Don’t be Confused – (THE TERM) - #1
Matthew 16:13-19
* This morning I carry you on a brief journey on which, for the past couple of weeks, I have found myself. Quite honestly, this journey has been painful and helpful as well as hard and exciting. My first disclaimer is that my desire is not to offend anyone particularly. That being said, I know that through this journey I will be seen pretty much as an “equal opportunity offender” because the truth of God’s word will offend everyone who maintains a hint of personal pride or agenda. If, at the end of the day, you feel like your person has been assaulted, be thankful you are not me, because of the nature this ‘these messages’ I have come to feel that the work I have given my life to, moved my family around the southeast for, and for which I am here, has been challenged. What frightens me is this; I am not challenged by a colleague, or a church member, or a crisis, but rather, I am challenged by the truth of God’s word & our Lord’s teaching about HIS church. “HIS CHURCH” – it is probably a good idea to embrace this concept first – “HIS (not my) Church.”
* Have you ever begun a project (I.E. cooking, building, and cleaning) that, in the initial concept, was to be simple, sweet, & short, only to get frustrated that the more attention you gave it the larger it became? In fact, it was almost like it had a ‘life of its own.” This exactly described what has happened to me this past couple of weeks as I have fleshed out today’s message. It began as one message and now is a 3 part series.
* Let me give you the background of how God worked in my spirit to bring me to this place. You have heard from multiple preachers in this pulpit speak to you about the 21st century church in America. It matters not who you read, the discovery is generally disturbing. Over three-fourths of “CHRISTIAN” churches in America are plateaued & declining & of those who boast of gains in attendance, the majority are growing through ‘transfer growth’. That is, we are swapping sheep instead of birthing new sheep. Then we read books like “Essential Church” which tells us that young people, while not giving up on God, are in large numbers leaving the fellowship between the ages of 18 & 30 with only a small percentage of those ever returning to fold. (When you ask them why – you’ll get some alarming answers). My personal bookshelf is replete with books on the church (I.E. deliberate, external-focused, purpose-driven, and more) – which all attempt to combat the same issue – a dying church. Now we are reading the book “Already Gone” only to discover that one of the culprits to this dilemma is the very thing ‘we’ consider to be an invincible force for discipling our children to be the very thing which is not grounding & growing them in their faith. These only scratch the surface.
* Additionally, on Thursday of this week I had the opportunity to hear Dr. Frank Paige, the new CEO of the SBC Executive Committee say something like, “We are an aging people. Many of the congregations I speak to are “older white people” which is not particularly reflective of our culture.” If you are like me, you’re saying to yourself, “ENOUGH already” to which I respond, “I wish I could, but for me it gets worse.”
* We live in a culture which desperately needs a word from God which is ‘life-changing’, ‘God-revealing’, and landscape designing and because of what they have seen in the lives of the ‘churches’ they’ve gone shopping elsewhere. And by the thousands, this continues. Add to this dilemma the words of instruction from Jesus himself about the church and, as my dad used to say, ‘The cheese gets binding.’
* In my heart I heart I hear and sense that there is much confusion today about this thing called the church. (By the way, God is not the author of confusion). Yet, this confusion exists both from members & observers, but the one who is not confused is the founder. My call today, His call today is “Don’t be confused about the church.”
* Now, having said this, here is what I know and can in my mind’s eye see that arms are being folded, eyebrows raised, and heads tilted in that unmistakable attitude of ‘how dare you!’ and are “Who are you to tell me..?” (Frequently, this is the attitude seen in people who are confronted with sin and salvation). Yet, before I get to the text & the meat – please know a couple of things: a) who am I to do this? I am a very human, very imperfect man whom God has called to deliver truth (even when it hurts). b)This message is not intended to threaten anyone’s intellect or pride, it is my heart to display a difficult truth which, I believe, has been unseen.
* The only way to see this truth is by doing a serious study of the history of the church which reveals some disturbing thing. First, the church of the 21st century holds very little resemblance to the original church of the 1st century. By the way “original”, by definition, is that one which is the authentic. That 1st century church possessed firsthand knowledge of the Lord Jesus because they heard His voice, watched Him live, saw Him die, & witnessed His resurrection from the death & ascension to heaven. They also were present when the Holy Spirit came down. Because of their faith, consistency, & commitment, they were viewed as outlaws, renegades, and even criminals. They were never confused about what the CHURCH WAS. For them, the church was about calling, character, Christ-likeness, community, servant hood, listening, loving, learning, bearing fruit, and being an authentic disciple; it was about a lifestyle which pointed people to God through HIS Son, Jesus. It was about laying one’s life on the line for the gospel, something greater.
* It was around the 4th century, when Constantine made the ‘Church’ ‘legal’ that things changed. And at first blush, one might think the changes were good. Constantine made Christianity the official religion of the empire (and the church became an institution of the empire. Instead of being radical renegades who were on the fringe of society, they were now in a culture where everyone was considered members. At this point for the first time, members began expecting something from the church. The results were devastating; purpose disappeared, discipleship was lost, & the mission had vanished (because there was no real need for mission since everyone was a member of the church). If you can see with your mind’s how this story develops, can you grasp that for over 15 centuries the post apostolic church has gradually eroded from the original that today there exist confusion about the nature of the church. While there is much more which can be said to further establish the need, let’s just repeat & read this truth; Our culture desperately needs a word from God which is ‘life-changing’, ‘God-revealing’, and landscape designing (where we remake our country). In other words, we need the first century church to re-emerge and be what Christ intended.
* Let’s turn to Matthew 16 and follow HIS words, then we will continue this painful surgery. When performing surgery, the surgeon attempts to make the smallest incision he can, so that the recovery can be as quick as possible, however, any surgeon will testify that an incision which is too small will not get the job done because the disease cannot be completely removed. Let’s hear our Lord’s words, endure the surgery of our past, our thoughts, and our own arrogance, & allow God to speak words of healing into our hearts, our fellowship, our community, our country & our world.
* (READ) Every time I dare to read this passage, my heart is torn up. Yes, it is exciting to hear Jesus use words like “rock, bound, & overpower”, but when we come down to earth about what is actually happening in & from the modern day Americanized church, we are faced with a grim reality that we are confused about a number of things.
1. Don’t be confused about the “TERM.” That is, the term ‘church.’
a) What it’s not! – have you ever given any serious thought as to what modern day culture thinks a church is or is not?
* It is not a ‘location’–Most of us know this, but yet the subtleties of our conversation give a different picture. The church is not a physical building, we know this but do we communicate this as truth? Many congregations today worship their building ‘as a divine architectural accomplishment’ & forget scripture says, “Your body is the temple of God.” The focus on the building & location is startling.
* It is not a “social organization.” – Should the church be involved in social types of ministries? Without a doubt. Jesus had more to say about helping the poor than He did about Heaven or hell. Yet, the church is not a social organization because meeting social needs is not the ‘end’, but the beginning. For a social organization, when the immediate need is met, the job is done. For the authentic church, meeting the social need opens the door for meeting the deeper need of the individual. Additionally, social organizations accept ‘one & all’ as workers, while the church ‘should’ have people who are ‘in the family’ & personally KNOW, the Lord Jesus.
* It is not a place where a ‘what’s in it for me’ attitude rules – What a difficult concept to accept after 1700 years of this aggressive & progressive selfish attitude of “ME & mine.” This attitude, like little else, flies in the face of everything Jesus came, lived, taught, & died for. With every fiber of His being, He taught that it’s all about others. In the crucifixion experience, He prayed for those who mistreated Him (“Father, forgive them”), those who were treated like Him (Today, you will be with me), and those who were hurting (took care of Mary).
* It’s easy to be duped into making the church what it is not.
b) What it is! – Well, from our text we know what Jesus said. Let’s unpack this just a little.
* The definition – When I was a pre-teen, at a deacon’s ordination I heard, “The church is a group of baptized believers.” This is not inaccurate but it is certainly incomplete. Definitions abound, but here is one; “The church is a group of baptized believers in covenant relationship fulfilling the Great Command & Great Commission of our Lord Christ.” Anything less than this may only be a ‘preaching point.’ When a body conceives theirs only as a place for people to attend worship, it has the impact of a preaching point, not a church.
* The functions - In Acts 2 we discern the 6 functions of the church; Worship, Discipleship, Evangelism, Ministry, Fellowship, & Prayer. You can have real fun with this truth. Choose your favorite area of the church & generally, you will not find it on the list. Here is the truth; it seems that it has become more important to protect our turf than to present God’s truth. This is an easy mode to get into. Don’t be confused about this, the church function differently than the world. We have different standards, mindset, & objective.
* The mission – The church on earth does not particularly have the mission of building the biggest crowds which we can. Although the outcome of fulfilling our mission will be more people. The mission is the change lives for time and eternity by redeeming mankind.
Everything done in, through, and by the church must possess the goal of; honoring the lord, salvation for the lost, & discipleship for the saved. The church, which is YOU and ME, must see us on a mission. (Randy Norris)
c) What it will be! – My last thought is to re-engage our imaginations. It seems to me that as a young person, we had dreams of what eternity would be like. When God finishes His work on earth, what will it be like?
* Building – 1 Cor. 3:9 “For we are God’s co-workers. You are God’s field, God’s building.” Jesus said, “I will build my church” and now Paul follows with ‘you are it.’ 2 Cor. 5:1 “For we know that if our earthly house, a tent, is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.”
* Body – Eph. 3:6 “the Gentiles are co-heirs, members of the same body, and partners of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel.” 1 Cor. 12:12-27 teaches us what we really haven’t grasped yet. We are & will become ONE BODY. We are interconnected.
* Bride - It is startling to read Eph. 5:25-27 understanding the concept begun in John 3 about the church being the ‘bride of Christ.’ (Read Eph 5). Then ultimately to read Rev 21:9, “Come now & I will show you the bride of Christ.” Jesus’ returning is to claim His bride.
o Don’t be confused about the term church – there are some things it is NOT (recap), there are some things it IS (recap), and there are some things it WILL BECOME…
o
