The Spirit of a Church: Churches have a spirit about them, whether good or bad.
- By “spirit” here, I don’t mean that churches have a soul or anything like that. No, I simply mean that churches have a mood, a personality, a spirit about them.
- We’ve all experienced what I’m talking about. Have you ever walked into a church and before you even got halfway through the service you knew this was a cold, judgmental, unfriendly place? No one had to tell you that – you discerned it because you can’t hide the spirit that a church has.
- In contrast, we’ve all been in a church for the first time and before you got halfway through the service it was almost as though you sensed the love and warmth in the air. Again, no one had to tell you that – you discerned it because you can’t hide the spirit that a church has.
- You can have resentment rise in a church when it seems like others aren’t stepping up to do their part so a few get overworked. You can have resentment in a church when people are sitting on their hands because they don’t want to do their part. You can have resentment when people are heading for the exits because of contention in the church and those left feel overwhelmed. Some of you have gone to church when it felt like a burden rather than a joy.
- This raises an obvious question: what does a good spirit in a church look like? If we want more of that in our church (because I do think we have a good spirit), what do we need more of?
- This passage is an interesting commentary from Paul on how they uplifted Titus when he was with them. It’s a portrait of what a good church family looks like. So let’s pull out a few of the key phrases and see if we can get a clearer picture.
- One thing I want to say up front: the things that the Corinthian church was doing weren’t extraordinary. What we’re about to go over don’t require some special knowledge or ability.
- Much of the church being what it should be is not complicated or complex, but getting the simple things right.
What Should a Good Church Family Look Like?
1. Encouraging.
- 2 Corinthians 7:13 – “encouraged,” “encouragement.”
- Notice how encouraging seems to have an expansive effect. Paul and his companions are encouraged by the Corinthians’ actions (v. 13), but they were also encouraged by how the Corinthians treated Titus (v. 13). When you have people lifting each other up, it creates an environment where it’s easy for more and more encouragement to happen.
- Let me share an example of being encouraged that has happened to me lately. As you know, my son Jonathan is now a youth pastor. As that church has been positive with him, it has been encouraging to me. When they approached him about licensing him for ministry, that was encouraging to me. When the pastor purchased a suit for Jonathan so that he’d have one to lead communion in, that was encouraging to me. When they gave him a chance to preach regularly, that was encouraging to me. When they spoke to us when we visited there about how thankful they were to have Jonathan there, that was encouraging to me. Now, mind you, none of that was directed at me, but nonetheless it was encouraging to me.
- Let me be clear: by encouraging, I don’t just mean “be nice to each other.” A shallow politeness isn’t enough. Encouraging each other requires that we actually speak positive words to each other. It requires that we actually invest in each other’s lives. It requires that we want to have an impact on those around us.
- It’s amazing how an encouraging environment fosters more encouragement. It’s also striking how quickly that can disappear when things start going awry.
2. Refreshing.
- 2 Corinthians 7:13 – “refreshed.”
- Verse 13 speaks of how Titus was “refreshed” by the Corinthians and how they treated him.
- We’ve all been around toxic people and when we’re done with them, you feel like you want to go take a shower to wash the negative off. Those conversations and interactions leave you drained emotionally because of the negativity.
- In contrast, when you’re around people who have this refreshment about them, you leave uplifted and energized. Their words and actions toward you are like a stream flowing into your spirit.
- I have sat in a meeting doing no physical work and yet left drained. I have worked hard physically and yet finished energized. The people we are surrounded by can have that effect.
- It’s sad but many people see church as a draining place. They leave emotionally spent from all the pettiness and negativity.
- But church is not meant to be that way. It should be an oasis in our week. It should be something that picks us up.
- That’s not to say that church is supposed to be a petty pep rally or that we aren’t to share the challenging aspects of the gospel. No, it’s just that being surrounded by genuinely caring people who are also pursuing Christ will lift us up.
3. Bragging on each other.
- 2 Corinthians 7:14 – “I had boasted to him about you,” “boasting about you.”
- In v. 14 Paul speaks of boasting about the Corinthians. For all the difficulty that Paul had them (as we read about in 1 Corinthians) and how imperfect they were, there was still something there that Paul was confident in. He was confident that they would treat Titus well.
- It’s easy for church to be filled with gossip and sniping. Members talking behind each other’s backs while smiling to their face. That’s not how it should be, though.
- Instead, we should regularly brag on each other. As we see our brothers and sisters in Christ serving and using their talents, leading studies and singing in worship, serving in the children’s ministries and helping in the office, those are all reasons to brag on each other.
- In my mind, this is different from the earlier point to encourage each other in this way. In encouraging, I think more of pushing those who are struggling or having problems; in bragging, I think more of lifting up those who are working for the Kingdom.
4. Not embarrassing.
- 2 Corinthians 7:14 – “not embarrassed.”
- I wish I could tell you that I have no experience with this, but sadly I do.
- Just to cite one story, as a college student I was challenged by my pastor to invite people to my church. I remember thinking of my backward church, “None of my friends would want to come here!” The way we did things was so backward, I knew it wouldn’t speak to them.
- In other words, I was (justifiably) embarrassed of my church.
- That, unfortunately, is not the only such story I could share. I have been embarrassed of my fellow Christians’ actions and words on many occasions down through the years.
- There is something to be said for a church family that is not embarrassing. You know they’re going to treat the visitor you bring to church warmly. You know they’re going to actually pray for those they say that to. You know they’re not going to say one thing on Sunday and the opposite on Monday morning.
- I wish I could say that this is a small thing, but it’s not. Many Christians feel this way about their church.
5. Obedient.
- 2 Corinthians 7:15 – “you were all obedient.”
- I have shared on many occasions the importance of actually following the teaching of Christ. It’s not at all a surprise that these Corinthians that Paul says are a good church family were being obedient to the teaching of Christ. Now, we all know they weren’t perfectly following, but apparently they were serious about obedience, even imperfectly.
- It must be said that you can’t be the church family you should be without being filled with people who are obeying Christ. What we’re talking about today is not a shallow politeness, but an overflowing Christlikeness.
- For our church, we need to have a bunch of people who are passionate about obeying Christ if we are going to be the church family God wants us to be.
6. Dependable.
- 2 Corinthians 7:16 – “complete confidence in you.”
- Paul concludes with a comment that harkens back to his comment about bragging on them. He says that he has complete confidence in them. That’s quite a statement.
- I’m going to use the word “dependable” to summarize that. He knew he could count on them.
- This might be something you think is not a big deal, but, as a pastor, let me tell you it’s not. A pastor is obviously the leader of a volunteer organization and as such you frequently get people who say they will help only to fail to follow through. Because of that, you learn to cherish those people that you can give a task to and then forget about it because you know that it will be taken care of. It’s a great joy to have people like that.
Conclusion:
- The “spirit” of a church that we spoke of at the beginning of the sermon is the collective combination of all the little interactions.
- You can’t have cold people and a warm church. You can’t have judgmental people and a welcoming church. And any attempt to fake something you’re not will quickly be seen through.
- This isn’t just an issue of what the pastor acts like or whether you have greeters who are eager with a handshake. This is about all of us.
- This isn’t just an issue of what we act like in Sunday morning worship. It’s about how we act before and after church as well as during the week.
- Just to cite a small example, I’ve learned down through the years that you can tell a lot about the health of a church by how long the people hang out talking after church. If the place clears out in no time, you’ve got a problem. If they’re still in the pews, in the hallway, by the doorway, or in the parking lot long after the final prayer is said, you’ve got a family. Of course, that’s not something that can be forced. It happens naturally because of the relationships that the people have. They want to be together or they don’t. It’s a sign of warm friendships or divisive factions. What you see there is an accumulation of all the little interactions.
- The point I want to make as I close is that each of you bear a responsibility in the “spirit” of MBC. You can’t expect a warm church when you sit there cold and closed. You can’t expect a friendly church when you only speak when spoken to. You can’t expect a family when you display no brotherly or sisterly love.
- So let’s think about this morning. If the spirit you’ve shown this morning since you got out of your car was the spirit of this church, what kind of church would we be? That might be a scary question.
- For me, it’s simple. I want this sanctuary to be the most loving, welcoming, friendliest place that you are in all week. And making that happen is up to each one of us.
