Most evangelical churches today have a short mission statement like the following: “Love God. Love People.” That kind of call to the church and to the world is biblical. It comes straight from Matthew 22:24-40. We ought to love God and love people. That is true.
But here is why that mission statement, as the primary banner over a church, falls short for what a local church’s mission is: it is Law. “Love God, Love People” is a summary of the 10 Commandments. The 10 Commandments are 10 specific laws from God regarding how we are to love Him and love people. So, let’s ask it this way. Wouldn’t you find it odd if a church’s mission statement was this: “Do The 10 Commandments”? If you read that on a banner in a church lobby, you’d probably be worried. “Is this church legalistic?” But most don’t think that way when they see a mural on the lobby wall that reads, “Love God, Love People”.
It’s not that we shouldn’t follow the 10 Commandments. We should. But should that be the ultimate, central, primary message of a local Christian church? Or is the ultimate, central, primary message of a local Christian church, “You have failed to love God and love people. You don’t do it. You can’t do it. You won’t do it. But Good News: Jesus lived, died, and rose for you!”
The typical evangelical church today, while shouting that it is “gospel-centered” and “all about Jesus” fails to see that their primary message is not the Gospel. It is not all about what Jesus has done for us but what Jesus commands from us. In other words, the typical evangelical church today is law-centered and revolves around all that Jesus commands you to do. The typical evangelical church today primarily offers you calls to action, challenges, conviction for sin, ways to progress, and steps to improve, while rarely giving you a heavy, consistent dose of the Gospel of grace.
Perhaps this is why you can never settle into a sense of peace, security, and freedom in your Christian walk. Perhaps this is why you are ever spiritually stressed, anxious, and depressed. You are rightly hearing about who you should be and how you should live. You are rightly convicted for the ways you fall short. But you are rarely comforted by the central message of the Bible, that God single-handedly saves, justifies, sanctifies, and glorifies you. At best, the Gospel is a side-note in the sermon to ensure the church isn’t legalistic about everything. Jesus to you has become a second Moses, ever bringing down to you commandments. Perhaps you no longer, to any impactful degree, see Him as your Savior.
The ultimate, central, repetitive message of the Bible is what Jesus has done single-handedly on your behalf, what He is single-handedly doing for you now, and what He will single-handedly complete in the future. I’ll leave you with the banner Paul saw over his daily life: “I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me” (Gal. 2:20). How did the Apostle Paul think about his life? As one “loved” by Jesus, loved by the One who “gave himself” for Paul.
