “Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up” (Gal. 6:9). Just as with a bamboo tree, when the time is right God can change things overnight. What is most important is that you remain faithful to his purposes.
Be a Purpose-Driven Person
Purpose-driven churches are led by purpose-driven leaders. Acts 13:36, one of my life verses, tells us that David was purpose driven: “When David had served God’s purpose in his own generation, he [died].” I cannot think of a greater epitaph. Imagine having that statement inscribed on your tombstone: “He served God’s purpose in his own generation.” My prayer is that God will be able to say that about me when I die. And my motivation for writing this book is that God will be able to say that about y o u when you die. The secret of effective ministry is to fulfill both parts of this statement.
He served God’s purpose
The main thrust of this book has been to define God’s purposes for the church and identify the practical implications of those purposes. God’s purposes for the church are also his purposes for every Christian. As individual followers of Christ we are to use our lives in worship, ministry, evangelism,
discipleship, and fellowship. Having the church allows us to do this together; we are not alone.
I hope you have felt my passion for the church as you have read these pages. I love the church with all of my heart. It is the most brilliant concept ever created. If we intend to be like Jesus, we must love the church as he does, and we must teach others to love the church as well. “Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her… .After all, no one ever hated his own body, but he feeds and cares for it, just as Christ does the church—for we are members of his body” (Eph. 5:25, 29–30). Too many Christians use the church, but don’t love it.
As best as I can discern God’s will, I have only two aspirations for my ministry: to be the pastor of one local church for my entire life, and to encourage other pastors. Pastoring a congregation of Christ’s followers is the greatest responsibility, the grandest privilege, and the highest honor I can imagine. I’ve already stated that if I knew a more strategic way to invest my life I would do it, because I do not intend to waste my life. The task of bringing people to Christ and into membership in his family, developing them into mature disciples, empowering and equipping them for personal ministry, and sending them out to fulfill their life mission is the greatest purpose on earth. I have no doubt that it is worth living for and dying for.
In his own generation
The second half of David’s epitaph is just as crucial as the
first half. He served God’s purpose “in his own generation.” The fact is, we can’t serve God in any other generation except our own. Ministry must always be done in the context of the current generation and culture. We must minister to people in the culture as it really is—not in some past form that we may have idealized in our minds. We can benefit from the wisdom and experiences of great Christian leaders who lived before us but we cannot preach and minister the way they did because we don’t have the same culture.
David’s ministry was both relevant and timely. He served God’s purpose (which is eternal and unchanging) in his generation (which was current and changing). He served the timeless in a timely way. He was both orthodox and contemporary, biblical and relevant.
Being contemporary without compromising the truth has been our objective at Saddleback since we began. With every new generation, the rules change a little. If we always do what we’ve always done, we’ll always be where we’ve always been. The past is behind us. We can only live in today and prepare for tomorrow. We must live the words of Charles Wesley’s poem that Lowell Mason put to music over one hundred years ago:
A charge to keep I have, a God to glorify
A never dying soul to save, and fit it for the sky
To serve the present age, my calling to fulfill
O may it all my powers engage, to do my Master’s will!
Measuring Success
How do you measure success in ministry? One well-known definition of successful evangelismreads like this: “Sharing the gospel in the power of the Holy Spirit and leaving the results to God.” I’d like to adapt that statement and offer a definition of successful ministry: Successful ministry is “building the church on the purposes of God in the power of the Holy Spirit and expecting the results fromGod.”
I don’t know how the final chapters of Saddleback’s story will be written, but I am confident of this: “that he who began a good work in [us] will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus” (Phil. 1:6). God finishes whatever he starts. He is Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. He will continue to fulfill his purposes at Saddleback and in every other church that is purpose driven.
Jesus said, “According to your faith will it be done to you” (Matt. 9:29). I call this the “faith factor.” There are many factors that influence your ministry which you have no control over: your background, nationality, age, giftedness. These were determined by the sovereignty of God. But there is one important factor that you do have control over: how much you choose to believe God!
As I have studied growing churches over the years, I have discovered one great common denominator in every growing church, regardless of denomination or location: leadership that is not afraid to believe God. Growing churches are led by
leaders who expect their congregation to grow. They are people of faith who believe the promises of God, even in discouraging times. This is the secret behind everything that has happened at Saddleback Church. We have believed God for big miracles, and we’ve expected him to use us—by grace through faith. That is our choice. It’s your choice too.
Sometimes a church’s situation may look hopeless from a human standpoint. But I am firmly convinced, as Ezekiel’s experience (Ezekiel 37) proved, that no matter how dry the bones may be, God can breathe new life into them. Any church can come alive if we allow the Spirit to infuse us with a new sense of his purpose. That is what the purpose-driven church is all about.
My hope is that this book has strengthened your faith, stretched your vision, and deepened your love for Christ and his church. I hope you will share it with those who care about your congregation. Accept the challenge of becoming a purpose-driven church! The greatest churches in history are yet to be built. Are you available for that task? I pray that God will use you to fulfill his purposes in your generation. There is no greater use of your life.