Marks of an Effective Christ-Follower
Acts 16:1-12
Intro: The world today is confused about what it means to be a Christian. They’ve seen enough scandals and double standards that many of them have completely lost all faith in the church, religion, or Christians. In fact, in many settings it is becoming increasingly counterproductive to identify yourself as a “Christian,” not because you are ashamed of the gospel, but because it brands you as someone who is judgmental, intolerant, narrow-minded, self-righteous, smug, delusional, and weak-minded, along with any number of other stereotypes. The answer is not necessarily in a name-change, but I’ve been drawn lately to this term, Christ-follower. That is what a Christian is supposed to be, and many are. However, those who say they are but act differently are clearly not following Christ. How can you identify a true Christ-follower?
Prop: Effective Christ-followers are those who learn to lovingly do what God wants them to do.
TS: Let’s take a look at some of the identifiers of an effective Christ-follower.
I. Effective Christ-Followers Keep Paying it Forward (Acts 16:1-3)
1He [Paul] came to Derbe and then to Lystra, where a disciple named Timothy lived, whose mother was a Jewess and a believer, but whose father was a Greek. 2 The brothers at Lystra and Iconium spoke well of him. 3 Paul wanted to take him along on the journey, so he circumcised him because of the Jews who lived in that area, for they all knew that his father was a Greek.
-It goes without saying that effective Christ-followers are willing and able to share the good news with others. However, it must not stop with them. Paul was willing to take Timothy under his wing, training and preparing him to lead people closer to Jesus. Timothy already knew the Lord and was a disciple or Christ-follower. However, he needed someone to come alongside him and help him go to the next level of discipleship.
-What do we know about Timothy? Timothy was Jewish through his mother, but had never been circumcised, probably because his Gentile father did not believe it served any good purpose. However, Paul had him circumcised so would be able to minister without causing undue offense to the Jews. One of Paul’s mottos was that he was willing to become all things to all people so that by all means he might win some to the Lord. Apparently Timothy was willing, or it would not have happened. This is not something that grown men typically would volunteer for. It was painful and inconvenient. Perhaps this gives us a glimpse into the character and commitment of Timothy. Last week we talked about John Mark, who appeared to lack commitment – at least for a time. By contrast, Timothy was willing to do whatever was necessary to help share the good news about Jesus. He traveled with Paul, ministered in various places, and eventually became the Pastor or leader at the church in Ephesus.
-It may seem strange, on the heels of the Jerusalem Council, that Paul had Timothy circumcised. After all, the very letter they were carrying to the various churches from the elders and apostles in Jerusalem essentially said that circumcision was not necessary for Gentiles. But then again, Timothy was a Jew through his mother, so circumcision would not have been out of the ordinary for him.
-On the other hand, consider Titus, another companion of Paul’s who was a Gentile. In the book of Galatians, ch. 2, Paul tells that even though there was Jewish pressure for Titus to be circumcised, they did not give in. Why? Because Titus was a Gentile. He did not need to become a Jew in order to be saved. In 1 Corinthians 7:18-20, Paul writes, “Was a man already circumcised when he was called? He should not become uncircumcised. Was a man uncircumcised when he was called? He should not be circumcised. 19 Circumcision is nothing and uncircumcision is nothing. Keeping God’s commands is what counts. 20 Each one should remain in the situation which he was in when God called him.”
-So, be who you are, but love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength! Obey Him and be willing to do things His way.
-Well, Paul invested in Timothy and trained him to be an effective Christ-follower. He encouraged him to boldly share the good news about Jesus. He wrote to Timothy in 2 Timothy 1:7-8: “For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline. 8 So do not be ashamed to testify about our Lord, or ashamed of me his prisoner. But join with me in suffering for the gospel, by the power of God.”
-Furthermore, Paul trained Timothy to keep investing in others so that more and more people would learn to teach others about Jesus: 2 Timothy 2:2 “And the things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable men who will also be qualified to teach others.”
-TS: Effective Christ-followers keep paying it forward, investing in others, and training them to share the good news about Jesus. Secondly…
II. Effective Christ-Followers Work as a Team (Acts 16:4-5)
4 As they traveled from town to town, they delivered the decisions reached by the apostles and elders in Jerusalem for the people to obey. 5 So the churches were strengthened in the faith and grew daily in numbers.
-Even though Paul had been clearly called by Jesus Himself and had personally encountered Jesus, he did not regard himself as the only one having spiritual authority. He respectfully deferred to such leaders as Peter and James, and the other apostles. He was willing to confront them later on when he saw some problems, but he still regarded them as men of God whose counsel was to be sought and appreciated.
-It is also quite obvious from Paul’s writings, that he did not blindly play “follow the spiritual leader.” Galatians 2:11 “When Peter came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he was clearly in the wrong.” However, Paul did not undermine Peter or discredit his calling as an apostle [sent one] of Christ. He was willing to face problems and work them out, but he was loyal to the other apostles and leaders, and as we see in vv.4-5, he carried their decisions to many churches. He knew he was no one-man show, but part of a team.
-Now, as your pastor, I’m not asking for your blind allegiance, but I do hope that we can all see our way clear to work as a team, and learn to submit to one another. God didn’t call me to be your pastor so that I could rule over you. I believe He brought me here so we could partner together and go on a mission to reach our community with His love and truth. As we are on this journey together, it takes more than just me to know where God is leading us. I wish I had all the answers, but I don’t. So, I can learn to recognize God’s leading when the HS speaks through some of you to help give us encouragement and direction, and you can recognize God’s leading when the HS speaks through me as well.
-TS: That leads us to a 3rd important point.
III. Effective Christ-Followers Listen to the Holy Spirit (Acts 16:6-8)
6 Paul and his companions traveled throughout the region of Phrygia and Galatia, having been kept by the Holy Spirit from preaching the word in the province of Asia. 7 When they came to the border of Mysia, they tried to enter Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus would not allow them to. 8 So they passed by Mysia and went down to Troas.
-Do you regularly hear from God? Have you developed your spiritual listening skills? At least 7 times in the book of Revelation, John writes, “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.” That tells me that we should be able to hear from the Holy Spirit, just as Paul and many others did. Some Bible teachers believe that the HS may have spoken through Silas, and that is how they knew not to preach in the province of Asia, nor to enter Bithynia. That is certainly possible, because Acts 15:32 tells us that Silas was a prophet. “Judas and Silas, who themselves were prophets, said much to encourage and strengthen the brothers [in Antioch].” I believe they worked as a ministry team, and that each one of them was capable of hearing from the Holy Spirit.
-Now, I don’t know if it is all part of the faith walk or if it’s just us, but there are times when we don’t hear the voice of the HS very much. St. John of the Cross, a 16th century priest, wrote about these times, but not in the way you might expect. He actually saw these dark times as expressions of sheer grace from God to help us grow. The dark night of the soul, as St. John of the Cross called it, may involve as sense of dryness, aloneness, and even lostness. There is something like an inner dullness that is no longer stirred by the emotional triggers we have trained ourselves to respond to. The status quo begins to bore us so that we can no longer be contented with returning to where we’ve already been. The dark night of the soul is one way God brings us into a hush, a stillness so He can do an inner work on our soul, taking us to newer and higher levels of intimacy with Him.
-Christian author, Richard Foster gives this advice to those who feel like they are entering a dark night of the soul: “Recognize the dark night for what it is. Be grateful that God is lovingly drawing you away from every distraction so that you can see Him clearly. Rather than chafing and fighting, become still and wait.” He writes this in the context of showing how solitude can help us grow closer to God.
-The following inscription was found on the walls of a building where Jews hid from Nazis:
I believe in the sun even when it is not shining.
I believe in love even when feeling it not.
I believe in God even when He is silent.
-So, if you have trouble hearing the voice of the Holy Spirit, maybe you are going through a dark night of the soul, where you really have to learn to trust the Lord. Or maybe, you just aren’t taking the time to quiet yourself and really listen to what the Spirit is saying.
-I’d like to show a video clip from Rob Bell that might help us learn to hear what God is saying to us. [Play “Noise”]
-I urge you to actively pursue interaction with God. The HS desires to speak to our hearts, and He can teach us to recognize His voice. God may take us through a dark night of the soul, but He doesn’t intend to leave us there. Make friends with silence and solitude. That is often where God’s voice can be heard most clearly.
-TS: Now, when we do hear from God, there is something more required of us. We can’t just sit on it. We need to act on what we know. This leads us to our final point.
IV. Effective Christ-Followers Act on the Revelation They Receive (Acts 16:9-12)
9 During the night Paul had a vision of a man of Macedonia standing and begging him, "Come over to Macedonia and help us." 10 After Paul had seen the vision, we got ready at once to leave for Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them. 11 From Troas we put out to sea and sailed straight for Samothrace, and the next day on to Neapolis. 12 From there we traveled to Philippi, a Roman colony and the leading city of that district of Macedonia. And we stayed there several days.
-God reveals His nature, His plan, and many other things to us through the Bible. God may also speak to us through impressions in our hearts or spirits. He may give us a special burden of prayer for a certain person or people. He may give us a dream or a vision to show what He wants us to do. In this case, Paul had a vision of a man from Macedonia who was begging him, “Come over to Macedonia and help us.”
-This vision convinced them that God wanted them to go to Macedonia and proclaim the good news about Jesus. So, what did they do? They got ready, boarded a ship, and headed for Macedonia. They acted on the revelation they had received.
-Now I am convinced that God is sometimes silent, because He is waiting on us to act on what He has already revealed to us. God wants us to learn to trust Him and be quick to do what He asks. Do you remember hearing about the guy who was hiking in the mountains? He was looking out at the scenery when he stepped too close to the edge of the mountain and started to fall. In desperation he reached out and grabbed a limb of a gnarly old tree hanging onto the side of the cliff. Full of fear he assessed his situation. He was about 100 feet down a shear cliff and about 900 feet from the floor of the canyon below. If he should slip again he’d plummet to his death. Full of fear, he cries out, "Help me!" But there was no answer. Again and again he cried out but to no avail.
Finally he yelled, "Is anybody up there?"
A deep voice replied, "Yes, I’m up here."
"Who is it?"
"It’s the Lord"
"Can you help me?"
"Yes, I can help."
"Help me!"
"Let go."
Looking around the man became full of panic. "What?!?!"
"Let go. I will catch you."
"Uh... Is there anybody else up there?"
-I think I shared that before, but the point is this: God wants us to do what He says, not seek a 2nd opinion. He gives us as much information as we need to know, and will give us a little more after we act on what He has given us so far.
Conclusion: As we close today, are you a Christ-follower? Are you effectively following Him? Are you paying it forward, telling the good news about Him, and training others to do the same? Are you working as a team with the other believers God has placed in your life? Are you in sync with the rest of the body of Christ, or on a different wavelength? Do you regularly hear the voice of the HS, as He reveals God’s will and strategy to you? Have you been faithful to act on what you’ve heard from God?
-If you answered no to any of these questions, welcome to the family! You still have room to grow. However, I would encourage you to ask God what steps He would have you take to remedy the problem. Lord, how can I share my faith and help train others to do so? Lord, how can I be a better team player? Lord, how can I hear your voice more clearly? Lord, help me to act on what you’ve already shown me.
-We’ve covered a few different areas, but take just a moment of silence and ask God this one question: “Lord, what one thing do You want me to do in obedience to You?” [PRAY]
