ChetOS.net

It is amazing how complicated some topics are.  It is also amazing how little we actually know about the role and history of the church.

My wife and I are fortunate to have a bible college education, it enables us to answer these questions more thoroughly than others, but I still feel like I don't know enough.

Here are some questions we asked students during group time on Wednesday night:

1. What is the church?

2. In what ways are we like the early church?

3. What are some things the church does today that would confuse the first Christians?

4. How would you guess the American church is different from churches in other countries?

5. Why did Jesus make the church?

How would you answer these questions?

One of my big "crusades" is getting people to understand the role and purpose of the church.  I define the church as the gathering of believers.  Some people feel that it is "the church"'s job to evangelize.  They feel that our Sunday morning service needs to focus on getting people to Christ.

I feel that this desire is misplaced...  the church's job is to edify, equip, and strength believers.  It is believer's job to evangelize.

I think that if our churches focused more on discipleship, Christian education, and benevolence, it would go a long way to helping Christians (not "the church") reach our communities.

(The importance of Christian education is another one of my big things, I am sad to hear that many churches are doing away with Sunday School [and not replacing it with another form of education].)