By Pastor Chad
Last Sunday, we discussed the mission of the Holy Spirit among the people of God. As Jesus tells us in John 16:12-15, the Holy Spirit leads the church of Christ in and to the gospel truth. Yet, the Holy Spirit not only leads to the gospel truth, but He guides the church in spreading that message around the world. For it is the message of the gospel that must be heard in order for others to be saved.
But why? Why does the Holy Spirit, ultimately, lead and direct the church in such ways? Jesus tells us in John 16:14, “He [the Holy Spirit] will glorify me…” That is the mission of the Spirit–to glorify the Son. That’s why the Spirit leads the church to and in the gospel truth. That’s why the Holy Spirit guides and directs the church in the gospel mission around the world. He does all this to glorify Jesus. And if that’s the ultimate mission of the Holy Spirit, that should be the mission of the church.
Cedar Heights Baptist Church ultimately exists to honor and glorify God in worship, discipleship, and service. Our existence as a local body is primarily focused on reflecting the nature, character, and mission of Christ to the world. Such a focus and goal supersedes any other function or activity that we do. In fact, if we do anything that doesn’t glorify Christ, we should stop that activity immediately–even if it is a beloved church activity or function.
It is important that we put the glory of Christ as the priority in our church life. For example, the primary function and goal of our Sunday morning worship service is not to attract a crowd or to grow our congregation; that’s great if those things happen, but that isn’t our main goal. Our main goal is to glorify Christ in worship. Thus, all of our songs, prayers, responsive readings, activities, and sermons revolve around achieving that main goal. We don’t pick songs that we like or you like–because the song isn’t about us. The number one focus of the songs we sing is to glorify Christ.
Glorifying Christ must be our primary goal at Cedar Heights. If it isn’t, then our efforts are in vain. Let me get even more pointed, if you were to ask most evangelical churches–including those within our SBC denomination–what the main function of the local church is, it is very likely the most common answer you will receive is that the church primarily exists to reach the lost. Now don’t get me wrong: reaching the lost is something the church is commanded to do; however, if a church places reaching the lost above glorifying God, then it is likely that church will waterdown, twist, change, or ignore proper Christian beliefs and practices. If, however, we put Christ’s glory above anything else, then I believe we will see a true harvest of the Lord. One that bears good, real fruit. Not one that produces plastic, fake fruit.