Why on Earth Are There Churches?: The Biblical Mission of the Local Church

By Michael R. Privett

After years of observation, I have concluded that so many local churches function without regard to their God-given, biblical mission and objectives because of their unclear mission, their unbiblical targets, or their unbalanced objectives.

The Lord God has already given His church a clearly defined mission for the present age. Yet so many local churches seem to function without understanding their biblical missiontheir God-directed reason for existencewhile other local churches and their leaders have revised or even compromised their God-given mission, thinking that they know better than God.

Some churches disband Sunday school, dismantle the choir, and disassemble pews only to replace them with other programs and ideas that will become traditional soon enough. Traditions, customs, and worship styles vary from culture to culture and from generation to generation.

Ive been in the gospel ministry long enough to have seen the pendulum swing back and forth a time or two. So many ministries, programs, concepts, and styles are not new, but just repackaged. Todays new, fresh, blended methods will become traditional to the next generation after a short period of time.

Too often we are more involved in following the latest fad than we are in striving to do all to the glory of God. What really matters is whether you have presented a true and accurate opinion and view of the nature and character of God so that others will praise and exalt Him to His worthy place of honor, esteem, and excellence.

• Language: English
• Publisher: WestBow Press
• Release date: Aug 21, 2012
• ISBN: 9781449760229

Michael R. Privett

After completing seminary and serving as an assistant pastor, Dr. Michael Privett planted a Bible-centered church in Williamsburg, Virginia, and served as its pastor for twenty-one years. He currently serves with mission agencies, assists church planters, and travels internationally to teach on the biblical mission and objectives of the local church. www.michaelprivett.com

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Copyright © 2012 by Michael R. Privett.

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ISBN: 978-1-4497-6023-6 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4497-6024-3 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-4497-6022-9 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2012912920

WestBow Press rev. date: 08/17/2012

Contents

Preface

Acknowledgments

Introduction

Part One:The Foundation

Chapter One The Foundational Problem

Chapter Two The Foundational Answer

Part Two:The Primary Mission

Chapter Three The Primary Mission: The Glory Of God (Part 1)

Chapter Four The Primary Mission: The Glory Of God (Part 2)

Chapter Five The Accomplishment Of The Biblical Mission (Part 1)

Chapter Six The Accomplishment Of The Biblical Mission (Part 2)

Part Three:The Biblical Objectives

Chapter Seven Objective: Evangelism To The Glory Of God

Chapter Eight Objective: Instruction To The Glory Of God

Chapter Nine Objective: Fellowship To The Glory Of God

Chapter Ten Objective: Worship To The Glory Of God

Chapter Eleven Objective: Praying To The Glory Of God

Chapter Twelve Objective: Equipping Believers To The Glory Of God

Conclusion

Appendix 1 Fifty Evaluative Questions

Appendix 2 Sample Mission Statement

Appendix 3 Illustrative Target

Bibliography

Preface

Before moving my wife and infant son in 1990 to historic Williamsburg, Virginia, I had taken survey trips, conducted research, studied demographics, met with county government officials, interviewed pastors, and sought counsel from experienced church planters. All of the data confirmed the burden that God put in my heart to start a Bible preaching church there.

During the first few months, I spent hundreds of hours meeting people and inviting them to our new local church. My enthusiasm was not widespread. I came across dozens who shared with me what the data did not reveal: our church was the sixth Bible-preaching church to start in the past five years. As I asked more questions, I discovered that the previous five churches had all dissolved and left behind dozens of hurting, and sometimes bitter, followers of Christ. One former member of one of these dissolved churches shared with me: We’ll pray for you, but we will never enter the doors of your church. We were involved with a church plant once and sacrificed greatly for it, but it is gone. We are going to a church now where all we have to do is sit there and do nothing at all.

On other occasions, the question was asked why I was starting a church in a city with so many established churches and which has had churches for almost 400 years. Then another question arose: How then will your new church be any different from the more well-established churches? This led me to much soul-searching as I began to ask, Why on earth are there churches?

I began an intense and extensive study of the New Testament to discover all that I could about the church. It did not take long before I was convinced that the church was indeed part of God’s will and plan. In 1991, after a year of Biblical study, I preached a series of messages on Sunday mornings to my young church plant entitled God’s Purpose for the Local Church.

Over the years, I’ve had many opportunities to preach, teach, speak, and write on this topic. In 2000, after years of ongoing and oftentimes exhaustive research while the pastor of what had become a thriving local church, I presented and defended my Biblical conclusions in my Doctor of Ministry dissertation. Finally, I was able to adapt my dissertation into a more readable format and publish it in 2005 under the title To God Be the Glory: Is Your Church on Target?

I’ve been privileged to share my life’s work and burden with pastors in the United States, Brazil, China, and the Philippines. The Lord willing, my dissertation will soon be published in Portuguese and available for Brazilian churches as well. The Word of God as well as the mission and objectives of the local church are transnational and should not be limited by cultural, traditional, or even denominational restraints. Please understand that while the applications and the demonstrations of the church’s mission and objectives will vary, the Biblical teachings and instructions regarding the church’s mission and objectives are universal in nature.

Many pastors and church planters have used To God Be the Glory: Is Your Church on Target? to train their church leaders and core members to understand the answer to the question: Why on earth are there churches?

In an attempt to help those who desire a quarterly Bible study, I’ve divided up this revised book into twelve chapters and the conclusion. It is my hope that pastors and church leaders all over the world will be able to use this revised edition in Sunday Schools, Bible studies, leadership training sessions, sermon preparation, and any other way which will help local church leaders and church members to understand God’s plan for the local church’s existence in the world.

To God be the glory,

Michael R. Privett

2012

Acknowledgments

Iwould like to express appreciation for my friends, missionaries, fellow preachers, and seminary professors all over the world who encouraged me to publish my doctoral dissertation as this book.

I acknowledge my indebtedness to Dr. E. Wayne Thompson and Dr. David Yearick, pastors under whom I served in their churches for the beginning years of my pastoral ministry, who are still my mentors in the gospel ministry.

I am thankful for my children, Joshua, Joy, and Jenna, who endured the time of researching, composing, and editing required to publish and revise this book. An extra special thanks to Joshua, my son, who helped me revise this literary exercise during his summer respite from teaching college English.

I praise the Lord for my wonderful wife, Sheri, who has supported me, encouraged me, and complemented me in the ministry. She is truly a crown from the Lord unto me.

Finally, I acknowledge and praise my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ who saved me, called me into the gospel ministry, and burdened me to complete and revise this book for the help of those in local church ministries all over the world. To God be the glory!

Introduction

Iparticipated in a preachers’ meeting out in California in June 2006. My wife and I saw this trip as an opportunity to save up our money and bring our three children to visit the Golden State and see some of its National Parks.

Having lived in Virginia most of our lives, we were captivated by the beautiful sites of California. The huge elephant seals sunning along the Pacific Coast Highway fascinated us. The hot and parched Mojave Dessert mesmerized us. The height and power of Yosemite Falls amazed us. El Capitan, a granite monolith at an elevation of over 7,500 feet in Yosemite National Park, awed us with its vastness.

The most awe-inspiring experience, however, was visiting the massive Sequoia trees in the Sequoia National Forest in the Sierra Nevada mountains in eastern California. Under the snow-capped mountains of the Western Divide, we visited General Sherman’s Tree, Chimney Tree, Tunnel Log, and Auto Log. These are the largest trees on earth. We drove through a tunnel carved through a Sequoia tree that had fallen across a road. We hiked through the forest made up of hundreds of these trees. We discovered that man’s effort to put out forest fires have hindered the Sequoia National Forest from reproducing the football-sized pinecones that require the intense heat of a fire to open and spread their seeds. I also discovered another important truth: the importance of studying the gigantic Sequoia trees within the context of their setting—the forest.

Oftentimes in theology, we become so fascinated with the trees that we neglect to see the forest. Both perspectives are important. Regarding the local church, volumes have been written on the trees of church polity, officers, ordinances, music, worship styles, ministry, community outreach, benevolence, gifts, growth, evangelism, preaching, teaching, programs, dogma, traditions, history, administration, counseling, discipleship, mentorship, and many more topics. These matters capture our attention and require our energy especially when they become diseased, damaged, or compromised.

But let’s not lose the forest in the study of the trees. It is important that we take a look at the big picture as revealed in the Word of God and not become so focused on dissecting a tree that we miss out on what the Lord wants for the church. The forest represents the answer to the question Why on earth are there churches? Before we begin to study the trees, it is good to understand the cause and reason for the forest. In other words, before we begin to study and debate the various topics regarding the local church, it is wise for us to understand the reason for the existence of the local church in the first place. I believe that the Word of God is the first and best source to find the answers to the question Why on earth are there churches?

After over twenty years of studying the Scriptures, I believe that God is the originator of the church. It has been in His plan long before it was born and revealed in the New Testament scriptures. Contrary to what some think, the local church is neither man’s invention nor a byproduct of human wisdom. The Lord God originated and instituted the local church for His glory. In addition, He instituted the local church to accomplish specific objectives for the praise of His glory. What the glory of God means will be explained, defended, illustrated, and demonstrated in the following pages.

Let’s agree that just because something is green doesn’t mean that it belongs in a healthy forest. Likewise, just because something meets in a church building doesn’t mean that it is fulfilling God’s mission for its existence. For instance, many so-called churches are no more glorifying to the Lord than a plastic plant belongs in the forest. Just because something looks real doesn’t mean that it is alive and authentic. Sadly, many churches today give the appearance of life, but are simply artificial. Conversely, many other so-called churches are no more glorifying to the Lord than fast-growing kudzu—a green, fast-spreading vine that often kills plants and trees wherever it grows—belongs in the forest. Sadly, many churches today are busy and growing, but ultimately