Being Clear about the Why - 4th Sunday after Epiphany, 2024

“For that is what I came out to do” (Mark 1:29.)

Jesus was clear about his purpose. It was the why that governed what he did.

The gospel of Mark described the first experiences of Jesus’s public ministry. They took place in Capernaum, the fishing village on the northwest shore of the Sea of Galilee. On the Sabbath, Jesus taught in the synagogue at Capernaum. In addition, he cast a demon out of a demon-possessed man, freeing him and healing him. The people were amazed at what they heard and saw: “a new teaching—with authority!” coupled with the authority to cast out unclean spirits (Mark 1:27). As a result, after sundown (i.e., when the Sabbath was over), the crowds gathered around him, seeking his healing power.

The next morning, his disciples were eager to continue what he had been doing. After all, it was working! The people were impressed with what they were hearing. The crowds were growing. “Everyone is searching for you” (Mark 1:37). It was, in their minds, what success must look like.

Jesus, however, wasn’t impressed with the response of the crowd. He had gotten up early, slipping off to a deserted place, in order to pray. In his time of prayer, he gained clarity in the face of the pressure coming from the crowds and from his disciples. “Let us go on to the neighboring towns, for that is what I came out to do” (Mark 1:38).

Jesus understood his mission—“what I came out to do.” He why he had been sent by God. He was sent to proclaim the good news of the kingdom of God. “The kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the good news” (Mark 1:15). He proclaimed the good news that the kingdom was here, now, in their midst. It was a reality they could experience in their own lives.

Jesus was clear about his purpose. That purpose—his why—dictated what he did and how he did it. His clarity about his purpose was a guardrail that prevented him from getting distracted by the response of the crowds to his teaching and healing, by the needs and demands of the crowds clamoring for healing, by the excitement of his disciples, by the disciples’ definition of success. “For this is what I came out to do.”

One of the on-going challenges that every church faces, in my opinion, is being clear about their purpose. What is their why? Why do they exist? What is their purpose?

As the followers of Jesus, a church’s purpose—it seems to me—grows out of and aligns with Jesus’s purpose.

Jesus’s purpose was to proclaim the kingdom of God, inviting people to embrace it. “Repent and believe the good news.” As he pointed people to the kingdom, taught them about it, and invited them to embrace it, he brought the kingdom into reality.

As the followers of Jesus, a church’s purpose—their why—is to learn and live the ways of the kingdom. It is to help its members grow in their understanding of the ways of the kingdom (the ways of God Jesus taught) and in their ability to live them. The church’s purpose is to be a spiritual community that embodies the ways of God Jesus taught. Like Jesus, the church is to point people to the kingdom, teach them about the kingdom, and invite them to embrace it, helping bring the kingdom into reality on earth.

Clarity about purpose—the church’s why—determines what the members do and how they do it.

Every church functions out of some purpose. The question is “are they clear about their purpose?” Apart from clarity and intentionality about purpose, what they do is governed by unidentified, unconscious purposes.

Most churches, I dare say, function more out of the past than out of a clear sense of purpose. Tradition, “we’ve always done it that way,” the likes and preferences of members begin to determine what is done. The unidentified purpose is to appease the members and keep them happy. Generally, that translates into doing what we’ve always done.

For many, the unidentified purpose is institutional survival. Institutional-organizational issues and needs take over—raising the money necessary to keep the doors open and the programs running, filling the various positions (who will do what?), addressing the needs of the building and property. The leader’s (pastor’s) role is to maintain the organizational structure and keep the various programs functioning.

Some would say the purpose of the church is to grow the church. This purpose is sometimes expressed as “reaching more people for Christ.” Growing the church is another expression of institutional survival—i.e., keeping the church from dying.

Apart from clarity and intentionality about purpose, churches often function out of conflicting purposes. Each group, class, and organization has its own agenda (purpose) because no central, defining purpose exists. Apart from clarity and intentionality about purpose, members may not even think about, much less understand, why they do what they do.

A lack of clarity about purpose opens the door to conflict and the resulting chaos. I would be so bold as to say that every church conflict took place in a congregation that did not have a clearly stated purpose.

Clarity of purpose—such as Jesus had—provides the members of a church a clear sense of identity. It creates clear boundaries, governing what they do and don’t do. (“How does this event or activity help us live out of our purpose? How is it an expression of our purpose?”) It becomes a guide for decision making and spending. It become the arbitrator in conflict. (“How does your position reflect or embody our purpose? How does it help us live out our purpose?”)

“For that is what I came out to do.” I wonder how many churches, how many church members, how many groups within the churches can say what it is that they “came out to do.” Does a clear sense of why govern what they do?