The Main Thing
"And now....the main event!" If you've ever been to a circus, you may have heard those words. In a three-ring circus, there are often things going on all the time, but then the lights focus on the center ring, the announcer cries out those words, and the "most impressive" event begins. Everyone is focused; this is what they came for.
The same is true in a couple of different venues of entertainment. When you go to a live concert, usually there are one or two opening acts. They will perform three or four songs, and then the excitement begins to build as you wait for the main event—the band you came to really see. (I've noticed that some people don't even come until it's time for the main event.) Or, in some movies, there is a cartoon before the feature film. (That's an increasingly rare event.) You put up with the cartoon; it can be good or bad and it doesn't really matter. What matters is the main event, and when it comes on, the lights go down low, a hush comes over the audience and the movie begins.
The main event. It's what we've come for. It's why we gather.
Everywhere except in the church.
In the church, we struggle to focus on the main event. Sometimes we don't even know what it is. A bishop from Germany came to speak to us at Asbury Seminary one time, and though I can't tell you the text or the title of his sermon (come on, this was over twenty years ago), I can tell you his thesis because he said it over and over during his message. "Keep the main thing the main thing!" That I have remembered over all these years because I need that constant reminder.
But what is the main thing?
Is it the worship service? And if it is, what part? Of course, preachers would love for you to say the sermon is the main thing, but it's not. Musicians would hope you see the musical worship as the main thing, but it's not. The finance team hopes you'll see the offering as the main thing, but it's not. Those pieces are all important, but none of them are "the main thing," the reason the church comes together. Neither is the Sunday worship service as a whole. If the only reason we come together is for a service once a week, we might as well all stay home. That's not the main thing.
Neither is the building. Nothing we inhabit is "the main thing." In fact, though some people like to refer to a church building as "God's house," it's not. As Stephen preached in the book of Acts, "The Most High does not live in houses made by human hands" (Acts 7:48). No matter how nice our building may be, the building is not the main thing.
Neither are our programs. As great as children's, youth and adult ministries might be, they are not the reason the church exists. Ministries like preschool and congregational care and education and meeting practical needs—none of these are the main thing. Important, yes, but not the center.
So, by now, you're wondering (I hope), what is the main thing?
The church exists to make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world. All of these activities and resources must help us accomplish that sole mission, that main thing: to help people come to know, love and serve Jesus. Anything that doesn't help us accomplish that should be let go. Because if we're not keeping our main thing as the main thing, then we're just another nice group.
Don't settle for thing that, in reality, are just the "opening acts." Keep the main thing the main thing.
The same is true in a couple of different venues of entertainment. When you go to a live concert, usually there are one or two opening acts. They will perform three or four songs, and then the excitement begins to build as you wait for the main event—the band you came to really see. (I've noticed that some people don't even come until it's time for the main event.) Or, in some movies, there is a cartoon before the feature film. (That's an increasingly rare event.) You put up with the cartoon; it can be good or bad and it doesn't really matter. What matters is the main event, and when it comes on, the lights go down low, a hush comes over the audience and the movie begins.
The main event. It's what we've come for. It's why we gather.
Everywhere except in the church.
In the church, we struggle to focus on the main event. Sometimes we don't even know what it is. A bishop from Germany came to speak to us at Asbury Seminary one time, and though I can't tell you the text or the title of his sermon (come on, this was over twenty years ago), I can tell you his thesis because he said it over and over during his message. "Keep the main thing the main thing!" That I have remembered over all these years because I need that constant reminder.
But what is the main thing?
Is it the worship service? And if it is, what part? Of course, preachers would love for you to say the sermon is the main thing, but it's not. Musicians would hope you see the musical worship as the main thing, but it's not. The finance team hopes you'll see the offering as the main thing, but it's not. Those pieces are all important, but none of them are "the main thing," the reason the church comes together. Neither is the Sunday worship service as a whole. If the only reason we come together is for a service once a week, we might as well all stay home. That's not the main thing.
Neither is the building. Nothing we inhabit is "the main thing." In fact, though some people like to refer to a church building as "God's house," it's not. As Stephen preached in the book of Acts, "The Most High does not live in houses made by human hands" (Acts 7:48). No matter how nice our building may be, the building is not the main thing.
Neither are our programs. As great as children's, youth and adult ministries might be, they are not the reason the church exists. Ministries like preschool and congregational care and education and meeting practical needs—none of these are the main thing. Important, yes, but not the center.
So, by now, you're wondering (I hope), what is the main thing?
The church exists to make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world. All of these activities and resources must help us accomplish that sole mission, that main thing: to help people come to know, love and serve Jesus. Anything that doesn't help us accomplish that should be let go. Because if we're not keeping our main thing as the main thing, then we're just another nice group.
Don't settle for thing that, in reality, are just the "opening acts." Keep the main thing the main thing.
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