His Glory or Our Glory

Ed Stetzer, in Comeback Churches, states "Many spiritual problems and barriers exist, hindering a church's growth through evangelism. Then, Stetzer cites thirty growth barriers that he believes cannot be overcome by "accepting statistics or adhering to strategies."

We will do better with the Master's Purpose than with Our Plans.

The first barrier that Stetzer states is "Churches aren't concerned about God's glory, believing the church is just for them."

Much of what we call worship is Self-Centered. Listen to much of what we call Gospel music. I never would have made it without you. The song is never clear and definitive about who the help came from. There is no mentioning of Jesus Christ. He Saw the best in Me. This denies the clear teaching of Scripture on the doctrine of the depravity of man. Our purpose is to Glorify Him and find satisfaction in so doing.

When a church's major focus is within the confines of a building, the congregation can morph into a religious country club. While on earth, Jesus was focused on those individuals that the "Religious Elite" considered to be unclean, unholy, profane. However, in truth, the attitude and hearts of the religious leaders were unclean, unholy, profane.

When a church is focused on God's Glory, they will do that which brings Him Glory. Example reaching the lost, by making disciples for Jesus Christ. We demonstrate our concern for His Glory by obeying His commands.

A story that illustrates the importance of staying focused on reaching people for Christ is below. This modern parable was written originally in 1953 by an Episcopal priest named Theodore Wedel. It shows how our own glory can take priorty over His Glory.

"A Crude Lifesaving Station"
by Theodore Wedel

On a dangerous seacoast where shipwrecks often occur there was once a crude lifesaving station. The building was just a hut, and there was only one boat, but the few devoted members kept a constant watch over the sea, and with no thought for themselves went out day and night tirelessly searching for the lost. Many lives were saved by this wonderful little station, so that it became famous.

Some of those who were saved, and various others in the surrounding area, wanted to become associated with the station and give of their time and their money and their effort for the support of its work. New boats were bought and new crews were trained. The little lifesaving station grew.

Now some of the members of the lifesaving station became unhappy, in time, however, because the building was so crude and so poorly equipped. They felt that a more comfortable, suitable place should be provided as the first refuge of those saved from the sea. And so they replaced the emergency cots with beds, and they put better furniture in the now enlarged building, so that now the lifesaving station actually became a popular gathering place for its members. They took great care in decorating it beautifully and furnishing it exquisitely, for they found new uses for it in the context of a sort of club. But fewer members were now interested in going to sea on lifesaving missions, and so they hired lifesaving crews to do this work on their behalf, and in their stead.

Now, don’t misunderstand, the lifesaving motif still prevailed in the club’s decoration and symbols — there was a liturgical lifeboat (symbolic rather than fully functional) in the room where the club initiations were held, for example — so the changes did not necessarily mean that the original purposes were totally lost.

About this time a large ship was wrecked off the coast, and the hired crews brought in boatloads of cold and wet, half-drowned people. They were dirty people and they were sick people, some of them with black skin, some with yellow skin. The beautiful new club, as you might imagine, was thrown into chaos, so that the property committee immediately had a shower house built outside the club where these recent victims of shipwreck could be cleaned up before coming
inside the main clubhouse.

At the very next meeting, there was a split in the club membership. Most of the members wanted to stop the club’s lifesaving activities for being so unpleasant, as well as for being a hindrance to the normal social life of the club. Some members insisted upon lifesaving as their primary purpose, pointing out that, indeed, they were still called a lifesaving station. But these few were finally voted down and told that if they wanted to save the lives of all the various kinds of people who were shipwrecked in those waters, they could begin their own lifesaving station down the coast. And so, they did just that.

Now as the years passed, the new station down the coast came to experience the very same changes that had occurred in the older, initial station. It evolved into a club, and yet another lifesaving station had to be founded to restore the original purpose.

Well, history continued to repeat itself, so that if you visit that seacoast today, you will find a great number of exclusive clubs along that shore. Shipwrecks are frequent in those waters, but most of the people drown!”

Please don't miss the point. I am not saying the church has some saving power in and of itself. God alone saves all of His Elect people. However I don't think this negates our responsibility in relationship to Him and others. I think the story shows how ones practices can shift when their purpose is misaligned. All that we do should be for His Glory and not ours.

I Peter 4:11

11 whoever speaks, as one who speaks oracles of God; whoever serves, as one who serves by the strength that God supplies—in order that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ. To him belong glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.