As I write this week’s Message About Purpose and Strategy, I’m listening to a video debate between two pastors on the question: Do you preach to build attendance or to build attenders? One is making good points about the importance of using the weekend services to reach lost people while the other guy is arguing for the priority of using the services for feeding the sheep. As you might guess, the moderator of the discussion is saying that both things matter. Pastors philosophies tend to follow their gifting. One of these men is gifted as an evangelist and another as a teacher. Both gifts are needed and both ends must be accomplished. In a sense, the debate is exploring a false dichotomy. God can draw people to himself in the same service where others are being challenged to grow. Here at Dayspring, we can’t be forced to choose between reaching people or being doctrinally deep. It is not one or the other, evangelism or discipleship; we want to do both things. To state it negatively, we don’t just want to draw a crowd, but neither do we just want to continue to feed the spiritually fat. Our mission is to make disciples and this involves teaching them all that Christ commanded (Matt. 28:18-20). Fulfilling the Great Commission includes both evangelism and discipleship. If the person in question does not yet know Christ, then our ministry is evangelism. Once the person has been born again, we help them grow. Both facets are simply leading people to follow Christ.