Living As The Church
Ephesians 4:1-16
INTRO: Have you ever read the Gospels and looked for the church? If you haven’t you should try it sometime. But I can tell you that you will not find much about church in the Gospels. Mark, Luke, and John don’t even mention the church and the word church is only in 2 verses in the book of Matthew and only 3 times is the word “Church” mentioned in those verses.
What does the Gospels tell you about church? Well, literally it doesn’t tell you much. Nothing about what you should do as a church (as we typically think about the church today.) Nothing about when we should meet as a church, what we should do when the church meets, nothing even saying that the church is to meet at all.
Now we know that the church should meeting Heb. 10:25 says, “Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.”
We know that the church met later on in the first century, but when Christ walked the earth we don’t see church. Like I said the word church is written only 3 times in 2 verses in all of the Gospels. So if someone was going to find out about what the church should do (as we think of the church today), one might say, “don’t look in the Gospels because it’s not there.”
However that is far beyond the truth because in the Gospels we see the church all over. The church is found in quiet secluded places so it could spend time with God, praying and giving itself to Him completely. The church is found teaching and preaching all over the countrysides of Judea, Galilee, and even in Samaria. The church is found hanging around the popular places where there are a lot of people so that the church can influence those around it. The church is eating and drinking with sinners, even being called a gluten and drunkard.
If you look in the Gospels for the church it has no walls, the church is not sitting in one place saying come to me and only if you come to me will I seek to help you in any way. The church isn’t having countless business meeting that drain the church of all its energy and desire to do God’s will in the world.
I’m sure you got it by now that the reason we see the church doing all of these things in the Gospels is because the church is the body of Christ. It was the will of Christ that drug His body around to all of those places to do all of those things. In the days of Jesus the church was radical and persecuted because of being radical and the church turned the world upside down.
If that is what the church was in the first century why isn’t the church that way today? Why does the church seldom make an impact in the community around the church? I would suggest it is because the church is not doing the will and call of Christ in our world today as Jesus meant or called it to do.
In our country today the church is trapped inside brick and mortar and it dares not go out into the popular places or to eat and drink with sinners. It dares not tell of it commitment to Christ outside its wall for fear of persecution and the persecution that is feared is not even physical persecution that is feared. The persecution that is feared is not being popular in the world and that it might be made fun of or of being rejected by the world. And because of the church’s fear of what the world might say about it, the church has said I’m just going to be the church inside walls of brick and mortar. I’ll talk about God freely when I’m inside these walls of protection, I’ll sing glorious songs to God inside these walls, I’ll give my heart out in prayer inside these walls. But outside these walls the world cannot tell the difference between the church and itself.
I know that is stereotyping the whole church, but that is what the church has become in general. And this church folks is not beyond the stereotypical church.
The church has become individualistic where only certain individuals are taking up their cross and following Jesus while so many other Christians have conformed to corporate consumeristic model of the American church today. It’s great that some take up the cross of Christ daily and follow Him, but following Christ all by ourselves in not what we are called to do as the church.
The church is the body of Christ with each Christian being a body part that has a function it has to do in order the body to be complete and if every Christian is not doing their part, the church will never function has God has called it to in this ugly, evil world. The church is called to be a city on a hill, a light in the darkness, that leads those without Christ to Christ, but folks there is a fear that the light is going out in many churches across America today.
You should know by now because of my preaching and teaching that the teaching of others in this church that the Bible says the world will not end until the Gospel is preaching to every tribe, tongue, and people group. If you don’t know that Mt. 24:14 says, “And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.”
I suggest to you this morning that the church will never complete the mission to preach the gospel message to the whole world.
Why do I suggest that?
Because much of the church body has become consumers, who seek to be served rather than serving.
ILLUS: Hugh Halter in his book “And” says this about consumerism, “Consumerism is the self focused drive to get as much as I can get with the least amount of effort. It coercively shifts the church away from its true call, from valuing going to getting. It compels us to protect what we already have and only to give away what has become useless to us. It erodes our sense of duty, honor, loyalty, and chivalry to live for the right things and the best things. It gets in the way of leaving a legacy for those behind us because it waters down our present understanding of what it means to follow Christ today. It pushes responsibility and expectations onto others instead of self and exchanges true spiritual growth for ankle deep personal devotions and self help measures.”
“They (consumers) stop growing on their own and no longer dream about the plans God might have for their lives. Hearts that were once growing and alive begin to atrophy; leaders grow weary, and the church shrivels in number and depth of spiritual maturity.” So, the church will never complete the task of preaching to the whole world because the church has become consumers.
Because much of the church wants to have their ears tickled with the Word of God, but doesn’t do the Word of God.
Because there are thousands of people who call themselves Christian who are Christian in name only.
Mt 7:21-23, says, “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’”
Because those who call themselves Christian are too busy with worldly things rather than being busy about doing the will and call of Christ.
Because Christians are too afraid of being made fun of and afraid of ridicule and being ostracized from the world. Which is a world that is not our home anyway.
Because Christian are to steeped in sin and while they were freed from sin when they were immerse into Christ, they have allowed themselves once again to be slaves to sin.
I also say this because Revelation 14:6-7 says, “Then I saw another angel flying in midair, and he had the eternal gospel to proclaim to those who live on the earth—to every nation, tribe, language and people. He said in a loud voice, “Fear God and give him glory, because the hour of his judgment has come. Worship him who made the heavens, the earth, the sea and the springs of water.”
Those verse tell me that the spread of gospel to every nation, tribe, tongue, and people will not be completed by the body of Christ, the church, but by the superpower nature of an angel of God.
It tells me that the devil does reign on this earth and while the church will save some, we will not complete the charge of Christ to make disciple of all nations baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. It tells me the church will fail in teaching Christians to make disciples obeying everything that Jesus commanded us.
But the rest of the book of Revelation tells me that there will be victory in the end for those who are in Christ. And since there will be victory for all those in Christ, the church, the body of Christ, has to be earnestly about the business and mission of Christ so that when the end does come there will be many who have been won to Christ through His body, the church.
And that day, the end, hasn’t come yet because as Peter says,” The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.” 2 Peter 3:9
Even though the church on earth will not complete the call to preach the Gospel to the whole world without the help of an angel in the end, we have to preach it and teach it and show it to every person we know so that by some chance they may be saved through it.
I have been preaching about this type of thing for a several weeks now and in some ways is suspect that some might be getting tired of it. There are some who want to leave church and feel good about themselves so they can go on with their week feeling good about having been to church.
But Jesus didn’t come to tickle the ears of the world, He came to give the world a conviction for the cause of God. To reconcile the lost world to Himself. And if you come to church and the only feeling you have when you leave here is to feel good about yourself, then I haven’t done my job in preaching the gospel. When you leave here you should be on fire and have a conviction in your heart to spread the gospel to every person you know.
Folks, if we are going to be the church, the church that God intended, that Jesus established, we have to live as Jesus lived, we have to be willing to be persecuted as Jesus was persecuted, and be radical as Jesus was radical. The church hasn’t done those things in a long time, but it’s high time it started. It’s high time we truly live as the church.
The only way that I ever see that happening is for leaders like myself and the other leader in this church to step it up and truly lead the church in the will and call of Christ, and/or for there to be a grass roots uprising of people who are living as Jesus lived, doing what Jesus did, and who are inspiring others to do the same.
But Christians will never and can never complete the call of Christ as individuals. Christians have to commit their lives to the church.
God cares about the church. God cares about the way we love each other and the way we pursue His mission. The church is a group of redeemed people that live and serve together in such way that their lives and communities are transformed. What matters is your interaction with the people God has placed in your life. If you are not connecting with other Christians, serving and being served, challenging and being challenged, then you are not living as He desires, and the church is not functioning as He intended.
Throughout the Bible, we see pictures of the global church (which includes all followers of Jesus in all locations) and the local church (which includes particular followers of Jesus in a particular location).
Out of 114 times that the “church” is mentioned in the whole New Testament, at least ninety of them refer to specific local gatherings of believers who have banded together for fellowship and mission. Not functioning as a social club as many churches do, but as I said for fellowship and mission. God intends for every follower of Jesus to be a part of such a gathering under the servant leadership of men who shepherd the church for the glory of God.
Despite the clear priority that the Bible puts on believers being part of a local church, many followers of Christ try to live the Christian life apart from serious, personal commitment to a local church. The reasons are many. We are self reliant and self sufficient, and the kind of mutual interdependence and even submission and accountability to others that the Bible talks about frighten us.
We are often indecisive, hopping from one church to another looking for the “perfect place” and the “perfect people.” Many of us have been hurt in the past by things that have happened to or around us in the church, and others of us simply don’t see the importance of being specifically connected to a local church.
But if we are going to be the church, the body of Christ, we have to be committed to being knit and woven together as one working in unison for the mission on Christ.
Eph. 4:1-16, “As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to one hope when you were called; one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.
But to each one of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it. This is why it says:
“When he ascended on high, he took many captives and gave gifts to his people.”
(What does “he ascended” mean except that he also descended to the lower, earthly regions? He who descended is the very one who ascended higher than all the heavens, in order to fill the whole universe.) So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.
Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of people in their deceitful scheming. Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ. From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.”
Oh, how God wants this (what Paul wrote to the church in Ephesus) to be His church today. To be humble and gentle, to be patient and bearing each others burdens with love for one another. To be united in the Spirit through the bond of peace. He wants us to be one body, one in Spirit, one in hope working together in the mission each one of us has been called to do.
He wants us to move beyond being infants who are tossed back and forth by the waves of this horrible world around us, by the cunning and craftiness of people in their scheming.
He want us to speak in truth and love with each other. When we see others caught in to grips of sin, he wants us to be truthful with them and calling them to the mat concerning their sin in a loving effort to call them back to Christ. He wants us to speak to each other in love as we bear each other burdens. He wants us to challenge each other to be strong and teach each other so that we all will be equipped to accomplish together the works of serve God intends for us.
This is so we will become the whole body joined and held together by every supporting ligament (which is you all) growing and building each other up in love as each one of us does their part in the mission and call of Christ.
Gal. 6:1-2, “Brothers and sisters, if someone is caught in a sin, you who live by the Spirit should restore that person gently. But watch yourselves, or you also may be tempted. Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.”
But in so many ways the church today is not a unit working together in love and unity. In so many ways we are not bearing each others burdens and in so many ways we are not fulfilling the mission and law of Christ.
I don’t speak about everyone or every church in this, but this is most churches in America today, especially the small churches. And why are we like this, because we are so individualistic. Why is it such a burden to be in small groups together in our homes? Because we are so individualistic. It doesn’t seem that we have a longing to be together as a church at times, that we would rather be lone rangers in our personal call of Christ. But I would suggest to you that you don’t have a call of Christ that you are to do on your own, but your call of Christ is for you do it within the body of Christ, the church.
God calls us to live together as the body of Christ, to live as Jesus lived, to walk as Jesus walked. He calls us to be out in the world and not hiding behind our walls of protection, either in the church building or in our homes.
If we are going to Live As The Church then we will be out eating and drinking with sinners, we will frequent the popular places were people gather and people will be drawn to us because we will be showing Christ through us. We will be radical, we will be persecuted, but we will also change our community and world for the better.
Is there anyone who is willing to take up the call to truly live as the church, to walk as Jesus walked and to live as Jesus lived. If you are then throw your personal preference out the window, be willing to get out of your comfort zones, and work together with like minded believers in the mission of Christ in this world.
My challenges to you this week:
There is sign up sheet on the table in the foyer for small groups. Sign up for a group, but I challenge you not only to sign up, but to sign up to be facilitator of a group, without willing facilitators have a small group just doesn’t work.
Either have someone in this church in your home this week for lunch, dinner or supper, or to go out with them together. Maybe do that with someone you wouldn’t normally do that with and maybe invite a non-Christian friend or couple to join you.
I hope you have been making an effort to do these challenges. These challenges are for the purpose so we will not just be hears of the Word, but that we will be doers of the Word. If I had a way to keep you accountable in doing them I would seek to do that, but really, it is up to you do them an see how they change and work in your life.
My hope is that in small groups challenges will be made and the groups will hold each other accountable week to week in doing them. That is hard to do in this larger setting, but try to do them they will only help you in your walk with Christ.
Let’s pray.
