The church is called to be a message to the earth of God's character and power, and His kingdom, which is His rule. As the church matures into its full purpose at the end of this age, it will become a part of heaven on the earth, being ruled more by the power and authority of heaven than by the earthly realm. The church is called to be the body of Christ, which is the very extension of His being on the earth that He seeks to do His works through.

So what will the perfect church look like? It will look like Christ, doing the works that He did. This is not just the miracles, though it does include them. However, the church will preach the message that He preached, calling men to repentance, to righteousness, and to the kingdom.

Just as Jesus did most of His works and preached most of His sermons in the streets in the midst of everyday life, in the end the church will not be as associated with buildings and services as much as it will be found in everyday life. True church life is twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. Church is not something where we go—it is what we are.

Even so, one of the greatest hindrances to the church becoming what she is called to be has been zeal without wisdom—the idealism of some who try to go straight to the top of the mountain without the step-by-step climb that it will require. As we are admonished in Hebrews 6:11-12:
 

It will take both faith and patience to inherit the promises. True faith will always be demonstrated by patience. True faith does not grow weaker with the passage of time, but stronger, which we see beginning with Abraham, "the father of faith," and extending down through the testimony of all who carried the word of the Lord for their time. Even so, as the verses above exhort, we need diligence, and we must not be sluggish.

As we have covered before, Ephesians 4 is the most concise description of what the church is supposed to be in the Scriptures, which is summed up in verse 13 as, "the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fulness of Christ." The rest of that chapter describes how the church will get to this, the very "fulness of Christ."
   
When the kingdom fully comes, we know the earth will be restored to the paradise that it was originally intended to be. The prophets make clear that there will be no more crying, pain, hunger, disease, and no one will even hurt anyone else—even among the beasts, as the lions will lay down with the lambs, and children will play with cobras. That is the kingdom, but what about now?

Should the church feed all of the poor and heal all of the sick? Did Jesus? Think about it. At the pool of Siloam He must have stepped over some pretty bad cases to get to the one who He healed. He fed the multitudes a couple of times by multiplying food, and without a doubt He could have fed all of the poor on the earth if the Father had directed Him to, but He did not. If Jesus did not do this, why do churches and ministries try to do it?

 
One of the devil's most effective strategies for keeping the church weak and ineffective is to "wear out the saints." The primary way he does this is to get Christians involved in good works that the Lord did not call them to do. When we do things with the Lord, His yoke is easy, His burden is light, and we actually find refreshment for our souls while we are working. If we try to do work without Him, we will wear out and burn out, as well as not bear any real, lasting fruit.

An official of the CIA recently shared some insights about Christian missions that were remarkable. He used the example of Haiti and the Dominican Republic. Billions of dollars of charity from Christian missions have been poured into Haiti with almost nothing to show for it. A tiny fraction has been directed to the Dominican Republic with remarkable results. What was the difference?

He likewise gave the example of South Korea after the Korean War. South Korea was possibly the poorest, most devastated nation on earth. Christian missions and charities poured into the country until the State Department cut it off. Why would they do that? Because they could see that it was hindering the national economy of South Korea. Who is going to make something if you can get it for free? Who is going to try to start a store to sell things if everyone can get them for free? Immediately after this charity was cut off, the economy jumped into gear. South Korea is now one of the largest and most stable economies in the world, and the nation has enjoyed the greatest growth in Christianity of any Asian nation.

As I have traveled quite extensively to many nations, I have come to the conclusion that about 90 percent of Christian missions and missionaries are ineffective, not really accomplishing anything. On the other hand, I also think some of the greatest, most effective missionaries of all time live today, as well as some of the most effective missions of all time. My point is that it would be wonderful to see the 90 percent that seem to be wasted going to those who are bearing fruit, which almost inevitably seem to be the ones who are the most lacking in support and resources. This seems to be because those which were the best missions and are the best missionaries are rarely good at self-promotion.

I also think this same ratio could be applied to the church in general. The small percentage which has an impact is far out of proportion to their size, being some of the highest impact, lowest maintenance groups probably on the earth. Then there are the rest, which may be as high as 90 percent, which are low impact, high maintenance, and are very busy with a multitude of programs to sustain the high maintenance members, but with very little true and lasting fruit to show for it.

If this seems like an attack on the church, it is not, so please hold the defensive emails. As we are told in Proverbs, the wise will desire more than the kisses of an enemy (see Proverbs 27:6). Last year I challenged the effectiveness and efficiency of the large Christian charities like the Red Cross and Salvation Army in this Word for the Week, and I quickly heard from their officials. Instead of possibly considering that they may have some problems, they just defended themselves. Like Shakespeare, "I think they do protest too much!" I obviously hit a nerve, and though I confess to being even more disappointed in them by the responses I received, I am glad I got their attention. I really do not believe in giving up on anything that began on a Christian foundation. I do not want to give up on these historic Christian charities, but there is a need for accountability. In this I am not talking about what an audit might find, as those will rarely turn up inefficiency, which is the point here.

Americans are generous, and Christians are the most generous Americans. This is definitely a good thing. It is better to give, even if only a fraction of what is given actually goes to the needs, than to not give at all. However, how we manage what we are entrusted with will determine whether we are told, "Well done, good and faithful servant" (see Matthew 25:21 NIV), or "You wicked, lazy slave" (see Matthew 25:26) on that great judgment day according to the Lord's message to us in the Parable of the Talents. Good management is that important to Him. Efficiency is that important to Him. It should, therefore, be important to us.

As Leonard Jones recently pointed out in one of his daily blogs, when you buy a new computer it is usually really fast. Then we start adding programs to it and it bogs down more and more. He was drawing the parallel to churches, and I think it is a good one. One of the ways that Christians, churches, and charities are being worn out is by devoting most of their time, energy, and resources to that which is really bearing the least fruit. In just a cursory examination of some of these, I think as much as 95 percent of the time, energy, and resources are being devoted to what is probably bearing less than 5 percent of the fruit. There may be some fruit, which keeps us in this devotion, but is it what it should be?

Our standard should be the Lord. He did not even have an organization, but He stirred a nation. He took twelve men and through them turned the world upside down. Of course, He is the Lord and we are not, but we are supposed to be growing up into Him. That should mean that we should constantly be getting more efficient, not less.

We do need to acknowledge that it is not all about efficiency either. If we only focus on efficiency, we will lose true charity. However, if we just respond to needs out of sympathy, we will be distracted from the course, wasting time and resources, and will wear out. There is a difference between human sympathy and God's compassion. Jesus did not do anything out of sympathy. In fact, He never responded to human needs, but He only did what He saw the Father doing. We must learn to do the same.

The whole key is to be yoked with Him, to abide in Him, and to let Him do His work through us. Many of the programs which now bog down churches and charities and are bearing little or no true fruit may have been very fruitful at one time. However, they did not realize when the Lord moved on. There is also a tendency for people to become possessive of these things, even wrapping their identity up in them. It can also be hard to prune them when they need it because of the seeming human pain. However, if it is not done they will fall further and further behind the Lord, and will bear less fruit with every passing season.  

The Lord said that we can fall on the rock and be broken, or it will fall on us and crush us into powder (see Luke 20:18). In short, we can do this the easy way, or it will be done to us and be much harder. If churches and charities, which are supposed to be the arms of the body, do not heed the warnings and do it themselves, it will be done to them. As Paul said in Galatians 1:10, "If I were still trying to please men, I would not be a bond-servant of Christ." If we are afraid of making people angry or disappointing them, letting that control us, then we will end up disappointing Him. We have a choice to make.

There will be a glorious and powerful church arising. There is a huge pruning coming to help us get there. This is not coming to destroy the church, but to set her free. We can make it easier if we will judge ourselves so that He does not have to do it.