BACK TO THE BASICS
Deut. 1:19-46 / Acts 15
* Most all of us remember the story of the Children of Israel and their Exodus from Egyptian Captivity. We recall that God had ‘given’ them a land flowing with milk and honey. Additionally, we know that because of unbelief, disobedience, and employing the democratic process, the trip that should have taken the Israelites 4 weeks took 40 years and cost them the lives of 1.2 million people. Many are the lessons we can learn from this group of people.
* Turn with me to Deuteronomy 1. As the book opens we read Moses recapping much of the trek of the Children of Israel. It does us good to remember and reflect on our history. Let’s begin reading in verse 19.
* (AFTER READING & APPLYING) On Monday night of the Pastor’s Conference, I heard Andy Stanley give a message which I believe was aimed for me and by extension ‘US.’ While I’m not much on preaching other people’s sermons, when God stirs my heart, I will take the info, pray through it, and personalize it for us. While already I’ve begun tonight differently than he did, without hesitation or reservation I will tell you that the large part of what we will discuss God gave to me through Andy’s message. For me, tonight is not a “SERMON”, it is simply a Biblical talk which, I believe, holds some practical truth for our church family.
* Let’s begin with the very reason we must regularly review, reflect, refocus, and renew ourselves to the task of the gospel. Here it is in a simple statement; “Everyone lives throughout eternity, somewhere.” How long has it been since you meditated on that truth and thought about your family and friends in light of this fact. Then Jesus says this, “I am the only way to a home in heaven.” If this is the truth (and it is), then the call to us, as followers of Him and keeper of this mystery, is to make sure as many as possible make it to the right place. This means we do more than ‘get up on Sunday mornings and attend our corporate meetings, that we do more than ‘take care of our own,’ and that we possess the land which the Lord has given us. By the way, when Jesus said, “I will build my church and the gates of hell will not prevail against it”, the implication is that the church is on the spiritual move attempting to rescue people who are outside of Christ and inside the gates of hell to bring them outside the gates of hell and inside of Christ.
* Here is my plan for the night. We are going to look at 3 quotes (2 from business people & one from the Bible) & then consider the implications.
Back to the Basics – Pg 2
1. Most of us are familiar with Chick Filet and the founder, Truett Cathey. In the early 1990’s Chick Fillet experienced their first real competition. It was from the chain that we know today as “Boston Market.” In Truett’s leadership team were many young men who began to talk about expansion (making themselves bigger). As I understand it, Chick Filet was debt free and now this team began debate about going into debt and expanding so that they would not lose their customers. The entire debate came down to a type of executive meeting where the young men were sitting around the table passionately discussing the future of the company and the need to expand and get bigger. I mean, after all, isn’t this the same call for many churches today? At the head of the conference table sat Truett Cathey listening (as he often did) to the debate. Finally (and uncharacteristically), Mr. Cathey began pounding on the table and said, “I’m sick and tired of hearing about our need to get bigger.” Here is the payoff; “If we get better our customers will demand we get bigger.” Let that thought burn into your spirit. What he said was this, “we will make what we do on the inside so appealing, excellent, and first rate that customer will see the how we treat them and will flock to the store. Whether in a business or church setting the principles are the same. There are 2 things which are required; evaluation and clarification. Sadly, most Baptists see the concept of evaluation as the time to point fingers at leaders, when in truth; evaluation should point fingers at problems. Much of the time the problem is not a person, a person becomes a scapegoat. Evaluation is that needed part of a structure which tells us how we are doing against an established standard. Bill Hybels, founder of Willowcreek Community Church in South Barington, Illinois, began that church with the concept of getting rid of all the non-essential things which have plagued the church for many years. He began with 7 people in his living room and today, 30 years later, they are one of the largest church fellowships in the nation worshipping with over 20,000 people each weekend. His focus was to do everything he could to make the unchurched people feel welcomed. Now, he didn’t do everything right, but he had a ‘standard’ to evaluate. About 2 years ago, they did an evaluation and found they were ‘missing the mark’ for spiritual growth. Instead of burying the truth, they wrote a book to help other churches see what they had done wrong. They evaluated & then clarified what they wanted to do which was ‘reach the lost’ & ‘develop the saved.’ The eval is ‘where’s the win?” The clarification is ‘did it fill our goal?”
Back to the Basics – Pg 3
2. Most of us have of a little company named “Intel”. What you may not know is that Intel began as a memory chip company. The third employee of that company was Andy Grove. He was president in ’79, CEO in ’87, and its chairman & CEO in ’97. He is credited with leading Intel in a business saving transformation. In ’79 they made memory chips (not sticks). The word is that the Japanese began making them cheaper so the business began to decline. They knew they needed to do something, had many discussions about refit, and yet, they loved making memory chips. The years before Andy became the CEO were dark years as Intel was fighting to stay afloat. They consider others computer product to make, but the truth is, they loved making memory chips even when it wasn’t producing revenue.
* When it comes to money making businesses, we would say, “Duh, why don’t you change into something that will make you money. After all, isn’t that what you’re purpose is?” Before we get on a ‘high-horse’ about this, maybe we should apply this situation to the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ. We know that Jesus came to seek and save those who are lost. We know that, while on earth, He didn’t give much credence to those religious types who were ‘taking care of their own turf (the Pharisees). We know that He sensed a mission from His heavenly Father and when He departed this earth He said (John 20:21), “As the Father sent me, SO SEND I YOU!” So the very reason we are here, as believers & a church, is to seek out those who are not on the road to heaven & help them discover that road. All else we do is to be peripheral. Yet, when we discover that ‘how we are dong things’ is no longer working, what do we do? I submit that the tendency is to ‘fall in love with the way we do ministry as opposed to falling in love with the one who we do it for.’ And in the process we become susceptible to the ‘irrational pull of the Lord’s church toward the insiders.’
* Back to Andy Grove and Intel. It was during the mid ‘80s that a type of critical mass was reached. At this time, Andy was heard to say, “If we got kicked out & the board brought in a CEO, what would HE do?” The follow up is this, ‘Why don’t we walk out of the room, come back in (like our replacement) and just do it.’ There are a couple of truths we must clearly understand; “We are perfectly organized for the results we are getting.” Do you know why this is? Because an ‘organization is deaf, but is loyal.’ For most established churches today, we have created a ‘church for the churched’ which is more about ‘keeping than reaching.’ The truly sad commentary is that ‘sometimes we know what to do, but just don’t do it. The reason this is important is because our statement.
Back to the Basics – Pg 4
3. For the last thought, turn with me to Acts 15. This chapter is very interesting for several reasons. The buildup to this chapter shows an effort in church planting which are facing cultural persecution. As the chapter opens, we see a dispute and debate beginning. The subject was who could be saved and how this would happen. Those (Pharisees) maintained that ‘faith alone’ was not enough for salvation; the men (they contended) had to be circumcised. After all this had been the tradition and had served well since the time of Abraham. If the long-termers had to submit then the “Johnny come lately” would have to do it also. After debate (which I suspect was heated) James (the half-brother of Jesus and the Lead Elder for the church in Jerusalem) spoke. Let’s read verse 15 ff. The payoff is found in verse 19. (READ) I submit that there is not a clearer picture of staying on task and resolving conflict in the entire New Testament. Consider that this disagreement was no small matter. Those who had been saved out of “Pharisaism” was standing their ground defending this tradition while those on the front line of sharing the gospel were content find out where and how God was working & then get in on what God was up to.
* So what is God up to today? He is up to the same thing today that He was when the church in Jerusalem had this debate. He is in the business of changing lives and making disciples of mankind. Everything else is fluff. James told them; let’s don’t put up any stumbling blocks in the way of those who will come.
* Let’s talk about potential stumbling blocks;
* Most of the time stumbling blocks are of human design. It can start in the parking lot, signage, parking, nursery, children, cliques, and of course, attitudes. The list can go on and on. I could get specific and even personal, but let’s end our time together with a challenge.
* Our God is in the life-changing business, He even changes old ‘coots’ like me and people like you. I desire to give you a 3 part action plan.
* Invite – This is simple yet required. With our lives and our words we need to invite people to join us collectively and to Christ. It is as simple as believing everyone lives throughout eternity ‘somewhere’ and acting on that belief. Who have you invited?
* Inform – Be willing to share your life with them. Not just a pew.
* Involve – Welcome them into your group of friends & family.
* The bottom line is; let’s allow the gospel to offend, let us not.
