Externally Focused: Unleashing the Church
Introduction:
I believe God wants us as the Church to impact the world in which we live in. I believe that God wants all people to come to a saving knowledge of Him. I believe He has commissioned us with the responsibility to carry that message into the world. I believe we in the church have really limited ourselves, and for that matter I believe we have really limited God as well. I think it is time that we unleash the church. We all know what a leash is, don’t we? A leash keeps something from going, but so far. Have you ever seen those leashes that are available that you can push a button and lock them so that the dog cannot go further than you allow. When they start to try to run away, you just push that button and they run out of line, they can’t go any further, they look they have run into a wall. The purpose of it is to limit how far the dog can get. I wonder sometimes if the church has been leashed and we are limited because of that leash in what we can do. Dogs don’t like being leashed, they love freedom, and often times when they realize they are not leashed they realize they can go anywhere. We too when we are unleashed are freed as the church to do more and be more, but sadly our leashes hinder us from getting too far, so that when we make steps in the right direction we are pulled back again.
This morning and over the next few weeks I want to talk about a shift in our focus. I want us to shift our focus off of ourselves and onto others. I believe that they key to the church growing and reaching more people is for us to have an outward or an external focus. This is not easy for us because, honestly, I believe so much of our focus has been on ourselves and on the saved. I believe there are some things we cannot avoid spending time and energy on, but sometimes our focus in on ourselves, and maybe I am just as much to blame as the next guy. Think about what consumes our time and energy in the church, and this is not wrong necessarily. Countless hours and dollars are spent in maintenance of the building so that we can come to a functioning place, that is clean, well kept, and comfortable for us. Countless hours are spent in classes and programs and fellowship events within the church. We talk a lot about the necessity and the importance of everyone serving within the church, sometimes to the neglect of encouraging people to serve outside the walls of the church. We have work days where we focus on getting things done around us, we have classes and services, we have countless things which we do where our focus is upon ourselves and the saved, but what is left out? A focus on those outside of the core or the lost.
Sometimes I think we are more internally focused than we are externally focused. If you don’t believe that listen to what upset people, listen to why churches argue and split. It is usually not over the important stuff, but is usually over silly preferences that people have and people usually get upset because they did not get what they wanted. However, if we would learn the most important truth there is to learn today we would change that a little. We need to learn it is not all about us, and we are not number one on the priority list. The church and the world do not revolve around our wants, desires or preferences. In fact we probably do not even come in second place. God is number one and then after that our focus should be on others. I would love to hear someone one day say, “you know I would like this, but let us spend our time and energy somewhere else and on someone else other than me.”
I believe we have a focus problem. We are so worried about ourselves and we spend so much time and energy catering to our needs. We have a selfish consumer mentality. We are so focused on ourselves, that sometimes it is hard to focus on others.
We greatly limit ourselves when we keep the church contained within the walls of a building and that is exactly what we do. It has been taught numerous times, and hopefully we do not need to digress deeply into this, but we know that this place we meet is not the church, we are the church. However, if we have a mindset that we woke up today to attend “church” then the common sense reality is that when the service is over we leave the “church” and if we leave the “church” here as an inanimate object unoccupied five days a week, then the church cannot impact society very well can it? We greatly limit ourselves when we think to ourselves that we have done our religious duty by attending a few services each week. My vision is for a church without walls, and church not contained within a building, but rather a church that as we go into the world we will be able to share Jesus with people. We need to learn and realize that we cannot impact and influence the world for Jesus if we go to church a few times a week only, but the world will change if we unleash the church into the world so that everywhere every member goes the church is there also loving, setting an example, and serving those around them.
If you are anything like me, you can look at the world and see there are some problems out there. There are atrocities taking place every day, which are shameful. There are crimes committed that are down right hateful and often unbelievable. There are moral situations that bother me deep to my soul. There are people going through tough times that I cannot imagine. There are people struggling with sin, with addictions, with broken homes, with depression, and countless other serious issues. If you are anything like me those things bother you and you want to see those things fixed and stopped from spreading in our world. If you are like me you worry about the future morality of our nation. If you are like me those things burden you and sometimes even anger you. If you are like me you may realize that Jesus is the only solution to those problems and for so long we have talked about the problems, preached hard about the problems, yelled at the problems, but done little to fix it. All along we bear in our hearts the solution. I think it is high time we stop all the complaining about the way the world is and unleash the church into the world, and we can make a difference. We can change the world. We can change the world one person at a time. We can be the salt of the Earth and the light of the world.
Text: Ephesians 3:14-21
I. Unleashing the Church Requires A Change of Focus
So often our focus has been within the walls of the church. We talk a lot about how we can meet the needs of those in the church, and I believe that is something we need to do, however, we cannot neglect those outside either. It is a lot easier and a lot more comfortable to keep an internal focus, but I want to suggest that we have a change of focus. I want to suggest that we look not into what we like, how we prefer things to be done, and what we want to happen and focus on others above ourselves. I have heard it said that no church can grow until it begins that outward focus. The reality is if we are not making an impact outside of the walls of the church building than we are not making an impact at all. We need to unleash the church to go into the world.
However, unleashing the church requires us to refocus or to regain our perspective. It demands us to reconsider what will be priority. I think that we need a change of focus off of ourselves and onto others and by doing so we will unleash the church into the world. There are some primary differences between those whose focus in inward and those whose focus is outward.
a. Inward Focused People Are Self Serving, Outward Focused People Are Self Sacrificing
Inward focused people are busy looking out for themselves and what they can get. They are self-serving. They are the types of people that will rarely make any sacrifices or inconveniences for anyone else, but they often expect others to cater to them. They are self-serving. The Outward focused people are self sacrifices, they are the ones in the church that often give up their wants, their preferences for the sake of others. They realize it is more about others than themselves. They would rather do without than for someone else to do without. I would suggest we need a lot more of those people in the church, wouldn’t you? Jesus was the definition of self-sacrificing. He did not come to be served, but rather to serve…and He was literally self-sacrificing.
b. Inward Focused People Expect to Receive, Outward Focused People Expect to Give
I have noticed that some people really expect to receive things. They expect things to go their way, and when they don’t they like a two-year old child throw a temper tantrum. They expect for every decision, big or small to cater to them and around them. They expect others to do things for them long before they expect to do anything for others. Outward focused people expect to give, in fact they probably spend their time looking for ways to give and serve others. They do not mind giving up or sacrificing. I would suggest we need a whole lot more people like that in the church, wouldn’t you?
c. Inward Focused People Serve Conditionally, Outward Focused People Serve Unconditionally
Inward focused people serve conditionally, if they serve at all. When they do anything be careful, because a lot of times they expect something in return. The idea of serving without string attached and doing things simply for the joy of doing them is foreign to them. We I believe are called to serve unconditionally not expecting anything back in return. Many of the people we help with the benevolence committee, paying bills, and helping financially we get nothing in return. Not as much as a thank you note most of the time. We would love to receive a thank you note every now and then to know that they appreciate what was done, but we don’t give it to receive thanks, we do it because we love God and we love others and want to help people.
Unleashing the church into the world begins with a change and a shift of focus off of ourselves and onto others. It begins by not looking at what we can get, but rather what we can do. Let us change our focus and stop spending so much time and energy on what goes on here a few times a week, but focus on others above ourselves, and put others needs above our own.
II. Unleashing the Church Requires Every Member
I want to give some important news, which I believe we may not quite understand. You do not need my permission, the elder’s permission, or the board’s vote to do a good work in the world. You know why? Because God has already given you permission and He is the Head of us.
Ephesians 2:8-10
Now, unleashing the church requires every member. There is no one that is dispensable. There is no one that does not matter. I really believe we can make a difference in the world for Christ, but it takes all of us to do that.
Each of us is called by God to have a different type of ministry in the church. When you think of having a ministry you probably think of a preacher or someone paid by a church to do ministry, but that is not accurate. Each of us has a ministry. A ministry can simply be defined as meeting another’s needs with the resources that God has given you. Each of us has some resource, some talent, or some ability we can use to have a ministry to others. A lot of us understand the necessity and the importance of reaching out to people in the world, but sometimes we are confused about our responsibility to do it, or how we are to do it. Sometimes we feel that inviting someone to church removes the burden off of us and means we have been evangelizing, but I do not believe that is the case. In fact the church is for the saved, not the lost. Biblically speaking, people become Christians and then come to the church and not come to church in order to become a Christian. Ministry of every member is much more than just an invitation; it is a sharing of your life.
We all have a ministry in the world and in order for the church to really be unleashed we need every member involved in that ministry. I hope however that we can’t say, that when all is said and done more was said than done.
You remember the Great Commission? Many of us can probably quote it from memory: “Go and make disciples of all nations…” That first command, “Go”, literally means, “As you are going”. In other words, as you are going about your life make disciples of the people you come in contact with.
Acts 8:1-4
Can you imagine the impact the church could have on the world and the community if every member was involved in ministry? Not just ministry within the church. Not just the cleaning and the teaching and the serving that goes on in this building, but ministry outside of the walls of the church. That is what it means to be a church without walls. That is what it means to release the church into the community. That is what it means to be the salt of the Earth. That is what it means for the church to be unleashed.
III. Unleashing the Church Requires Involvement (in the community)
One of the problems that we have to deal with as the Church is how we are to be in the world and yet not of the world. This task does not come easy. I understand that bad company corrupts good morals. I understand that we need to choose our companions wisely, but I also understand that if I am going to reach the lost, there is a certain amount of time I must spend among the lost. The old saying holds true, that people do not care how much you know until the know how much you care. In order for the church to be unleashed we need to be involved in the community, where the people are. We all need a ministry outside the walls of the church and we can all have one. Each of us has different talents and abilities, and do not undermine the value of that ministry you have.
I think sometimes we look at all the problems and all the sin we see so prominently and we think of how awful it is and we shake our heads at it, and we run. It is like standing at a muddy stream and yelling about how dirty and nasty it is, all the yelling in the world won’t fix the problem, but when we get down into the water ourselves and begin to clean up the stream it makes a difference. I believe this is how we need to be in the world in which we live in. We have spent a lot of time yelling about the mess and little time doing something about cleaning it up. The world may know where we stand on issue, but they don’t know that we care enough to act because they haven’t seen it, all they have see is us withdraw from them.
I really believe that Jesus is the best example we can find for how to minister to people and how to impact the world. If you remember, Jesus was ridiculed pretty harshly for the way he did things, for his methodology. He was labeled by the religious elites as a “winebibber and a drunkard” and a “friend of sinners”. I don’t know about you, but I am sure glad Jesus is a friend of sinners. Who did Jesus spend his time with and ministering to? It was the sinners, because as he said it was not the healthy who needed a doctor, but the sick.
We have done a great injustice I believe in withdrawing from the world. I am all for being separate and pure, after all the word church is the Greek word “ekklesia” which means the “called out ones”. However, we do not want to be so removed from society that we loose our influence. I believe this may be exactly what Jesus meant when he talked about being the light of the world and the salt of the earth.
Matthew 5:13-16
I believe we have hidden our light and lost our saltiness. I mean let us honestly ask ourselves, how much influence does the church and the Christian community really have in the world. We have lost that influence by not being involved. We have withdrawn in the name of “holiness” and trying to not love the world and be like the world, but I believe to the sacrifice of many souls. Christians have formed their own schools, their own groups, their own everything and as a result we have put our light under a bowl. We have taken the light out of the dark places.
We have tried to do ministry at arms length. Not many people would have the integrity and the audacity to say that do not want lost people to be saved, but I have to question why we do things the way we do. Think about what you do with your time and who you hang around. If you are like me than most of the time you spend out you spend at the church or at church related activities, and most of the people you hang around and talk to on a regular basis are people from the church. I praise God that we can have those type of friendships, but I wonder what damage is being done when we stay distant from lost people. We try to minister at arms length. We say we will help you if you are willing to help yourself. We will do whatever we can as long as we do not have to get too close to you because we really find you like a leper and we do not want to be contaminated. However, we find this is a far different cry from how Jesus acted, isn’t it? He go down among those people, he loved them sincerely with no string attached. He never compromised his message or refused an opportunity to call them to repentance, but he was different in that he sometimes was among the people.
In response to that many of us may think, I don’t want to get to involved because I don’t want to be worldly, I don’t want to be influenced by them, however, I believe would find if we looked honestly that is a cop out for doing anything. We are far more comfortable doing nothing than something. While we have formed our own little circles and groups the world has been doing something. It has been changing. It has been growing in morality and distancing itself from Christ and His Church and we have sat back and watched as the world is dying and going to Hell all because we are too lazy to be involved in their lives. And that is the key, which is what it means to unleash the church.
Sometimes I think we talk far too much about the wrong things. We talk a lot about church attendance and the importance of being at our meetings. I believe that those meetings with God’s people are vital, and I will continue to emphasize them, but I would say that maybe we need to talk a little less about our meeting and a little more about our mission. After all, doesn’t are meeting become in vain if we as the church are not reaching lost people? You know meeting together a few times a week isn’t all we do! Sometimes we have wrongly made the meeting together as the way in which we gauge how spiritual a person is. I would rather us spend more time in mission around the community than in meeting. We need a ministry outside the church walls and that begins by individuals being involved. My point is this, as the church if we see a problem, we shouldn’t just talk the talk, but we should work to remedy it. Do you have a problem with abortion? I do, what are you doing about it? Do you have a problem with homelessness and poverty? I do, what are you doing about it? Do you have a problem with divorce, adultery, homosexuality, and all other types of perversion we see so prominently? I do, what are you doing about it? Do you care about those going through grieving over a great loss? I do, what are you doing about it? Do you care about those wrestling with different addictions? I do, what are you doing about it?
Did Jesus care about those things? Absolutely?
Isaiah 61:1-3
You may be thinking that if you do what I am suggesting it will be uncomfortable, you may be around “sinners”, and I say that is exactly what Jesus did and that is exactly what we need to be doing a little more of.
Find something that burdens you and get involved in the community. Find a place to volunteer and let the community know that you as a Christian care about what is going on. Let the community know you care about their soul, that you care about the state of the world, and that you are going to do something to make a difference one person at a time. Sometimes we say we care, but our actions are speaking so loudly no one can hear us.
We do not need an organized church program to do something good in the community. I believe that is the problem. We may be willing to help. We may be willing to serve at the soup kitchen or volunteer at some place in the community, but we are waiting for an organized program in the church to do it, you don’t need that, just do it. I believe the church is at its best and is most effective when each member is being a witness for Christ as they are going about their daily business and as they are out in the community serving.
I hope that in the end we can say, “the church has left the building”.
