4 NEW ATTITUDES THAT WILL CHANGE YOUR LIFE – I Need to Keep Growing in Christ
Ephesians 4:11-16 (p. 815) January 18, 2015
Introduction:
I think job descriptions are important! If you don’t know what’s expected of you then how can you fulfill your task?
I remember sitting with Brandon our ministry intern and asking him if he had any questions about his job description. I said have you read line 17? He said, “I don’t know.” (I laughed because I said line 17 says... “And any other job deemed necessary by the Sr. Minister.” By the way...line 17 isn’t really there...but it ought to be.
James S. Hewitt gives this list of job descriptions for the church staff:
Senior Minister: Able to leap tall buildings in a single bound. More powerful than a locomotive. Faster than a speeding bullet. Walks on water. Gets direct counsel from God.
Associate Minister: Able to leap short building with some help. As powerful as a Ford pickup. Just as fast as a speeding bullet. Walks on water when the sea is calm. Talk with God.
Minister of Music: Leaps short buildings with a running start. Almost as powerful as a compact car. Faster than a speeding B.B. Occasionally hears from God. Walks on water if he knows where the stumps are.
Minister of Youth: Runs into small buildings. Recognizes a locomotive two out of three times. Uses a squirt gun. Knows how to use the water fountain. Mumbles to himself about God.
Church Secretary: Lifts building to walk under them. Kicks locomotives off their tracks. Catches speeding bullets in her teeth. Freezes water with a single glance. When God speaks she says, “May I say whose calling?”
Maybe I should clarify...that’s how many people think the job descriptions should be for church staff.
I love being a minister (most of the time). In fact I would share with you I believe it was a “calling.” At 18, after giving my life to Christ, I became convinced God had saved me for “full time” Christian service. It’s why I went to Bible College. I wanted to be a youth minister, just like Brewster, my youth minister at Southland. I’m pretty sure Brewster ran into some buildings, and I know he could use a squirt gun. Brewster also mumbled about God a lot, but he loved us, taught us, challenged us. He helped me start growing up, even though I was just a brand new baby in Christ, from the get-go I was challenged “To live a life worthy of the calling you received.” (Eph. 4:1)
As I’ve shared over the last two weeks in this series...God doesn’t call us...and save us so we can then “coast it on into the harbor.” God’s plan is for saved people to serve Him. And He will enable “all those He’s called” to serve effectively through gifts given by the Holy Spirit.
Ephesians 4:7 says “But to each one of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it.” Verse 8 says, “He gives gifts to His people.” Verse 11 has a list: Apostles, Prophets, Evangelists, Pastors, Teachers. (We’ll talk about these specific gifts a little later) but the purpose of all Holy Spirit given gifts is:
“To equip God’s people for works of service so that the body of Christ may be build up. (these gifts should help us) reach unity in the faith. This knowledge should keep us growing until we become mature, like Jesus.
For all this to happen powerfully and effectively we must understand our calling.
I. GOD HAS CALLED US TO A LIFE WITH PURPOSE
We live in a world of “give me, serve me, listen to me!”
Jesus might have told his followers “It’s more blessed to give than receive.” But Satan, the god of this world continually whispers his lies “You need this. You deserve this. You really want this. Demand your rights.”
And even as we followers of Christ try to “take up our cross, deny ourselves and follow in the footsteps of Jesus, we do so in a world that is heading in the opposite road with a broad highway mentality...towards destruction.
Paul is in prison as he writes these words to the church at Ephesus. He’s not in jail because he’s robbed somebody, or broken an earthly law – He’s in prison because he is a servant of Jesus “as a prisoner for the Lord.” Eph. 4:1 says He’s literally saying...because of this calling I received from Jesus on the Damascus Rd. I’m in prison...but it’s worth it...“you are worth it.”
None of us can serve God effectively and powerfully if our first priority is self. He lets us know there is a bigger goal for our calling. A bigger goal for our growth...and that goal is “the church.” Listen:
EPHESIANS 4:2-6 (p. 815)
God created “the Church.” It’s the unity of essential that makes it One body, and it’s the Holy Spirit’s gifts that enable the body to grow and be healthy.
The human body has different parts...eyes, mouth, ears, lets, hands, hearts.
The spiritual body of Christ, the church, has different parts: Apostles, prophets (preachers) teachers, evangelist, pastors, different parts...but each need to function well for the body to be healthy.
The Church truly is a “Ministry of all believers.” Somewhere in Church History there developed a notion of clergy. Those paid to do ministry..and laity. Those who received ministry.
This is one of the most unbiblical philosophies that a church can have...because instead of helping people find and use their calling...their gifts, they find a pew!
Instead of understanding why Jesus took sin captive...and why he gave gifts...to every one of us...people reject their gifts and rely on “real ministers” to leap tall buildings.
Just so everyone here this morning understands the attitude that will change your life...here it is in a sentence: “God saved you so you can serve Him” and by the way, you never reach a level of maturity that’s good enough. You never need to stop growing like Jesus.
Do you remember what Jesus told His followers as He ascended into heaven? After defeating sin and death...Christ the Conquerer would say:
“All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.” (Matthew 28:18)
That’s all the power and authority in existence by the way. Nothing in all creation or in the supernatural world can stop the authority of Jesus.
Therefore (Here’s why He has this authority)
Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the father, son and Holy Spirit...teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.
If you ask someone to do a job give them the job description and the authority to do it.
II. JESUS HAS GIVEN US ALL THE RESOURCES WE NEED FOR VICTORY
Job description for the Church: Make disciples of all nations.
How do we do that? What tools has Jesus given us to accomplish our job?
First of all “His authority, His Power.” He’s the generator we plug into for the juice needed to operate the machinery.
And then Jesus provides people...people who understand this calling...people gifted by the Holy Spirit for leadership.
Each of the listed people in Eph. 4:11 are leaders:
The Apostles: (Apostle literally means “someone sent with the authority of the sender...like a king’s messenger.) It refers to the original 12 in most places (Mathias took Judas’ place...one of the first things they did, even before the gift of the Holy Spirit in Acts 2)...apostles have been taught by Jesus and seen the resurrected Lord personally. Paul the Apostle is unique (born out of season). He has been set apart by God...and he has seen the resurrected Lord. Scripture calls them the foundation stones upon which the Church is built. Jesus is the chief cornerstone...It was their doctrine...their teaching which was “the Word of God” before it was written down.)
I love this portion of Scripture...Listen to Paul’s heart:
1 CORINTHIANS 15:3-11 (p. 801)
Apostles: The original 12, Mathias takes Judas’ place, and Paul... “Abnormally born” but an instrument of grace...preaching what he believed.
Prophets: It’s the Biblical word for preacher. It’s not so much foretelling, like the Old Testament Prophets, but forth-telling boldly the Word of God...This gift is given for education, exhortation and comfort. The New Testament prophet speaks a “now” word to the church.
Evangelists: They reach the lost. There is a powerful anointing on their lives to reach the lost and bring them into the church.
Pastors & Teachers: The Greek language links these two gifts together...and there is a good reason. A pastor shepherds his flock. Pastor literally means shepherd and has a root meaning of “To feed!” Shepherds do a lot of things, but feeding their sheep is maybe the most important. They also protect them from wolves.
When Elders are mentioned in Timothy and Titus the only different qualification is they are able to teach.
Why...Because the Church is all about disciple making. Apprenticeship is what leaders do well.
Each gift is provided by God’s Spirit to minister to people, build His Church, and unite the body so it grows to be like Jesus. “To prepare, to equip God’s people for works of service.”
God wants us to be stable people...not blown around like a tiny ship in the ocean. Satan schemes...He’s deceptive...He lies...but the church has a purpose...and that purpose is accomplished in 2 ways...Speaking the truth...and Love.
I’ll end with an illustration from geese:
We will never become a church that effectively reaches out to those who are missing out if we shoot our wounded and major on the minuses. Instead of being fishers of men, as Christ has called us, we will be keepers of an ever-shrinking aquarium. Next fall when you see geese heading south for the winter flying along in V formation, you might be interested in knowing what science has discovered about why they fly that way. It has been learned that as each bird flaps its wings, it creates an uplift for the bird immediately following. By flying in a V formation, the whole flock adds at least 71 percent greater flying range than if each bird flew on its own. (Christians who share a common direction and a sense of community can get where they are going quicker and easier, because they are traveling on the thrust of one another.)
Whenever a goose falls out of formation, it suddenly feels the drag and resistance of trying to go it alone, and quickly gets back into formation to take advantage of the lifting power of the bird immediately in front. (If we have as much sense as a goose, we will stay in formation with those who are headed the same way we are going.) When the lead goose gets tired, he rotates back in the wing and another goose flies point. (It pays to take turns doing hard jobs –with people at church or with geese flying south.) The geese honk from behind to encourage those up front to keep up their speed. (What do we say when we honk from behind?) Finally, when a goose gets sick, or is wounded by a shot and falls out, two geese fall out of formation and follow him down to help and protect him. They stay with him until he is either able to fly, or until he is dead, and then they launch out on their own or with another formation to catch up with their original group. (If people knew we would stand by them like that in church, they would push down these walls to get in.) You see, all we have to do in order to attract those who are missing back to church is to demonstrate to the world that we have as much sense as geese here at church. That seems little enough price to pay to win the lost and minister to one another. Even geese have sense enough to know it works every time.
--James S. Hewett, Illustrations Unlimited (Wheaton: Tyndale House Publishers, Inc, 1988) pp. 125-126.
Geese have an effective shape and it is a V.
And the church has an effective shape and it’s a “circle.” It’s not a pyramid.
Pyramids have a select few at the top that make all the decisions, do all the work, or oversee all the work. In this shape leaders are exhausted and the pyramid can only grow so large as the people at the top can minister to...and even then not everyone is reached.
But the New Testament shape of ministry is a circle in which all minister to the other. Inside the big circle is a series of smaller circles each one representing a different ministry. The Church doesn’t grow by adding people to the bottom of the pyramid. It grows by adding people inside the all encompassing circle of Christ.
Here’s an illustration...Which is a better statement: “Rick was really good to us!” or “The Church was really good to us!”
When the church becomes the circle of Eph. 4, Christ gets the glory instead of the guy at the top of the pyramid. It’s a circle of ...filled with people using their gifts and growing the circle “as each part does its work.”
Let’s Pray.
