Two moose hunters in northern Canada shot an unusually large moose. It was a real trophy animal, but there was only one problem. The moose was too big for their packhorses to carry out of the woods.
That didn’t bother the hunters, though. They just used their cell phone to call in a tiny seaplane. When it arrived, they tried to talk the pilot into strapping this huge bull moose onto his plane and flying it out for them.
The pilot took one look at that moose and said rather dubiously, “I don't know if I can take off with that much weight.”
“We've done this before,” they reassured him. “Don't worry.”
So they strapped the moose on, draping it across both pontoons. This made the pilot even more nervous. “Look how far we are sinking below the waterline,” he objected. “I'm the pilot. I know how much it takes to lift off.”
“Relax,” the hunters persisted. “We've done this before. Trust us.”
Reluctantly, the pilot agreed. He gunned the engine, took off down his runway of water… and crashed into the treetops at the end of the lake. Debris flew everywhere, and the moose carcass got lodged in the branches of a tall pine tree.
Down on the shoreline, one dazed hunter called out to the other, “Hey, George! How did we do?”
“Well,” George replied, “we're about 50 feet farther than last year.” (Gary Smalley as cited by E. Glenn Wagner in The Church You’ve Always Wanted, Zondervan, 2002)
I know of some churches like that. They work on improving the same old programs every year, but they never get off the ground. They never think that they need a whole new approach to ministry. And as a result, they never accomplish what God has called them to do. Change is hard for most people, and most people resist it, even if what they’re currently doing no longer works.
The question is: How do we keep that from happening here? How do we keep ourselves from getting stuck with ineffective programs and approaches? How do we remain on the cutting edge of ministry to continue reaching new generations of people with the Good News of Jesus Christ.
Well, I think it would do us well to take a little advice from Stephen – a sharp, young leader in the first church, who challenged the religious traditions of his day. If you have your Bibles, I invite you to turn with me to Acts 6, Acts 6, where we see Stephen at work.
Acts 6:8-10 And Stephen, full of grace and power, was doing great wonders and signs among the people. Then some of those who belonged to the synagogue of the Freedmen (as it was called), and of the Cyrenians, and of the Alexandrians, and of those from Cilicia and Asia, rose up and disputed with Stephen. But they could not withstand the wisdom and the Spirit with which he was speaking. (ESV)
Stephen is a sharp, young man, and the old, religious establishment can’t answer him. So they do what most people do when they have no answer. They attack.
Acts 6:11-14 Then they secretly instigated men who said, “We have heard him speak blasphemous words against Moses and God.” And they stirred up the people and the elders and the scribes, and they came upon him and seized him and brought him before the council, and they set up false witnesses who said, “This man never ceases to speak words against this holy place and the law, for we have heard him say that this Jesus of Nazareth will destroy this place and will change the customs that Moses delivered to us.” (ESV)
Now, that’s a low blow. You might talk about a Jew’s big nose, or even a Jewish Momma, and the Jewish people in the 1st century might be offended. But when you say anything against the Jewish Temple or the Jewish Law, they are incensed! That’s because nothing is closer to the Jewish heart than their Temple and their Law.
But that’s exactly what they accuse Stephen of doing. They accuse him of speaking against the Temple – God’s holy dwelling place, and they accuse him of speaking against the Law – or their sacred duties. Do you think Stephen is intimidated?
Acts 6:15 And gazing at him, all who sat in the council saw that his face was like the face of an angel. (ESV)
Stephen is not one bit intimidated. His face shines like an angel’s.
Acts 7:1 And the high priest said, “Are these things so?” (ESV)
Listen to Stephen’s answer as it is recorded in the rest of this chapter. I’ll be showing it on the screen in front of you from a project called The Visual Bible. As you watch, put yourselves in the shoes of the Jewish Sanhedrin, and pretend that you are one of the 70 people gathered together in a great hall near the Temple. Pretend that you are part of the Old Guard, the Religious Establishment, listening to a man who was accused of criticizing two of the dearest things in your heart – your house of worship and your spiritual disciplines.
Acts 7:2-53 And Stephen said: “Brothers and fathers, hear me. The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia, before he lived in Haran, and said to him, ‘Go out from your land and from your kindred and go into the land that I will show you.’ Then he went out from the land of the Chaldeans and lived in Haran. And after his father died, God removed him from there into this land in which you are now living. Yet he gave him no inheritance in it, not even a foot’s length, but promised to give it to him as a possession and to his offspring after him, though he had no child. And God spoke to this effect—that his offspring would be sojourners in a land belonging to others, who would enslave them and afflict them four hundred years. ‘But I will judge the nation that they serve,’ said God, ‘and after that they shall come out and worship me in this place.’ And he gave him the covenant of circumcision. And so Abraham became the father of Isaac, and circumcised him on the eighth day, and Isaac became the father of Jacob, and Jacob of the twelve patriarchs.
“And the patriarchs, jealous of Joseph, sold him into Egypt; but God was with him and rescued him out of all his afflictions and gave him favor and wisdom before Pharaoh, king of Egypt, who made him ruler over Egypt and over all his household. Now there came a famine throughout all Egypt and Canaan, and great affliction, and our fathers could find no food. But when Jacob heard that there was grain in Egypt, he sent out our fathers on their first visit. And on the second visit Joseph made himself known to his brothers, and Joseph’s family became known to Pharaoh. And Joseph sent and summoned Jacob his father and all his kindred, seventy-five persons in all. And Jacob went down into Egypt, and he died, he and our fathers, and they were carried back to Shechem and laid in the tomb that Abraham had bought for a sum of silver from the sons of Hamor in Shechem.
“But as the time of the promise drew near, which God had granted to Abraham, the people increased and multiplied in Egypt until there arose over Egypt another king who did not know Joseph. He dealt shrewdly with our race and forced our fathers to expose their infants, so that they would not be kept alive. At this time Moses was born; and he was beautiful in God’s sight. And he was brought up for three months in his father’s house, and when he was exposed, Pharaoh’s daughter adopted him and brought him up as her own son. And Moses was instructed in all the wisdom of the Egyptians, and he was mighty in his words and deeds.
“When he was forty years old, it came into his heart to visit his brothers, the children of Israel. And seeing one of them being wronged, he defended the oppressed man and avenged him by striking down the Egyptian. He supposed that his brothers would understand that God was giving them salvation by his hand, but they did not understand. And on the following day he appeared to them as they were quarreling and tried to reconcile them, saying, ‘Men, you are brothers. Why do you wrong each other?’ But the man who was wronging his neighbor thrust him aside, saying, ‘Who made you a ruler and a judge over us? Do you want to kill me as you killed the Egyptian yesterday?’ At this retort Moses fled and became an exile in the land of Midian, where he became the father of two sons.
“Now when forty years had passed, an angel appeared to him in the wilderness of Mount Sinai, in a flame of fire in a bush. When Moses saw it, he was amazed at the sight, and as he drew near to look, there came the voice of the Lord: ‘I am the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham and of Isaac and of Jacob.’ And Moses trembled and did not dare to look. Then the Lord said to him, ‘Take off the sandals from your feet, for the place where you are standing is holy ground. I have surely seen the affliction of my people who are in Egypt, and have heard their groaning, and I have come down to deliver them. And now come, I will send you to Egypt.’
“This Moses, whom they rejected, saying, ‘Who made you a ruler and a judge?’—this man God sent as both ruler and redeemer by the hand of the angel who appeared to him in the bush. This man led them out, performing wonders and signs in Egypt and at the Red Sea and in the wilderness for forty years. This is the Moses who said to the Israelites, ‘God will raise up for you a prophet like me from your brothers.’ This is the one who was in the congregation in the wilderness with the angel who spoke to him at Mount Sinai, and with our fathers. He received living oracles to give to us. Our fathers refused to obey him, but thrust him aside, and in their hearts they turned to Egypt, saying to Aaron, ‘Make for us gods who will go before us. As for this Moses who led us out from the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.’ And they made a calf in those days, and offered a sacrifice to the idol and were rejoicing in the works of their hands. But God turned away and gave them over to worship the host of heaven, as it is written in the book of the prophets: “
‘Did you bring to me slain beasts and sacrifices, during the forty years in the wilderness, O house of Israel? You took up the tent of Moloch and the star of your god Rephan, the images that you made to worship; and I will send you into exile beyond Babylon.’
“Our fathers had the tent of witness in the wilderness, just as he who spoke to Moses directed him to make it, according to the pattern that he had seen. Our fathers in turn brought it in with Joshua when they dispossessed the nations that God drove out before our fathers. So it was until the days of David, who found favor in the sight of God and asked to find a dwelling place for the God of Jacob. But it was Solomon who built a house for him. Yet the Most High does not dwell in houses made by hands, as the prophet says, “
‘Heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool. What kind of house will you build for me, says the Lord, or what is the place of my rest? Did not my hand make all these things?’
“You stiff-necked people, uncircumcised in heart and ears, you always resist the Holy Spirit. As your fathers did, so do you. Which of the prophets did your fathers not persecute? And they killed those who announced beforehand the coming of the Righteous One, whom you have now betrayed and murdered, you who received the law as delivered by angels and did not keep it.” (ESV)
Stephen says, “I am not the one who rejects the Law. You do, just like your fathers before you.” Just like the Patriarchs rejected Joseph, just like the Jews in Egypt rejected Moses – twice!, just like the Jews throughout the centuries have rejected all the prophets, you too have rejected God’s own Son, your Messiah, the Righteous One Himself. In fact, you betrayed and murdered Him. Who is it that doesn’t respect the Law? It is YOU who disregard the Law, not me.
Stephen has great regard for the Law. He knows it backwards and forwards. In an impromptu speech, before the Sanhedrin, he is able to summarize the content of almost the entire Old Testament, from Genesis to Isaiah, here referred to as the Law.
And he uses that very Law to make two very important points. Do you hear me? He makes two very important points to the religious establishment of his day, and to the religious establishment in any day that often gets stuck in the old ways of doing things. First, as prompted by the Holy Spirit, Stephen says…
DON’T CONFINE GOD TO ONE PLACE.
Don’t restrict God to one area. Don’t limit God to one space, because God works in many places, not just in our house of worship.
You can open your Bibles to Acts 7. Take a look at verse 2 -- God appeared to Abraham in Mesopotamia. Verse 4 – God removed Abraham from Haran. Verse 9 – God was with Joseph in Egypt. Verse 20 – God was with Moses in Egypt. Verse 29 – God blessed Moses in Midian – He had 2 sons there. Verse 30 – God appeared to Moses in the wilderness. Verse 38 – God gave Moses the Law on a mountain. Verse 44 – The Tabernacle, a temporary house for the Lord, was built in the wilderness. Verse 48 – And even when the Temple, a permanent house for the Lord, was built, God mad it very clear that he could not be confined to it.
The Jews made the mistake of confining God to their temple in Jerusalem, contrary to their own Law, and some of the early Christians made the same mistake. Jesus told them go to the ends of the earth, but they remained in Jerusalem, and continued to meet at the Temple. It wasn’t until Stephen was stoned and a great persecution broke out, that the early Christians finally got out of the Temple, and out of Jerusalem, to do what Christ had called them to do in the first place.
I wonder if we need the same “medicine” today, because it’s so easy to make the same mistake as the Jews and the early Christians. It’s so easy to think that God is here, and only here. It’s so easy to think that this is the place where it has to happen, that God can only work in a place of worship.
Well, if that’s what you think, I have a surprise for you. God can use you in your HOME to bring people to Himself. God can use you at WORK or at SCHOOL. God can use you ANYWHERE there is a need.
Ray Stedman put it well, when he said, “It was never intended that worldlings should come to church to find Christ. [Instead], the church should be in the world.”
This building is not where real ministry takes place. This building is only the place where you are equipped to minister. The real ministry takes place out there.
Frederick the Great, once King of Prussia, won a huge battle with little loss of men. Someone asked him, “How did you do it?”
He replied, “The enemy had seven cooks and one spy. I had seven spies and one cook.”
That’s exactly the difference between an effective church and an ineffective one. The effective church has most of its people ministering out there in enemy territory. The ineffective church has most of its people tied up in committee meetings and ministry within the four walls of its building.
Kathy was a successful stockbroker in Minneapolis who easily made friends and had the gift of evangelism. She used to go to the pool at her apartment complex, settle on a chaise lounge, read a book, and eventually strike up a conversation with whoever sat next to her. Soon the two would become friends, and Kathy would begin talking very comfortably about her Christian faith.
Bringing newcomers to church was her regular practice. She was so good at this that she was invited to serve on the church evangelism board. When Kathy asked her pastor what I thought about the idea, he said, “That’s ridiculous. Why would we put someone who is so good at evangelism in a room for hours with people who are already Christians? Let someone else serve on the evangelism board while you sit out by the pool.” (Leith Anderson, Leadership That Works, Bethany House, 1999, pp. 135-136)
I like that pastor’s attitude. Why put your best people to work here, when out there is where they need to be? Don’t confine God to the Temple, or the church building. Don’t confine God to one place. And 2nd…
DON’T CONFINE GOD TO ONE PLAN.
Don’t limit God to any one program. Don’t restrict God to only one way of doing things. God is wonderfully creative, working in many different ways.
And that’s exactly Stephen’s point as he reviews Israel’s history. He makes promises to Abraham (vs.1-8). He gives “wisdom” to Joseph in Egypt (vs.9-10). He speaks to Moses from a burning bush (vs.30). He does “wonders” in Egypt and parts the Red Sea (vs.36). He gives Moses “living oracles” on tablets of stone (vs.38). And He draws plans for a tabernacle (vs.44).
God works in many different ways, and we make a huge mistake when we limit God. We make a huge mistake when we insist that He can only work in one way.
When the Charismatic Movement swept the country in the early 1900’s, a lot of good Christians said, “That can’t be of God; it’s too weird. It’s too different.” But the early Charismatics made the same mistake. They insisted that everyone must have the same intensely, personal experience with the Spirit that they had in order to be truly “Spirit Filled.” Both sides were saying, “God has to work in my way.” And both sides were wrong. Both sides were limiting God.
When the first chalk talk was used in the church many years ago, several of the dear old saints frowned and muttered, “They use that in the secular world, don’t they? We don’t believe in chalk talks in the church. Next thing you know, somebody will use a flannel-graph board. (Swindoll, Mediocrity, p.174)
(illus.) When movies first came on the scene, an innovative youth worker showed his youth group a simple, safe, black-and-white missionary film. The projector hadn’t been off an hour before a group of leaders in the church criticized him for it.
They told him, “We don’t like that. Movies are sinful.”
“But,” the youth worker responded, “At the last missionary conference, our church showed slides…”
One of the church officers put his hand up to cut him off. Then he said, “If it’s still, fine. If it moves, sin!” (Swindoll, Grace Awakening, p.161)
We laugh at that, because it’s so backward. But it makes you wonder – Where are we stuck today?
We Christians serve a God who is innovative and creative. Therefore, we should be the most innovative and creative people around. Indeed, we MUST be the most innovative and creative people around, if we’re going to continue reaching new generations with the age-old, timeless truth of the Gospel.
The message never changes: Christ died for our sins and rose again. And all who trust Him have eternal life. That message never changes, but the methods for delivering that message must change. What worked yesterday, doesn’t work today; and what works today, won’t work tomorrow.
When gas lights first came on the scene, an enterprising young pastor got some of them installed in his church. Then he lit them on Sunday nights to draw a crowd, and while people were there, he preached to them. Today, there are churches who still have a Sunday night service and wonder why hardly anybody shows up. Maybe they think people might come to see the electric lights burn.
It used to be, you could announce a week of revival services and pack out the church. Why? Because it was the only show going on in town – that and the circus – and sometimes it was hard to tell the two apart. Today, with satellite TV, DVD’s, and the Internet, you announce a week of revival services and people think, “BORING,” and stay away in droves.
If we’re going to reach a new generation of people, then we must come up with new and innovative ways to reach them. We must be willing to change. So don’t limit God to one place, and don’t limit God to one plan. Get out there, and let God use you in a variety of ways and in a variety of places. Sure, some may want to stone you like they did Stephen, but that’s the only way we’ll see the Gospel spread.
Live churches are constantly changing.
Dead churches don’t have to.
Live churches have lots of noisy kids.
Dead churches are fairly quiet.
Live church’s expenses always exceed their income.
Dead churches take in more than they ever dreamed.
Live churches are constantly improving for the future.
Dead churches worship their past.
Live churches move out in faith.
Dead churches operate totally by human sight.
Live churches focus on people.
Dead churches focus on programs.
Live churches dream great dreams for God.
Dead churches relive nightmares.
Live churches don’t have “can’t” in their vocabulary.
Dead churches have nothing but.
Live churches evangelize.
Dead churches fossilize.
