
What I Believe About the Church
Church is my life. I grew up attending a church in the lowcountry of South Carolina. Sunday school, preaching, hymnals, the works. All a part of the small-town church experience. I loved it.
Well, not always. Other than Sunday school, small churches did not have much for kids. No children’s ministries or programs existed for teaching children on their educational level so we sat in “big church” with our parents and listen to the pastor preach his sermon. It. Was. Boring.
As I got older, there were moments when church felt stagnant, irrelevant, weird, and sadly, hypocritical. Even then, I enjoyed church. It felt like home. The people felt like family.
My home.
My family.
Then came two big life decisions.
First, I fully accepted Jesus as the Son of God. Conversion is the official term, but it was more than that. It was fully accepting my sinfulness, and Jesus as the only true Savior. It was a freeing experience.
Next, I decided to become a pastor. I wanted to preach and teach the Gospel; tell people about Jesus. And I have. Over the last 17 years, I have preached throughout South Carolina and been an associate pastor, a youth pastor, a youth church camp volunteer, and more.
Because of this life I have, one centered around church, I have a few thoughts and realizations about church; beliefs on why church is important.
Everything points to Jesus.
Genesis 3 documents the story of the first sin committed by a human. Adam and Eve ate “the forbidden fruit.” This fruit is incorrectly illustrated as a red apple, but it would actually be something similar to a fig that grew on a tree called The Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. It was the only plant which fruit God specifically prohibited the first humans from eating.
The rule was, “Don’t eat the fruit of this one tree, or you will die” (Genesis 3:3). Yet they did. This sinful act did not result in their physical death, but a spiritual one. Their spiritual connection to God was severed.
Humanity is doomed. Eternally disconnected from its creator.
Then God changes the narrative. Genesis 3:15 predits an offspring, a baby, who will reverse the result of this disobedience. Humanity has a chance. This baby’s name? Jesus.
The entire Old Testament stories all point to the future arrival of Jesus Christ.
The New Testament stories all point to the past life, and soon return, of this same Jesus.
The Bible is all about Jesus.
The best example is in John 1 when Jesus is literally referred and depicted as “The Word of God.”
So, as the church, our existence is to point to the One Person, the One Savior, the One and Only Way to salvation…Jesus Christ.
It’s all about discipleship.
Jesus gave his disciples one final commission recorded before His ascension. It states, “Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,” (Matthew 28:19 CSB).
This must be the church’s goal.
Discipleship is a process. No one becomes a Christian and inherently knows how to live a Christian life. It takes time and patience along with mercy, love, and grace. When a believer commits to discipleship, this process produces an authentic and unwavering faith in Jesus; nothing can convince him/her to believe differently in spite of trials, temptations, or any other powerful life circumstances.
No Two Churches Are the Same
It is good for churches to be different, especially in the United States, because it models the diversity of Americans. Americans are socially, ethnically, and economically diverse; so are local churches.
No matter the ministries and programs available a local church must embrace these things:
- Worship — bringing God’s people together to worship Him;
- Spiritual Maturity — preaching and teaching the Bible, promoting Biblical literacy, and helping people discover their diving calling;
- Evangelism — spreading the Good News and good will of Jesus Christ and inviting anyone willing to listen and experience God’s love to join.
Everyone is important.
Everything revolves around relationships. A mentor taught me this valuable lesson, and it is one I have never forgotten.
The church is a community. Believers are better off together; sharing life, loving one another, serving their community, and challenging each other in discipleship and growth as a child of God including discovering and practicing spiritual gifts for ministry and service.
This includes the people I will refer to as “the least of these.”
Local churches must resemble the demographic makeup of their communities. America is diverse so church people, as a whole, must be diverse and cross the lines of ethnicity, race, social and economic divides, etc.
I hope this helps and inspires you.
Theodore Roosevelt once said, “Far and away the best prize that life has to offer is the chance to work hard at work worth doing.” Serving God and other people like Jesus did is definitely something worth doing.
Obviously, this is my opinion, but church work is worth doing.
God bless.

Dewaine Cooper is a church pastor and a software engineer in the Charleston-North Charleston-Summerville metro area of South Carolina. He desires to preach the Gospel and make disciples with the motto, “Love God. Love People. Serve the World.”
