The following are my thoughts after watching an interview between John Piper and David Platt:
If our ultimate goal as the Church is to see lives transformed by the Gospel among all the nations, how does local ministry (marriage, children's, men's, women's, single parent, homeless, etc.) accomplish that?
In other words, how does doing ministry within a church that is so focused on it's own flock accomplish the Great Commission to go and make disciples of all nations? Do we have to choose? Does it have to be either/or?
-Either a church focuses on local ministry
-Or a church focuses on bringing the Gospel to the "utmost parts of the earth."
The ultimate goal should be that the Great Commission in Matthew 28 dictates to us how and why we pastor and shepherd our congregation locally.
So, for example, we want to teach and guide couples into a Christ-centered, fulfilling marriage but not just for the sake of having a happy, fulfilling marriage. We lead them to an understanding that marriage, according to Ephesians 5:22-32, is a mirror of the Gospel. Therefore, the goal should be to get couples to see that in light of that, they are to move on and be about something bigger than themselves.
We will shepherd our people and build strong marriages so that the Gospel would be spread among all the nations. A bible-saturated, God-glorifying marriage will then have the resources to be able to care about something bigger than themselves and enter into as a family the work of the Great Commission.
In the end, God's glory among every people group is the reason why we teach everything.
-We don't teach freedom from sin for the sake of being freed from sin. They will only learn how to manage their behavior.
-We don't teach tithing and financial stewardship for the sake of mere obedience or to have a "blessed life." They will only learn that God can be please by simple duty or that God's blessing can be bought for price.
-We don't simply teach our kids to obey their parents or not cuss. They will only learn how to play the game, and we will only make "good little Christian boys and girls."
We teach our people in everything how to look at themselves and others through Gospel lenses so that they can be world changers. What good is our teaching and our ministry if it simply terminates on us?
