The Multiplying Community

What is the church? That is one of the most important questions of our day in the realm of Christianity. Is the church a place where we gather once a week, sing a few songs, hear a lecture and then go home to continue our lives? Is the church a building? What is the church? In chapter 5, Platt dives in to answer this question. The answer he gives for what is church is different from what most of us experience as church. Platt argues that church is a place where Christians gather to fellowship and learn the Word of God, not for "what can I get of out of it", but for "what can I do with what I've learned". He challenges us not be receivers but to be reproducers, to take what we have learned while in a community of believers and teach others. This is something that many churches across our nation are struggling with. We worry about how many butts are in the seats and much money was given so that we can improve our programs. I was in a new church plant in Huntsville, AL and we started the church on the foundation of gathering as a small community to learn and take the gospel to the city. Yet, as time went on we didn't have many people coming to our weekly church services. We changed our mindset to butts in seats = money. We needed money to keep the church afloat. In my opinion we lost site of our mission and the church didn't make it (for several reasons not just money). It is our mission as Christians to take the gospel of Christ to the nations. We invite non-believers to come and see what Christ has done. It is ok for non-believers in the church to come and see, to sit and learn and not do anything. But as we grow in our faith we should change from come and see to go and do. We must be about our Father's business.

It sit here at New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary. I am here to learn how to rightly handle the Word of Truth, to effectively teach it to others. Yet, that is a call that all of us have, not just those of us who go to seminary. We are all to be about the work of the Great Commission: "making disciples of ALL NATIONS, baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit..."