WILL THE MEANS BECOME THE END?
In the article, God’s design for his disciples – a community , we saw that throughout the Scriptures, the God of the Bible is about the business of forming communities.
Ultimately, God sent his own Son to die on the cross in order to form a redeemed community for Himself – the church. God did not form this community just for the sake of forming but He had an eternal purpose for this community.
What is the Purpose of God’s Community?
The purpose of God’s community is to build herself up until she forms into mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ (Eph 4:11 – 15), and complete her God-given mission – the Great Commission – by sending out missionaries and making more disciples of Jesus (Matt 29:19 – 20). This is the end towards which all our activities should be used as the means.
The Means and The End
To fulfil the purpose of the community, we start many different activities. Good. But unfortunately, a few months or years down the line, these activities lose their purpose and turn into customs. That’s how traditions are born that we hold so close to our spirits.
Consider all the activities and programs we hold in our churches for her growth. We initiate them with the intention to use them as means to fulfil the purposes of the community. But over a period of time, the activities become the ends in themselves than remaining as the means to fulfil the purposes.
Today, the reality is that we keep doing activities and participating in them because, they have become a tradition over time and we think we must follow them.
Once, a pastor told me that if he didn’t do a particular activity (one they had been doing for years), his church members would be very disappointed. It could create disputes, and a few may even think of leaving the church.
This is where some of our churches and their leaders have arrived concerning activities. It was as if the activity had become a part of their faith, so to say.
Assessing the Means Regularly
Every church continues certain activities. Probably, you have not seriously assessed them to see if they are still fulfilling God’s purpose. When have we asked ourselves, “Is this a hollow tradition that we follow?”
When do the means become the end? Here’s a helpful indicator: if an activity in your church now makes you think that you MUST do it or you will miss out on an integral part of your faith, it has become the end in itself.
As a leader, a mature Christian, start asking yourself and to your church if the activities are still being used as the means, or have they turned into the end in themselves. If need be, remind and instruct yourself and your church about the purpose of the activities and how they should be used as means.
Revive and reinforce activities. Ensure that activities don’t turn into ends in themselves, consequently developing an unhelpful tradition and destroying Biblical purposes, but that they remain God-blessed means to fulfil God-given purposes.
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