Not Just How...Why?

Today at lunch with our ministerial staff, we were discussing the book, Eating The Elephant: Leading The Established Church To Grow, by Thom Rainer and Chuck Lawless. A question came up that I thought was worth mentioning here. We talk alot about the "how" to grow a church, but how much time do we spend on the "why?"

Why are we interested in growing the church? Why are baptisms important and why should we share the gospel? The answer: Because Jesus commanded us to do so and because God is glorified in us as we carry out his commands. The Great Commission is why we must be interested in reaching the world with the gospel. How you go about doing that may vary from person to person, church to church, and even people group to people group. Maybe your church uses F.A.I.T.H., Evangelism Explosion, huge community festivals, or Invest and Invite initiatives, evangelistic crusades, or even door to door evangelism. How you share the gospel is not nearly as important as why.

God is glorified in the salvation of sinners, he has commanded us to spread the good news. That is why we are evangelists...the rest is just details.