“Nor is the ultimate goal of the Christian faith the creation and health of churches. Rather, the goal of Christians, and of all of humanity, ought to be to join in the activity of God wherever we find it” (Doug Pagitt, Preaching Re-Imagined, 14).

The ultimate goal of the Christian faith, the Church, and individual Christians is to bring glory to God. “So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God” (1 Cor 10:31). So the question is whether or not healthy churches bring more glory to God than good works done in service to others by Christians and/or non-Christians. As local expressions of the Body of Christ, healthy churches most certainly bring glory to God. By default, these churches (if they are indeed healthy) are engaged in the following their Lord’s example which includes both proclamation of the good news and performance of good works in the name and for the glory of God. Pagitt exalts the “good” works of non-Christians and claims that these works are done in service to God. Many people who are not believers do many good things, but these good things do not glorify God if the person performing the work does not acknowledge God.  Rather, these “good” works glorify the one who performs them. 

In this passage, Pagitt tries to move the center of the Christian faith from the church toward the world by exalting social justice. The church must be kept in place of prominence in the Christian faith because it is the center of the local Christian community. It is the place where Christians hear God’s word preached, where they find encouragement, where they get admonished, etc. Good works and verbal proclamation should flow out from a healthy church that offers community building, biblically-founded service for Christians to teach and admonish one another (Col 3:16), encourage one another and build each other up (1 Th 5:11), encourage one another daily (Heb 3:13), be devoted to one another in brotherly love [and] honor one another above yourselves (Rom 12:10), love one another (Rom 13:8), accept one another (Rom 15:7), instruct one another (Rom 15:14), bear with one another (Eph 4:2), serve one another (Gal 5:13), be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other (Eph 4:32), speak to one another with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs (Eph 5:19), Submit to one another (Eph 5:21), offer hospitality to one another without grumbling (1 Peter 4:9), and clothe yourselves with humility toward one another (1 Peter 5:5).