The Church is not about us. It’s not about our preferences. It’s not about our needs and what we want. It’s about accomplishing the mission of Christ. There is only one mission and that is the mission of Christ. The Church does not have a mission. Christ has a mission and that mission has a Church – that mission has not changed in thousands of years. Christ has called us, His children, His disciples, His co-labourers in the Gospel, to join Him in the fulfilment of His mission across the whole earth.

So if God is going to use us to change the world, and I believe with all my heart, that is God’s desire, then we must be a Church that prioritizes the mission of Christ. Let me say that again. If God is going to use us to change the world, then we must be a Church that prioritizes the mission of Christ. Now, that seems like an obvious thing for a preacher or Pastor to say, doesn’t it? You might even think it doesn’t need to be said and it certainly doesn’t need a whole sermon! Or does it?

The fact is, this is much harder than it sounds. Prioritizing the mission of Christ is much easier said than done. The natural tendency of any Church, not just our Church, is to drift inwardly over time. Because of the sin that still dwells in our human heart, the natural tendency for all of us is to look inwardly, to believe the lie that Church is about me. That Church is about what I want; that Church is about what I need; that Church is about my preferences; that Church is about the temperature in the Worship Centre being the temperature I want; that Church is about singing the songs I want to sing; that Church is about the sermon being the length that I want it to be; that Church is about all these things that are about me. That is a complete lie. But that is the natural drift of our hearts over time.

Let me say this again – with all love and humility – the Church is not about you or me. The Church exists to glorify God by accomplishing the mission of Christ, period. That’s why the Church exists. There are so many good things that that a Church can and should do but unless all those things flow into or out of our commitment to the mission of Christ, then biblically speaking, we are not the Church. The Church exists to glorify God, by accomplishing the mission of Christ.

So, here’s the question for us. Do we want to be a Church that God uses to change the world? If the answer is yes, then we need to understand that being a world-changing Church has nothing to do with style. It’s not about contemporary versus traditional. It’s not about what our building looks like. It’s not about any of that.

For us to be the Church that God uses to change the world, we will be known for our sacrifice, our surrender, our prayer, our worship and our absolute commitment to the mission of Christ, twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week! It’s really that simple.