Top Priority for Church Is...?

From Morguefile

I read this quote in an article on a hot button issue the other day and it really jumped out at me:

"The top priority for the church when engaging new guests is not to point out their sin, but to point to Christ.  A person can only repent if they really know who Jesus is.  People don't repent to an institution or a religious system. but to a person - the person - of Jesus."*

I was just going to put that first sentence out there - it's pretty provocative - considering how we're likely to read it.  Depending on our own biases, we'll stop at different points in that sentence.

"The top priority of the church is..." and we already know what WE know the top priority of the church is, so what follows better line up...

Or, "The top priority...is not to point out their sin..." oh no you didn't just say THAT...

Or whatever.

But, I think there's more to it than just being provocative, and the point is well taken if we'll really read it.  The top priority of the church is...to point to Christ, right?  I mean, how else do we do the Great Commission and the Great Commandment? (Make disciples and love God and each other)

In this article, focused as it is on the issue of whether or not churches should welcome homosexuals, there's this much deeper statement of what really is the purpose of the Church?  What does it mean to be - and more importantly what does it mean to do - church?

Who are we?  Sinners, saved by grace and continually in need of that grace (I wrestled with that a while back).

Grace... what we need a lot more of.  What God showed us all.  Amazing Grace.

So what is the purpose of the Church?

What is our Top Priority?









* Outreach Magazine article here, page two of the article, first paragaph