Lessons From the EastSample

The Purpose of Sunday Morning

It’s entirely possible for a pastor and a church to have fabulous worship services but not produce community-transforming disciples. The most important metric isn’t what happens for an hour or so on Sunday morning, but what happens in the homes, neighborhoods, offices, fields, and shops all week.

Why did the early church grow, and why has the church seen remarkable growth at particular periods in history? Because people in the communities saw believers experiencing the love, peace, and power of God in their daily lives—and more specifically, they saw them experiencing the reality of God during times of persecution and privation. The outsiders realized the gospel actually changes lives! I’ve wondered: If first century followers of Jesus were teleported to the twenty-first century, where would they go to find the church? Would they even recognize the church? If they attended our worship, would they sense the presence, power and love of God?

As I’ve gotten to know the global pastors and visited their churches, I’ve noticed two things: the quality of their worship services often isn’t up to our standards, but the quality and number of their genuine disciples puts us to shame. The “average” believers in those churches are leading people to Christ, serving in their domains, caring for the disadvantaged, and multiplying themselves in the lives of new believers. In these churches, that’s not just a theory or a nice dream; it’s a reality.

When I sat with Eddy Leo and Sam Sung Kim, we talked about how we made disciples. I asked both of them, “How do you do it? How do you build disciples in your churches?”

Eddy took out a piece of paper and drew a triangle. He said, “Our strategy is very simple.” He drew an arrow up and explained, “Up is the importance of our relationship to the Father. Everything comes from him.” He drew arrows from the sides to the middle and said, “In is how we relate to one another in loving, strong, honest relationships.” He then drew arrows from the sides outward, and he told me, “Out is how we serve God in our community.”