There always remains the real possibility that what we become, what we call ‘church,’ is not eschatologically aimed or Spirit driven, in which case it is a sham. Sham church is not as uncommon as it ought to be.

I hear so many church leaders talk about the divine nature of the mission they are on, while at the same time taking ownership of ‘their mission.’ We can’t have a divine mission because we are not God. The divine mission belongs to the Holy Spirit. It is the Spirit’s mission. The Spirit does not cooperate with us, we cooperate with the Spirit (or not). But we must not lose sight of Whose mission this is.

To put it another way, our mission is just to do whatever the Spirit directs us to do and leave the results to the Spirit. The main result we’re after, making disciples, isn’t work we can do anyway. God alone can do that work.