Through an iron-to-iron conversation with my friend Ron Warner this morning I came away reminded of the simplicity of the gospel, the mission of the church, and our end goal in life.

Simplicity of the gospel: God's love transformed us and we can't help but love God back and love others the same way (John 3:16; John 15:12; 1 John 4:9-10). 

Churches are generally marked by one of three traits: information, performance, and relationship.

Churches driven by information put everything they have into preaching, Bible studies, and gaining more knowledge with the assumption that as long as they are telling the truth, people will do it (1 Cor 8:1). But this creates a model that subtly tells people the end game is learn, and come to church to learn, and go to Bible studies to learn, which is a far cry from Ephesians 4:11-12. It fattens the sheep but does nothing to model living the Word, edifying believers, or reaching the unsaved. Their end game is learn while Christ's end game was love God and love people (Mat 22:37-40, the heart of the Great Commission (to worship God and to make more worshippers). 

Churches driven by performance measure their righteousness by how many rules they keep—Did you read the Word every morning? Did you pray twice a day? Did you abstain from alcohol? Did you look at porn?—and by how many noses and nickels they can count on Sunday morning. Although all believers should strive to obey the commands of the New Testament, the force behind them in this context is fear and pride, not love and worship (see 1 John 4:18). And although Sunday morning attendance and finances do matter, when that drives the church's sense of success of failure, the church has measured its success by a worship service instead of the Great Commission. The majority of Jesus' ministry happened outside of religious buildings and worship services like synagogues. 

Churches driven by relationship have captured the essence of Jesus' mission: love. The two greatest commandments are not to learn nor to keep laws, but to love God and your neighbor. Yes, obeying God's commands and feeding off the richness of God's Word are important—essential—for loving Jesus and people, but they are not the end goal, otherwise we become Bible worshippers, legalists, or businessmen measuring success by this life and not eternity. 

Imagine what would happen to a marriage or family if the couple based their relationship on information or performance. But when a church decides to be marked by relationship, it has chosen the hardest path. It's easy to study hard, get information, and pass this on. It's easy to create lists of rules and make sure you are staying inside the bold lines. It's not impossible to set up super cool programming to draw a crowed away from Pastor Joe's building and into your own. But all of these serve us, not the world, and we have failed to pursue the Great Commission of making followers of Jesus. Relationships are hard. They are messy, unpredictable, marked by sin, needy for grace, and take lots of time. 

My end goal with unbelievers is not to share the gospel. My end goal is to love them, and if I am loving them as God loved me through Jesus Christ, of course I will be sharing the gospel. A church driven by knowledge will make their goal in evangelism to tell people the gospel. A church driven by rules will make their end goal to get people to stop cussing and sleeping around and to start attending church services, as if moral change on the outside can change the bigger problem on the inside (Jer 17:9). This is neither wise nor biblical. No wonder thousands of unbelievers have been burned by Christians who came off as caring more about getting them to repeat the sinner's prayer or to stop sleeping with their boyfriend than caring about who they are as unique individuals created in God's image who actually struggle with the same temptations you and I face every day. But when you love someone, you treat them not  as projects, but as whole people with feelings, physical needs, daily struggles, and spiritual cravings just like you and I go through every day. And when the power of the gospel begins to transform their heart, their life will follow. 

If someone started speaking to me in the language of an angel, I'd say "wow!" I'd be blown away if I met a guy who knew the contents of every book ever written. I'd be dumfounded if I watched someone with faith so great he moved mountains into oceans with a single prayer. I'd be impressed by a ministry that gave all it had to serve the poor or by someone who let his body be burned alive just to save others. 

But Paul says that even if someone did all this, if he or she does not love God and people, he is nothing (1 Cor 13). When you begin to let love for God and people drive all that you do, life does not get eaier, but you begin to taste the purpose for which you were created. And it tastes good.