When we look at the church, we must ask ourselves what we are really accomplishing. Is there a way to know if what we do is really what it is supposed to be done? Jesus said in Luke 7:35 (ESV) — Yet wisdom is justified by all her children.” Another translation puts it this way, “Well, the proof of wisdom is in all the kinds of people it produces.” (CJB) And yet another says, “And wisdom is vindicated by all her children.” (LEB) So all we need to do, based on this Scripture, is look at the fruit of our wisdom and see if it looks like God or man.
When we look at the actions and behavior of the church, we see many examples of ways to “do church.” But what are we accomplishing, and is it producing the fruit of its Builder, Jesus? If we look at what Jesus did while He was on earth, we should be doing the same and seeing the same results. (John 14:12) He healed the sick, preached the good news of the Kingdom, demonstrated to His disciples the power of the Kingdom, and overall, what Jesus did can be summed up in 1 John 3:8 The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil. Do we understand this truth that, in a nutshell, the reason Jesus came was to destroy the works of the devil? So, everything we do, as a representative of His church, should in some way be destroying the works of darkness. Jesus gave His disciples a huge object lesson in Mt. 16 when He walked with them for 32 miles to bring them to a place called The Gates of Hades at Caesarea Philippi. Do we understand the significance of this location and that it was at the base of Mt. Hermon? Do we understand this was the place of Genesis 6, retold in Enoch 1-36, where the sons of God plotted against God and brought evil into the earth? Jesus was making a statement about the purpose of His church (ekklesia) and not just taking His disciples on an afternoon walk. We may forget that the Kingdom of Heaven forcefully advances and the gates of defense that hell uses will not prevail against His church. (Mt. 11:12; Mt. 25:16-18) The church is not nor has it ever been a passive force in the earth.
Can we ask in all that we do as His church if we are in some way destroying the works of the devil? Having Sunday services does not necessarily mean that we are destroying the works of the darkness. Are concerts and conferences really making a difference? Are cities being transformed? Are people being set free from demonic oppression? Are the sick being healed? Are people living more righteous lives? What are we doing? Can we say when we leave our churches on Sunday that, in some way, the works of the devil were affected by our coming together? My professor at Gordon Conwell, Dr. Wayne Goodwin, said once, “Most churches could stop doing 90% of everything they do and not affect the Kingdom of God.” I fear his number may be low. Why? Do the children or fruit produced by the church’s wisdom vindicate that wisdom?
Is the average church now relegated to a weekly gathering where we sing 3 songs, say a cursory prayer, take up an offering, and then listen to a carefully scripted message that makes us feel good for a moment, but still we are not motivated to go out and BE the church? We often find that the end purpose in many churches is the church service rather than the church being activated to destroy the works of the devil. And, Monday, is it back to life as usual, where we are consumed with making a living so we can breathe in and out for 6 days until we come back the next week and start all over again?
We may do many good things. We may feed the hungry, but do we teach people how to eradicate hunger? Is the gospel so monetized that a dollar bill is attached to every “word from the Lord?” Are we anticipating the Prophet of the hour rather than teaching people how to hear from the Holy Spirit for themselves and walk in His power rather than another person’s shadow? A church’s presence in a city does not guarantee that the powers of darkness are being destroyed there. Many cities are filled with mega churches, so if the presence of a church means the works of darkness are being destroyed, we should be seeing different results. For example, Pew Research shows that Jacksonville, Florida, has 12 mega churches serving 1.6 million people. The population of Jacksonville in 2025 was only 1.02 million, yet violent crime in Jacksonville shows a 1 in 80 likelihood compared to 1 in 386 in the rest of Florida. (bestplaces.net) The concern is not the number of megachurches or the number of people they serve, but their effectiveness in what they are doing. Jacksonville is just one example. And, these questions must be asked of any church, large or small. Where are the results, as we saw in Wales and the Hebrides, where the crime rate dropped to almost zero, police departments were laying off people, and people were running out of bars to find a church? People were paying back bad debts, and men were returning to their families. Gambling, brothels, and alcohol establishments closed due to the religious impact on their patrons’ lives. The Welsh revival started with 17 people in a church, and the city was transformed. The Hebrides revival began with 2 elderly, half blind sisters who refused to stop praying. Soon a handful from a local church joined in and the area was transformed by God’s Presence.
What are we doing? Have we traded a passion for God for performance, popularity, fame, and fortune? Has His church become an end in itself rather than a means to an end of destroying the works of the devil, as Jesus did? What are we doing? Our own city is steeped in witchcraft, fights over boys in girls’ restrooms, and social districts. Have we forgotten how to steward our assignment so that the purposes of God are the goal and not our own agendas? Do we get so lost in the “mechanics” of church that we overlook the bareness of it? Does anyone really care what we are doing? Jesus said you will know a tree by its fruit. How are we looking?
