The 3 C’s of a Healthy Church - Always Be Ready
1 Peter 3:15 (p. 851) February 12, 2017
Introduction:
A few years ago I was walking out of one of our worship services after it was over and I walked past a staff member who was having an animated conversation with a gentleman that was really upset and letting our staff member know it. I heard this comment: “Are you telling me you financially support a ministry that involves hispanic people without making sure they are all legal?”
That got my attention…and you know me (I’m usually soft spoken and gentle and avoid controversy) . Maybe not (lol).
My first question to this “fired up” individual was “Are you a Christ follower?” And after he said he was I asked “What do you think as Christ followers should be our first concern when it comes to people…no matter their race?”
He looked at me like I was crazy and said, “I don’t get you?” And I said, “Our first priority should be eternity, our first priority should be God’s Kingdom and His righteousness. Don’t you agree?”
He got madder and said: “If that’s how you are going to use my money, I’ll never give you another cent.” And I felt anger but also compassion. I remember saying…“Put first priorities first and then the Holy Spirit can guide individuals to doing what’s right even if it’s hard.” He said something else about not giving anymore money and I ended the conversation with “If that’s how you feel you can take your $2.50 and head down the road.” He did.
The reason this conversation came to mind as I prepared this message involved the horns of a dilemma Christians are facing in the world today. How can we be Matthew 6:33 people who “Seek first God’s Kingdom and His righteousness?” How can we be individuals who have “revered Christ in our hearts as Lord…and are always prepared to share the hope we have…with gentleness and respect? In a world that is divided and angry.
The Apostle Peter is writing to such a world in his first letter…There are individuals who view their Jewish heritage and it’s laws and traditions as giving them elite status with God…and there are gentile believers who are now part of God’s family…and both live under earthly authorities in this world. Peter writes:
1 PETER 1:9-17 (p. 850)
If we really want to fulfill God’s mission for our lives…in our world.
I. RESPECT AND GENTLENESS ARE VITAL
Christians who were Jewish…Christians that had been pagans…gentiles…all living under a Roman system where the Emperor of Rome was to be worshipped. Women, who before Christ, had very little authority, but now were lifted to equal salvation status…slaves and free, old and young, priests and blue collar workers.
“Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God. Once you had not received mercy but now you have received mercy…each are now together “a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession.” (1 Peter 1:9-10)
I share this because I promise you each of the aforementioned saw life through their priorities…Conservative Jews saw life through the covenant and the law…Gentiles saw life through liberal grace…acceptance. Slaves wanted freedom, Roman citizen’s wanted their rights…men and women saw life through different experiences and hopes.
Even among its leadership, the Church faced this struggle in it’s early days…The Apostle Paul who was a Roman Citizen, but had been a zealous Pharisee, a leader in the religious hierarchy, and the Apostle Peter, one of the Legendary 12…a Galilean fisherman who had been with Jesus through it all and had been the first one in the empty tomb, had some problems they had to overcome.
The Apostle Peter was influenced by Jewish conservatives to look down on gentiles who had not been part of the old covenant. It began to work too…because Peter started to try and please this crowd more than opening his heart to the gentiles…by the way this takes place after Pentecost, after the gift of the Holy Spirit, and after his vision that led him to Cornelius, the gentile’s house, so God could show Him the inclusive plan.
The Apostle Paul shows up and listen to what happens:
GALATIANS 2:4-14 (p. 810)
Paul has to share truth with love to Cephas (Peter). And that truth was…don’t let a crowd with an agenda sway you from the love of Christ…It can happen to anyone…even a lovely encourager like Barnabas.
Christians in today’s culture will continually fight this battle…a battle of division…a battle where Satan would blind us with a priority that becomes more important than His Kingdom…Here’s what I mean. It is very easy for me to love our veterans and be passionate about soldiers who suffer after they return from combat…Why? Because I see things through how my son has been cared for and treated. I’m sensitive about race relations because my son in law is black and my 3 precious grandsons through him and my daughter are bi-racial. These are high priorities in my life and influence how I approach life. They are emotional issues for me. And, I’ll bet that each of you have emotional priorities as well.
In our world, and in Peter and Paul’s world, Satan would have God’s people sit at different tables arguing…separated. The Liar says: “You cannot love both veterans and refugees…you cannot be respectful to government and protest the outcast at the same time…and hatred and disrespect replace respect and gentleness. And yes, I know there are issues that will never be agreed on. If you believe homosexuality is a sin that separates a person from God…and there is a culture that wants you to say: “It’s love…it’s a right individuals should have in their relationships…just say it’s OK!” This isn’t something that you can agree on…but you can disagree with love…and respect…and gentleness. The hard question is…can you still be Jesus in the life of someone who disagrees with you?
For believers it’s very important that we don’t make a god out of our passionate opinions…seek first His Kingdom and His righteousness…always let Christ sit on the throne of your heart…and then you can be prepared to give an answer to the hope you have with gentleness and respect…whether you are a Jew or a Gentile.
And when you’ve let the crowd sway you…“Say you’re sorry…and get up from that hypocritical table.”
Let me end today’s message by sharing this truth:
II. SOAP BOX SERMONS ARE EASIER THAN SERVANT’S TOWELS
It’s easier to put up a post on Facebook about something we’re passionate about than it is to love someone in real life.
It’s easier to stand behind a pulpit than it is to pick up a servant’s towel. It’s easier for us to pick a fight than it is for us to show proper respect to everyone, love the family of believers, fear God, and honor the emperor. (1 Peter 2:17)
Many of us would rather use our freedom as a cover-up for evil instead of living as God’s slaves. (1 Peter 2:16)
Here’s what that means…I have the freedom to offend you by telling you how stupid and wrong you are. But there is a better way to share the gospel…SERVE.
Our message will always be heard in the context of our lives. There will always be professed believers who want to stand on a soapbox telling the world how evil they are…It usually makes the one on the soapbox feel superior and judgmental…like I’ve done my duty…I’ve done God a favor with my courage and boldness…But those who’ve heard this message experience anything but “good news.”
When asked why he did not embrace Christianity Mahatma Gandhi replied with this widely known remark: “I like your Christ. I do not like your Christians. You Christians are so unlike your Christ.”
Jesus said this in Matthew 23:11-12. “The greatest among you will be your servant. For those who exalt themselves will be humbled and those who humble themselves will be exalted.”
We never look more like Jesus than when we humbly serve people…all people…He said, “For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve and give His life as a ransom for many.” (Mark 10:45)
Maybe instead of guilt, fear and shame, we could offer the world a touch of grace wrapped in service. It would be a huge contrast to what the world offers people. And Good News always is!
[In the film “A Beautiful Mind,” Alicia Nash tells how she copes with her husband’s schizophrenia: “I look at him and force myself to see the man that I married, and he becomes that man. He’s transformed into someone I love. And I am transformed into someone that loves him.”]
In other words, she looks at him with eyes of grace. We do that intuitively with people we love, such as a parent with Alzheimer’s disease. We see behind the ravaged person they are now to the healthy person they once were. Jesus had this uncanny ability to look at everyone with grace-healed eyes, seeing not only the beauty of who they were, but also the sacred potential of what they could become.” (Phillip Yancey…Vanishing Grace p. 58)
The Apostle Paul said, “So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view.” (2 Cor. 5:16)
If we start doing this with a servant’s heart we’ll always be prepared to share our hope.
Let’s pray.
