Without a proper focus on glorifying God, the church becomes many things she is not supposed to be. She turns into a reflection or shadow of his body, which he intends to radiate with the brilliance of God’s glory (Rev 21:9–11).

 If we turn our gaze away from God’s purposes, his church may become a social club. People will meet and socialize and eat and drink and laugh. But she will lack the necessary spirituality, the unifying belief and purpose that characterizes his assembly. This social club may be tempted to become too exclusive in that her members only want people like themselves to be a part of it and therefore would outreach to those like themselves. Or she may lower standards to be more inclusive and ‘keep the peace’ when she should discipline.

If the Lord’s assembly does not focus on magnifying the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, she could become just another non-profit organization. She may have good works like feeding the poor and helping the community and advocating for justice, but she will have lost the initial purpose of praise and worship of the Creator. People will not be able to tell a difference between the ‘church’ and a state-run social organization except in very superficial ways.

If the body of Christ loses its concentration on worshiping and extolling God above all things, she will devolve into a moralistic self-help group. She will be a sort of Alcoholics Anonymous, only probably less well-run and with less accountability.  We will try to hold each other to moral standards, we will read the Bible to find wisdom and precepts to live by. We will share insights into our study of God’s word and how to live out our daily lives. But without a proper focus on worshiping God, we will become so self-focused and selfish we will not be filled with the love of God. We will have more of a faith in a process than we will have in the providential workings of our King.

Summit must never lose focus on the essentials. We can easily get caught up in new programs, new ways to help others out in their needs, the fellowship opportunities, and how we can progress in more Christ-like behavior. But these are all secondary things to the main purpose to which we are called as Christians—even as human beings. We must adore our Creator. We must long for him and wish to be united with him. We must recognize his beauty and fall before him and worship him to the point where we cannot help but radiate this love and adoration in our every breath. Love of God comes before all.