In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, one God. Amen.
We have spoken about how the evangelist must be filled with the Holy Spirit, how he must see people through the eyes of Christ, and how the fire of God's word compels him to speak. But now we must address something fundamental: evangelism is not the work of an individual alone - it is the work of a living church.
A person cannot simply hear the Gospel and remain independent. There is no salvation outside the church. Why? Because the person who believes must be brought into the church for catechesis - to be taught the faith. He must be baptized. He must participate in the liturgy. He must receive the Eucharist. The church is where Christ dwells, where heaven meets earth, where the saints intercede, where the sacraments give life. Without the church, evangelism has no destination.
This means that the church itself must be ready to receive those who come. If the church is broken, where will you bring the people you evangelize? If the hospital is closed, where will you take the sick?
Two Things That Hinder the Church
The apostle St. John, in his first epistle, makes clear that two things destroy the church's ability to evangelize. These two things are impure faith and impure love. When either of these is present, the church becomes unable to fulfill its mission.
Let us examine each one carefully.
Impure Faith
A Non-Incarnate God
The first and most serious problem is when a church presents a God who is not fully incarnate. Some churches deny the full divinity of Christ. Others deny His full humanity. Both are devastating.
When St. Peter made his great confession, he said:
"You are the Christ, the Son of the living God." - Matthew 16:16
Our Lord Jesus told him that flesh and blood had not revealed this to him, but the Father in heaven. And upon this confession - this rock of faith - Christ said He would build His church. If this rock is cracked, if the faith in the full divinity and full humanity of Christ is compromised, the entire foundation crumbles.
A church that does not confess the incarnate God - fully God and fully man, united without separation, without confusion, without alteration, without mixing - cannot evangelize. What will it offer people? A diminished Christ is no Christ at all.
Churches Without Altars
When a church removes the altar, it loses the Eucharist. And when it loses the Eucharist, it loses the living presence of Christ in its midst. St. Augustine of Hippo said a profound truth:
"Christians make the Eucharist, and the Eucharist makes Christians."
The Eucharist is not a symbol. It is not a memorial meal. It is the true Body and true Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ. When a church abandons this, it becomes a lecture hall, a social club, an entertainment venue - but it is no longer the place where heaven touches earth and where Christ dwells bodily among His people.
The altar is the heart of the church. Without it, you have a building, but you do not have the church.
Loss of the Communion of Saints
When a church loses its connection to the saints and their intercession, it becomes purely earthly and institutional. The saints are not dead - they are alive in Christ, and we are united with them:
"You are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God." - Ephesians 2:19
A church that denies the intercession of the saints, that removes their icons, that forgets the cloud of witnesses - this church has cut itself off from its own family. It has reduced the Body of Christ to only those people visible in the building on Sunday morning. But the true church spans heaven and earth. The Virgin Mary, the apostles, the martyrs, the desert fathers - they are all part of the one Body, and their prayers support us.
The Danger of Individualism
Perhaps the most subtle form of impure faith is the spirit of radical individualism: "You don't need the church. You don't need the sacraments. You don't need a priest. You don't need repentance. Just believe in your heart and that is enough."
This sounds appealing. It sounds like freedom. But it is a departure from the faith that was delivered to the apostles. Christ established a church. He instituted sacraments. He ordained apostles. He gave the authority to bind and loose. He breathed on His disciples and said, "Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them" (John 20:22-23).
When we strip all of this away in the name of simplicity, we are not returning to the early church - we are abandoning it.
Compromise on God's Design
Another sign of impure faith is when a church compromises on God's design for humanity - His design for gender and for the family as He intended it. When a church bends its teaching to match the culture rather than calling the culture to match God's truth, it has lost its prophetic voice.
Expansion Over Mission
Some churches become focused on expansion and funding rather than on their actual mission. They build larger buildings, run more programs, raise more money - but the souls of the people are neglected. Our Lord Jesus prayed:
"I do not ask that You take them out of the world, but that You keep them from the evil one." - John 17:15
The goal is not to build an empire. The goal is to keep people from the evil one, to bring them to Christ, to present them pure before God. When the institution becomes more important than the mission, the church has lost its way.
Impure Love
The second great hindrance is impure love. Even if a church has perfect doctrine, if it does not love, it cannot evangelize. Our Lord Jesus said:
"By this everyone will know that you are My disciples, if you love one another." - John 13:35
Conflicts Over Positions
Some churches are plagued by conflicts - not over defending the faith, but over positions, authority, and status. People fight over who sits in the front row, who leads the meeting, who controls the budget. Young people come to church and see servants who cannot love each other, who speak poorly of one another, who compete instead of cooperate.
What message does this send? If the people of God cannot love each other, why would anyone believe that God is love?
Rejecting Sinners
Some churches reject sinners instead of welcoming them. A person comes broken, ashamed, needing healing - and instead of compassion, he finds judgment. Instead of open arms, he finds pointed fingers.
St. John Chrysostom said it powerfully:
"The church is a hospital. Beware of turning it into a courtroom."
When our Lord Jesus encountered the woman caught in adultery, all the religious leaders stood ready to condemn her. But Christ knelt down on the ground with her. He did not stand above her. He came down to her level. And from that position - kneeling with the sinner, not standing over her - He said, "Neither do I condemn you; go and sin no more" (John 8:11).
This is the posture of the evangelistic church. We kneel with Christ beside the sinner. We do not cast stones. We offer the hand of Christ.
Focus on Money Over Souls
When a church becomes more concerned with its financial status than with the souls of its people, something has gone terribly wrong. In the book of Acts, the early church was the opposite:
"Nor was there anyone among them who lacked; for all who were possessors of lands or houses sold them, and brought the proceeds of the things that were sold, and laid them at the apostles' feet." - Acts 4:34-35
The money was at the apostles' feet - beneath the mission, serving the mission, not directing it. Evangelism flourished because resources served the Gospel, not the other way around.
The Path Forward
So what do we do? How does a church become an evangelistic church?
Teach the Creed
First, every church must review and teach the Nicene Creed properly to all its members. The Creed is not just words we recite - it is the summary of what we believe. Every line matters. Every phrase was fought for by the Church Fathers against heresies. When the people of the church truly understand the Creed, they will have a solid foundation of faith that cannot be shaken.
Go through it line by line. Explain what "Light of Light, true God of true God" means. Explain why we say "was incarnate of the Holy Spirit and of the Virgin Mary." Make sure every member of the church can articulate what they believe and why.
Repent for Not Loving
Second, everyone must repent for not loving one another. This is not optional. If there is a person in your church whom you refuse to speak to, if there is a servant you cannot cooperate with, if there is a conflict you have allowed to fester - you must repent. Not because you feel like it, but because Christ commanded it.
The evangelistic church is a repenting church. It does not pretend to be perfect. It acknowledges its failures and turns back to Christ.
Address Cultural Flaws
Third, the church must honestly address the cultural flaws that have crept in - disorder, lack of cleanliness, lack of punctuality, lack of hospitality. These are not spiritual issues at their root, but they communicate a message. When a visitor walks into a church that is disorganized, dirty, and unwelcoming, the message is: "We do not care." And that message contradicts everything we say about the love of God.
Christian principles should govern how we manage our churches: order, beauty, cleanliness, and genuine hospitality.
A Practical Exercise
This week, find someone in your church whom you do not know - or someone you have been distant from. Greet them. Learn their name. Ask about their life. Take one small step toward the kind of loving community that makes the church a magnet for the world.
Because when the world sees a community where people truly love each other, where sinners are welcomed, where the faith is pure and the love is real - they will not need much convincing. They will see Christ in you.
"By this everyone will know that you are My disciples, if you love one another." - John 13:35
Conclusion
The evangelistic church is not a church with a clever marketing strategy or a large budget. It is a church with pure faith and pure love. It confesses the incarnate God. It guards the sacraments. It honors the communion of saints. It rejects individualism and compromise. And it loves - genuinely, sacrificially, humbly - even the worst of sinners.
May the Lord purify our churches, purify our faith, and purify our love, so that we may truly be the fragrance of Christ to the world.
"For we are to God the fragrance of Christ among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing." - 2 Corinthians 2:15
Key Takeaways
- Evangelism is not the work of an individual alone - it requires a living church that is ready to receive those who come to Christ
- Impure faith hinders the church - losing the incarnate God, removing the altar and Eucharist, denying the communion of saints, or embracing radical individualism
- Impure love also hinders the church - conflicts over positions, rejecting sinners, and prioritizing money over souls
- The church is a hospital for sinners, not a courtroom - as St. John Chrysostom taught, we must kneel beside the broken, not stand above them
- Practical steps include teaching the Nicene Creed properly, repenting for failures in love, and addressing cultural flaws like disorder and lack of hospitality
- The evangelistic church has pure faith and pure love - these two together make it the fragrance of Christ to the world
Dive Deeper
Resources coming soon.
To our God be all glory and honor, now and forever. Amen.