Dakota Community Church
May 6, 2007
“In” but not “Of”
John 17:14-16
I have given them your word and the world has hated them, for they are not of the world any more than I am of the world. My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one. They are not of the world, even as I am not of it.
“My prayer is not that you take them out of the world…”
That is a powerful and revealing statement from Jesus at the end of his earthly ministry. How many wish he would just take us out of the world? I wonder what your reason for that desire would be.
I think there was a time for me that the main reason I wanted to be taken out of this world was because I wanted an end to temptation. I wanted an escape from “sinners”. I didn’t want to have to listen to vulgar language at work; I was tired of Hollywood’s influence cropping up everywhere, I had had enough of political agendas I did not agree with being embraced by society around me. I heard about revivals of old when taverns were shut down because conviction fell on the people and nobody would touch a drop of alcohol and I thought that is what the world needs now. I believed that we should fight to get prayer back in the schools and Christian values back on the TV. I thought my number one goal as a Christian was to become pure, and the only way I could see of doing that was to distance myself from “worldliness” and that meant either I had to wall myself off from the sinners, or they had to be forced to live my standards.
I don’t think that brand of Christianity is anywhere near what Jesus had in mind for his church. Nowhere in the gospels do we see Jesus distancing himself from the ungodly or sinners. He is never concerned about his image in the eyes of the religious; to the contrary he spurns their judgements, and goes out of his way to associate with the unwashed masses.
Why? He goes to the sick and broken and sin ravaged, he risks his own reputation because his mission is not to secure a good reputation for himself, his mission is to bring healing to those in need and - that can not be done from a distance.
This morning I want to talk about this beautiful assembly, and how it is to relate to itself and to the world around it. Let’s begin by asking a crucial question:
1. Who or what is the Church?
The word church comes from the Greek word “ekklesia” meaning assembly or congregation and appears in the New Testament 114 times. The Christian Church then is the assembly of any and all who believe in Jesus Christ.
Matthew 18:20
For where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them."
There is all manner of debate on the internet about whether or not there is a universal church to which all believers belong.
They debate about whether or not we should get together as we do on Good Friday here in the St. Vital area.
They argue that there is no scriptural evidence for this belief, but they clearly can not have read the New Testament.
1 Peter 2:2-10
Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, now that you have tasted that the Lord is good.
As you come to him, the living Stone—rejected by men but chosen by God and precious to him— you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. For in Scripture it says:
"See, I lay a stone in Zion, a chosen and precious cornerstone, and the one who trusts in him will never be put to shame." Now to you who believe, this stone is precious. But to those who do not believe,
"The stone the builders rejected has become the capstone," and, "A stone that causes men to stumble and a rock that makes them fall." They stumble because they disobey the message—which is also what they were destined for.
But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.
The church then - is the assembly of those people who have received mercy; those who believe in the precious cornerstone, those who trust in Him who is rejected by men but chosen by God!
John 10:9
I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved.
Acts 2:21
And everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.
John 1:11-13
He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God— children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.
What about those who have not heard? I think that we should err on the side of grace.
Romans 2:14-16
Indeed, when Gentiles, who do not have the law, do by nature things required by the law, they are a law for themselves, even though they do not have the law, since they show that the requirements of the law are written on their hearts, their consciences also bearing witness, and their thoughts now accusing, now even defending them. This will take place on the day when God will judge men’s secrets through Jesus Christ, as my gospel declares.
2. What is membership like?
1 Corinthians 12:12
For as the body is one and has many members, but all the members of that one body, being many, are one body, so also is Christ.
There are many scripture passages like this that talk about membership in the Body of Christ; however as we read them we do not always pick up on the authors meaning.
When you think of Church membership what comes to mind?
Rules, requirements, financial commitments, doctrinal acceptance, loyalty, submission – all these terms are a part of “membership” in a modern local church; however, these things have nothing to do with the scriptural definition of “membership” in the body of Christ.
The scriptures compare members to organs in the human body.
Romans 12:4-5
Just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, so in Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others.
Your organs are “in” by virtue of birth, there is no other requirement.
The membership in a local church implies that the parts are expendable, we can lose members without being harmed, and that the parts are interchangeable. We promote conformity, but this goes against the healthy functioning of a human body and it goes against God’s design in creation.
Ephesians 2:19
Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and aliens, but fellow citizens with God’s people and members of God’s household.
Here membership is compared to individuals in a family; again members are “in” a family by birth, not by mental assent to certain creeds or doctrines. In a given family there may be a mom, a dad, a brother, a sister, a grandma and a dog. They are not disposable or interchangeable. If mom comes in and says to dad, “Did you give grandma her medicine today?” and dad replies, “No, but I gave it to the dog instead.” This would not be acceptable.
A family cannot decide that grandma is old and not very appealing to the eye so she is not a part of our target demographic, and then cease to concern itself with her well being – she is family by birth – this cannot be lost or taken away!
3. How are members to be “in” the world?
Matthew 28:18-20
Then Jesus came to them and said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."
We are “in” the world by virtue of the will of God. Let’s look at this directive again.
Jesus is not calling us to a special office of evangelism; he is merely assuming you will have a life already when you encounter the truth.
He says, “as you go about your life” or “in all your coming and going” – MAKE DISCIPLES. How do we do this? - By baptizing them in the name.
Baptizo - to plunge under, dip, or immerse.
We could say by immersing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
In Conclusion:
You are a member if you have received mercy, you are unique, not disposable or interchangeable and this is by God’s design, you should not feel pressure to abandon yourself in order to fit in. Finally you are not “of” the world because you are a disciple, immersed in the truth, and your purpose is to take that truth with you in all your going as long as you are “in” the world.
Hear it Preached: www.dakotacommunitychurch.ca and click "Listen".
PowerPoint available (Free of charge) on request dcormie@mts.net
