The Church Has Forgotten Its Mission

Jesus Commanded Us to Make Disciples, Not Entertain Congregations

Something is seriously wrong with the Church today, and it's time we stopped pretending otherwise.

We've built beautiful buildings, invested in elaborate worship services, developed impressive programs, and learned how to attract crowds. We celebrate attendance numbers, social media followers, financial growth, and packed auditoriums as though these things prove we're accomplishing something for the kingdom of God.

But I have a question that every pastor, church leader, and professing Christian needs to answer.

Where are the disciples?

I'm not asking how many people attend church. I'm not asking how many raised their hands during an invitation, repeated a prayer, or joined a congregation. I'm asking how many people are actually following Jesus Christ, obeying His Word, turning away from sin, and helping others do the same.

Because those are two very different things.

We've become so concerned about attracting people to church that we've neglected the responsibility of teaching them what it means to belong to Christ.

And we're paying the price for it.

Jesus Never Told Us to Build an Audience

Before Jesus ascended into heaven, He gave His disciples their commission.

In Matthew 28:18-20, Jesus declared that all authority had been given to Him in heaven and on earth. He then commanded His followers to make disciples of all nations, baptizing them and teaching them to observe everything He had commanded.

Read that passage carefully.

Jesus didn't commission His Church to become popular. He didn't instruct us to compete for attendance, build religious entertainment centers, or create an atmosphere where nobody ever feels uncomfortable.

He commanded us to make disciples and teach them to obey Him.

That word "obey" is where things start getting uncomfortable.

It's easy to invite people to church. It's easy to tell them God loves them. It's easy to assure them that Jesus died for their sins.

But what happens when we tell them that following Jesus requires repentance, self-denial, obedience, and perseverance?

What happens when Scripture confronts the way they're living?

Do we faithfully teach what Christ commanded, or do we change the subject because we're afraid they'll leave?

Jesus never gave us permission to alter His instructions to make them easier for people to accept.

In Luke 9:23, He taught that anyone desiring to follow Him must deny himself, take up his cross daily, and follow Him.

That is the call to discipleship.

And it hasn't changed.

We've Confused Church Attendance With Following Christ

Here's a question that should bother every congregation in America.

How can someone attend church faithfully for twenty or thirty years and still have little understanding of Scripture, repentance, spiritual discernment, or what Jesus actually commanded?

What have we been teaching them?

And what have they been doing with what they've heard?

We've created an environment where people can attend services, participate in worship, give their offerings, and leave believing they've fulfilled their responsibility to God for another week.

Then they return to their ordinary lives, making decisions according to the world's standards, pursuing the same desires, and excusing the same sins.

And next Sunday, they do it all over again.

Sitting in a church doesn't make you a disciple any more than sitting in a garage makes you a mechanic.

Church attendance has its place. Fellowship matters. Corporate worship matters. Gathering together as believers is commanded in Scripture.

But attending church and following Christ are not the same thing.

James 1:22 commands believers to be doers of the Word rather than hearers only, deceiving themselves.

Notice that warning. A person can hear God's Word and still be deceived about his spiritual condition.

The problem isn't a lack of exposure to religious activity. It's hearing the truth without responding in obedience.

And the Church has a responsibility to confront that.

Hebrews 5:12-14 addresses believers who should have matured enough to teach others but still needed instruction in elementary matters. They had failed to develop the spiritual discernment that comes through practicing God's Word.

Now ask yourself something.

If you've been attending church for years, are you growing in your understanding of Scripture? Can you recognize false teaching? Can you explain the Gospel? Can you help another believer understand God's Word?

Or are you still completely dependent upon someone standing behind a pulpit to tell you what to think?

A pastor's responsibility is to equip disciples, not create lifelong dependence upon himself.

The goal is to develop believers who know the Scriptures, discern truth from error, obey Christ, and can help others grow without constantly needing someone to hold their hand.

If our churches aren't producing that kind of spiritual maturity, we need to seriously examine what we're doing.

Pastors, We Will Answer for What We Teach

Now I want to address those of us who have accepted the responsibility, the call of shepherding God's people.

Being a pastor is not a popularity contest.

It isn't a position for someone who needs constant approval, recognition, or applause.

And it certainly isn't permission to build a personal following around ourselves.

In Ephesians 4:11-16, Paul explains that Christ gave leaders to the Church for the equipping of the saints, the work of ministry, and the building up of the body of Christ. The purpose is spiritual maturity so believers are no longer carried about by every wind of doctrine.

That is our responsibility.

Not simply delivering a message that makes people feel good about themselves.

Not telling them what they want to hear so they'll keep attending.

And not avoiding difficult passages because they might challenge someone's lifestyle, political opinions, personal convictions, or financial support.

Paul warned Timothy about a time when people would no longer endure sound doctrine but would seek teachers who satisfied their own desires.

That's exactly what 2 Timothy 4:3-4 describes.

And what did Paul instruct Timothy to do?

In 2 Timothy 4:2, he commanded him to preach the Word, convince, rebuke, exhort, and teach with patience.

Rebuke is part of biblical ministry.

Correction is part of discipleship.

And when we refuse to confront sin because we're afraid of offending someone, we're neglecting the very people we've been entrusted to shepherd.

I don't want someone standing before Christ one day claiming nobody ever warned them because I was too concerned about protecting their feelings.

Ezekiel 33:7-9 describes the responsibility of a watchman to sound the warning. That passage was spoken to Ezekiel concerning Israel, but the seriousness of faithfully delivering God's message is something every person entrusted with spiritual leadership needs to consider.

James 3:1 warns that teachers will receive a stricter judgment.

Think about that before deciding to leave something out of your next sermon because it might upset a few people.

Pastors aren't called to entertain the flock while wolves devour it.

We're called to feed, equip, correct, and protect those entrusted to our care.

And we will answer to God for how faithfully we carried out that responsibility.

Stop Expecting Your Pastor to Live Your Faith for You

Now, before anyone starts pointing fingers at their pastor, we need to address the other side of this problem.

Your pastor cannot follow Jesus for you.

He cannot repent for you. He cannot obey God's commandments for you. He cannot develop your relationship with Christ while you refuse to spend time in God's Word.

You are personally responsible for how you respond to what God has revealed in Scripture.

Far too many Christians have become spiritually lazy.

They'll spend hours scrolling through social media, watching television, arguing about politics, or following their favorite internet personalities, but can't seem to find time to open their Bibles.

Then they wonder why they're confused about what Scripture teaches. Or worse, are convinced they know it all.

They repeat things they've heard from pastors, influencers, and religious personalities without ever examining whether those teachings agree with God's Word.

And when someone challenges those teachings with Scripture, they become defensive because their loyalty is to the person who taught them rather than to the truth itself.

That's not spiritual discernment.

That's dependence upon human authority.

Acts 17:11 describes the Bereans examining the Scriptures daily to determine whether what they were being taught was true.

If they examined the teaching of the apostle Paul against Scripture, what makes you think your favorite pastor or preacher should be exempt?

And that includes me.

Don't accept something simply because I say it. Open your Bible and examine it for yourself.

I don't want disciples who depend on me for the rest of their lives. I want disciples who understand Scripture, obey Christ, recognize deception, and are equipped to help others do the same.

That's what we're supposed to be producing.

If you've spent years listening to sermons without allowing God's Word to change how you live, the problem isn't simply what you've been taught.

It's also what you've refused to do with it.

We Have Replaced Conviction With Comfort

There's a reason some churches avoid preaching about sin, repentance, judgment, holiness, and obedience.

Those subjects make people uncomfortable.

And uncomfortable people sometimes leave.

So instead of confronting the spiritual condition of the congregation, the message becomes focused on encouragement, personal success, happiness, financial blessings, and how God wants to improve your circumstances.

People leave feeling inspired without ever being confronted with the condition of their souls.

But encouragement without truth can become a dangerous form of deception.

Jesus didn't spend His ministry assuring people that their relationship with God was fine while they continued living in rebellion against Him.

He called people to repentance.

He confronted religious hypocrisy.

He exposed false teaching.

He warned about judgment.

And He made it clear that following Him would come at a cost.

In Matthew 7:21-23, Jesus warned that not everyone who calls Him Lord will enter the kingdom of heaven. He described people who would point to religious works performed in His name, only to hear that He never knew them.

Think about how terrifying that is.

These weren't people who openly denied Jesus. They were people who called Him Lord and pointed to what they had done in His name.

Yet their profession and religious activity did not establish a genuine relationship with Him.

Claiming to be a Christian and following Christ are not the same thing. Period.

A congregation can be filled with religious activity while its people remain spiritually unchanged.

And any church that continually reassures people of their spiritual security while refusing to teach the necessity of repentance and obedience is doing them a terrible disservice.

Revelation 3:14-22 records Christ's rebuke of the lukewarm church in Laodicea. That congregation thought it was prosperous and in need of nothing, while Christ exposed its miserable spiritual condition.

They were satisfied with themselves.

Jesus wasn't.

That's a warning the modern Church needs to hear.

The Church Is Supposed to Be Different From the World

Take a serious look at what the early Church was doing in Acts 2:42-47.

Believers devoted themselves to the apostles' doctrine, fellowship, breaking bread, and prayer. They cared for one another, provided for those in need, worshiped together, and lived as a community transformed by their faith in Christ.

Their faith affected how they lived.

It affected how they treated people.

And it affected what they were willing to sacrifice for one another.

Now compare that with what passes for Christianity today.

We have people fighting over personal preferences, arguing about music styles, defending denominational traditions as though they're commandments from God, and treating church attendance like a weekly social obligation.

Meanwhile, people are struggling spiritually, families are falling apart, and believers who desperately need discipleship are left to figure things out on their own.

Some churches have become so concerned with maintaining programs and appearances that they've forgotten the people those ministries are supposed to serve.

And we cannot ignore the physical needs of people while claiming to care about their spiritual condition.

James 2:15-17 confronts the emptiness of offering religious words to someone in need while refusing to provide practical assistance.

The early Church understood that caring for people was part of living out their faith.

That doesn't mean abandoning the preaching of the Gospel to become a social organization. It means understanding that genuine faith produces action.

If we preach about the love of Christ but cannot be bothered to demonstrate that love toward the people around us, what exactly are we teaching?

The Church was never supposed to become a religious version of the world.

Romans 12:2 commands believers not to be conformed to this world but to be transformed through the renewing of their minds.

Transformation isn't supposed to be an empty theological expression.

It's supposed to affect the way we live.

The Church Must Return to Its Mission

We've spent enough time trying to make Christianity acceptable to a world that increasingly rejects the authority of Jesus Christ.

We've spent enough time measuring ministry success by numbers, money, attention, and influence.

And we've spent enough time making excuses for professing Christians who refuse to grow in obedience.

The mission Christ gave His Church has never changed.

We're commanded to preach the Gospel, make disciples, teach obedience to His Word, care for one another, and remain faithful to Him.

That responsibility doesn't disappear because society changes.

It doesn't disappear because biblical truth becomes unpopular.

And it certainly doesn't disappear because someone threatens to leave the congregation when Scripture confronts their behavior.

Pastors need to stop being afraid to preach the whole counsel of God.

Church leaders need to stop confusing successful programming with spiritual maturity.

And congregations need to stop treating their spiritual growth as someone else's responsibility.

We need believers who can stand on God's Word when everything around them is falling apart.

Believers who understand that their allegiance belongs to Jesus Christ above every political party, government, denomination, and religious personality.

Believers who are willing to obey Christ even when obedience costs them something.

And believers who can take what they've learned and teach somebody else.

If the people in our churches aren't becoming disciples who can make disciples, then what exactly are we accomplishing?

It's Time to Examine Ourselves

I'm not interested in building a ministry where people come to hear me speak, tell me how much they enjoyed the message, and return to their lives unchanged.

I'm interested in whether people are actually following Jesus Christ.

And every pastor and every professing Christian needs to examine that same question.

If you're a pastor, are you faithfully teaching everything Christ commanded, including the parts that make people uncomfortable?

Are you equipping believers to study Scripture, discern truth, obey Christ, and teach others? Or are you building a congregation that remains dependent upon you?

And if you're sitting in that congregation, what are you doing with the truth you've been taught?

Are you growing in holiness and obedience? Are you turning away from sin? Are you becoming more like Christ?

Or have you convinced yourself that attending services, listening to sermons, and identifying as a Christian are enough?

Jesus never commanded us to produce churchgoers. He commanded us to make disciples.

And one day, every one of us will stand before Him.

Your attendance record won't answer for your obedience.

Your pastor won't answer for the decisions you made.

And your years of religious activity won't excuse a life spent refusing to follow the One you claimed was Lord.

The Church needs to wake up, return to Scripture, and get back to doing what Christ actually commanded.

Because the mission was never about filling seats.

It was about making disciples.

And it's long past time we started acting like it.

Matthew 28:18-20