Far too often, we have limited the definition of the Church.

In the words of Tony Evans, a voice both prophetic and practical, we find a call that echoes through the corridors of faith and time: “Far too often, we have limited the definition of the Church. While not in all cases, in many cases, ‘Church’ has become an informational, inspirational weekly gathering rather than the group of people that God has ordained from Heaven to operate on His behalf on Earth in order to bring Heaven’s viewpoint into history.” These words resound with urgency and truth, for they remind us that the Church — the true Church — is not a building, not a service, not a sermon, but a living force, a divine instrument meant to carry light into the shadows of the world.

When Dr. Tony Evans spoke these words, he was addressing a crisis not of attendance, but of identity. Too often, he observed, the Church had been reduced to a weekly ritual, a place of comfort and inspiration rather than a community of power and purpose. To him, this was a tragic misunderstanding of what Christ intended. The early followers of Jesus did not gather merely to receive information or to feel uplifted — they gathered to transform the world. They saw themselves as ambassadors of Heaven, charged with bringing divine justice, mercy, and truth into the affairs of humanity. To forget this, Evans warns, is to forget the very reason the Church exists.

This insight reaches deep into the roots of Christian history. The Greek word for church, ekklesia, does not mean “building” or “service.” It means “the called-out ones” — those chosen to represent God’s kingdom on Earth. The early Church had no grand structures, no choirs, no programs. Yet it shook empires, healed the sick, fed the poor, and defied kings. They did not gather to be entertained; they gathered to be empowered. And in that empowerment, they changed history. When Tony Evans speaks of bringing Heaven’s viewpoint into history, he is calling believers back to this ancient commission — to live not as spectators of faith, but as participants in God’s unfolding story.

The lesson is made clear when we recall the story of William Wilberforce, the English parliamentarian whose faith compelled him to confront the horrors of the slave trade. He did not limit his Christianity to prayer meetings or polite inspiration; he understood the Church as a movement of action. Guided by a vision that all men are created in the image of God, he fought for decades against injustice. His labor, sustained by his fellowship of believers — known as the “Clapham Circle” — was not a Sunday sermon but a daily ministry, one that ultimately reshaped the moral conscience of a nation. Wilberforce embodied what Evans describes: the Church acting as Heaven’s representative on Earth.

Evans’s rebuke of an “informational and inspirational” church is not a condemnation of preaching or worship, but a call to balance. Information alone fills the mind, and inspiration alone stirs the heart — but neither transforms the world without application. The Church, he insists, was meant to operate, to bring the divine perspective into human affairs. To feed the hungry, to comfort the broken, to challenge corruption, to speak truth where lies reign. When believers gather but do not act, when they listen but do not live, they have reduced God’s army to an audience.

The ancient prophets of Israel understood this well. When the people worshipped with songs but ignored justice, the prophet Amos thundered, “Let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.” Likewise, Tony Evans cries out that the true measure of the Church is not the beauty of its services but the impact of its obedience. The Church was never meant to retreat from history but to redeem it — to stand as the visible sign that Heaven has not forgotten Earth.

So, dear listener, take heed of this teaching. You are not merely a member of a congregation; you are part of a divine mission. The Church is not something you attend — it is something you are. You are Heaven’s representative in your family, your community, your generation. Do not wait for a pulpit or a platform to act; your daily life is your ministry, your compassion your sermon, your courage your testimony.

The message of Tony Evans is both a reminder and a challenge: that the Church, when it forgets its purpose, becomes a meeting; but when it remembers its calling, it becomes a movement. And that movement, empowered by faith and led by love, has the power to carry Heaven’s viewpoint into history — to make the unseen Kingdom visible in the world once more.