New Wine Building: How Reformers should think about the Church

Building the Church as a Reformer in a New Wineskin

One of the most important corrections reformers must make in this hour is this: the evidence does not suggest that a generation is abandoning the Church. In many ways, they are finding it. They are gathering. They are hungry. They are willing to show up.

The deeper concern is not whether people are coming to church, but whether the version of church they are coming into is actually maturing the Body into who she is called to be.

That distinction matters.

As a reformer in a new wineskin, my burden is not driven by fear of decline, but by love for the Church and jealousy for her formation. Jesus is building His Church, and what He is building must be capable of carrying both truth and transformation. Attendance alone is not evidence of health. Activity is not the same as maturity. Growth in number does not automatically produce growth in stature.

Reformation must be motivated by love, or it will miss its mark. Love for God. Love for His Bride. Love for those who are gathering, and love for those who remain untouched by the comforts of modern-day Christianity.

A reformer is captivated by what God loves, including the Church in her current form, while still contending for what she is becoming. That means we refuse to posture ourselves as critics standing outside the house. We labor as sons and daughters who care deeply about the condition of the home.

The challenge before us is not simply how to attract people, but how to form them.

Much of what is called church today is effective at gathering, but less effective at maturing. It creates space for encounter, but not always for transformation. It welcomes people into community, but does not always lead them into deep formation, repentance, and spiritual adulthood. This is not an accusation, but an invitation to examine fruit.

Jesus did not commission us to make attenders. He commissioned us to make disciples. Disciples are formed, not merely inspired. They are shaped through truth, love, correction, and presence over time.

At the same time, my heart is deeply burdened for those the Church is not reaching at all. Not because they are resistant to God, but because they exist beyond the reach of comfortable Christianity. The poor, the broken, the marginalized, the unseen, and the inconvenient. The ones who cannot easily fit into our schedules, programs, or aesthetics.

If our version of church only works for those who already know how to navigate Christian culture, then we must ask hard questions about what we are building.

Love compels us outward, not inward.

A reformer in the new wineskin refuses to tolerate anything that works against the Church being who she truly is. Not because of anger, but because of affection. Love does not partner with immaturity. Love does not excuse systems that prioritize safety over obedience or convenience over commission. Love confronts what diminishes the Bride’s witness and restricts her capacity to carry the fullness of Christ.

Jesus modeled this perfectly. He loved the Father’s house, and because of that love, He confronted what distorted it. He welcomed sinners, but He did not normalize sin. He extended mercy, but He also called people to transformation. His love was never permissive, and His truth was never detached from relationship.

This is the posture reformers must carry.

We love the Church enough to celebrate what God is doing, while also naming where growth is required.
We love leaders enough to honor their labor, while still calling for greater depth and accountability.
We love people enough to meet them where they are, while refusing to leave them there.

The new wineskin is relational before it is functional. It understands that formation must precede platform, and intimacy must precede influence. It recognizes that function flows from identity, not the other way around. This wineskin makes room for process, repentance, and growth, without lowering the call to maturity.

Reformation in this hour is not about tearing down the Church. It is about contending for her wholeness.

It is about building communities that can carry truth without hardness, love without compromise, and power without pride.
It is about forming disciples who can stand in pressure, love across difference, and carry Christ beyond the walls of the building.
It is about ensuring that what we are building can sustain both revival and longevity.

If we are captivated by love, we will build patiently.
If we love what and who God loves, we will speak honestly.
If we believe Jesus is truly building His Church, we will align our efforts with His heart, not our preferences.

The Church does not need less structure. She needs healthier formation.
She does not need more activity. She needs deeper roots.
She does not need reformers who are angry. She needs reformers who are in love.

Reformation that endures is not driven by frustration. It is sustained by affection.

And the Church will mature, not because we perfected our methods, but because we loved her enough to help her grow into who she was always meant to be.