ME:
Welcome
Good morning, Gateway Church. Whether you are joining us online or here in house, we are so glad you are with us today. This week we are wrapping up our teaching series "UNITED WE STAND."
Our focus is on building UNITY in the body of Christ… Healing the disunity in the church so the church can help heal the disunity in our world.
WK 1 - Disunity disrupts the mission of the church.
WK 2 - When we serve together it brings us together.
WK 3 - How we fight the battle will determine what war we win.
Last Week - The Only law that matters is the law of love.
And as we were wrapping up last week, I said that when the church learns to follow the law of love, we will become IRRESISTIBLE.
And that's our focus today as we wrap up this series.
Open your Bibles to HEBREWS 12:1. Pg. 823.
WE:
Have you ever found something that was IRRESISTIBLE.
• Chocolate?
• Doughnuts?
• Coffee?
• Top Gun or The Princess Bride on a Saturday afternoon?
There are just some things that we find IRRESISTIBLE. The flip side of that is that there are some things we find TOTALLY RESISTIBLE.
• Liver…
• Rap music…. Or soft-pop from the 70s/80s… (No Air Supply or Hall & Oats for me)
• Dentist visits…
For most Americans… the Church has become VERY RESISTIBLE. How do we know that? The numbers don't lie.
Not only is church attendance down (both pre and post COVID). But across the board, Americans want less and less to do with the church and with the faith we claim to represent.
• In 2000, 8% of American's said they had NO religious affiliation.
• In 2018 19% of American's said that had NO religious affiliation.
• In 2000 73% of Americans who DID believe were a part of a church.
• In 2018 only 64% of Americans who believe are a part of a church.
[That means almost 1 out of every 3 people who claim a belief in Jesus, do not belong to or attend a church.]
And since COVID… those numbers are accelerating. Many people have given up on God/Jesus, but even more are giving up on the Church… They are finding the church to be VERY RESISTIBLE.
And the group that is driving this trend the most are our young people. The people who are my children's age (18-26) are least likely to believe and if they believe they are the least likely to engage. We are losing the next generation because the church has become RESISTIBLE.
What happened? Why did the church, that used to carry so much influence in our culture, become one of the least influential institutions in our culture? Why did the church become so RESISTIBLE?
And before you say "Our culture changed… our nation has gone the wrong direction… America has turned it's back on God…. etc." Stop and think about this. Those may all be true, but IF we were the influencers we have claimed to be… and our nation still went in a direction that many of us find appalling… Maybe we have something to do with it.
Maybe we haven't been as IRRESISITLBE as we thought.
So, I'll ask it again. Why did the church become so RESISTIBLE?
• Maybe we are too concerned with gaining/maintaining influence through politics and fighting the culture war.
• Maybe we became irrelevant. (The message did not, but we did)
• Maybe we have become more concerned with saving America than we have with saving Americans.
• Maybe we have become distracted and gotten away from our mission
• Maybe it's because we care more about winning at the polls than we do winning souls.
• Maybe it's because we are divided and divisive.
Whatever happened, you need to know that it wasn't always like this. Once upon a time the church - the Jesus Movement - was very IRRESISTIBLE.
[THE IRRESISTIBLE CHURCH]
• The church started small [12 disciples (minus 1) or 120 followers]
• They didn't have a large amount of influence.
• They did not have a large voting block (no one could vote anyway)
• They couldn't lobby their local Roman senator (by this point Rome was a dictatorship)
• They couldn't picket the local court house, or arena
• They couldn't enact laws that would curb the behavior of their fellow Roman citizens/subjects.
• They, essentially, had no rights and no authority to bring about the changes their culture desperately needed.
And yet, somehow, this small group of people who believed that a Jewish carpenter turned Rabbi had lived a sinless life - showing them how God wanted THEM to live - died on a cross and then risen from the dead on the 3rd day… This group became so influential that they radically transformed the most powerful, violent, controlling empire anyone had known to that point.
• This group was so IRRESISTIBLE that people who were nothing like them… liked them.
• This group was so IRRESISTIBLE that even though joining them might mean your entire family disowned you… people did it anyway.
• This group was so IRRESISTIBLE that even though joining them might cost you your property, your freedom or even your life… people willingly chose to become a part of the Jesus community.
• This group was so IRRESISTIBLE that in the face of persecution - official, state-sponsored- persecution - they grew in number and influence.
• This group was so IRRESISTIBLE that eventually, after about 300 years, this little IRESISTIBLE group of Jesus communities became so widespread and influenced the culture to such a degree that the Roman Emperor, Constantine, declared it to be the official religion of the Roman Empire.
Which is sad really, because when the church became tied to the state… When the church began to leverage political power… when the church began to use the methods of the state to advance itself… it became very, very RESISTIBLE.
• But even then, the movement grew until it has reached every continent, every nation.
• It has transformed the world
o Women have rights they never had in the ancient world
o Children have rights they never had in the ancient world
o Slavery was transformed and eventually abolished (at least legally)
o The poor are cared for - and even though we get it wrong much of the time, they are cared for better than they ever were in the ancient world.
o We have Hospitals, orphanages, colleges and universities.
And while it's true we still struggle to get much of this right in our world today, without the IRRESISTIBLE INFLUENCE of the followers of Jesus nearly 2,000 years ago, none of these advances happen.
So, how did such a small group gain so much influence that it transformed an empire and reshaped the trajectory of the entire world?
What made the early church so IRRESISTIBLE?
Here's the secret.
THE EARLY CHURCH WAS IRRESISTIBLE BECAUSE IT WAS FOCUSED ON AND CENTERED AROUND THE LIFE OF JESUS.
Let me say that again, because it is critical that we understand it.
THE EARLY CHURCH WAS IRRESISTIBLE BECAUSE IT WAS FOCUSED ON AND CENTERED AROUND THE LIFE OF JESUS.
The were UNITED AROUND ONE THING!
• They were UNITED AROUND LIFE OF JESUS.
• They were not simply united around a BELIEF in JESUS.
• They were not simply united around a CREED. (The creeds we ascribe to didn't exist yet)
• Their faith was not merely MENTAL BELIEF.
• They were united around the LIFE OF JESUS!
They didn't just BELIEVE… but they believed to the point that they were committed to LIVING LIKE HE LIVED.
THE EARLY CHURCH PUT BELIEF INTO ACTION BY LOOKING AT JESUS AND IMITATING HIS LIFE.
GOD:
And I think the reason the church today (at least the church in America) is resistible is that we aren't UNIFIED in Jesus and we are looking in too many different directions rather than focusing on Jesus or imitating His life.
In his book, Not In It to Win It Andy Stanley says, "What you stare at determines what you gravitate toward. Our division is proof that we're not all staring - and thus not moving - in the same direction." (Stanley, Andy Not In it To Win it, pg. 202 © 2022)
We are RESISTIBLE because we are not UNITED AROUND THE LIFE OF JESUS.
How do we get back to being IRRESISTIBLE again? How do we return to what Jesus wanted his church to be all along?
How do we become UNIFIED once again?
I think the answer can be found in the HEBREWS 12.
[Introduce HEBREWS 12]
• Hebrews is a general letter (not written to a specific church)
• We don't really know who wrote it. (Not like Paul's writings, but clearly written by someone who has a deep and thorough understanding of Judaism and Jesus role as the Jewish Messiah)
• It was written to Jewish Christians (Hence the name 'Hebrews')
• The purpose was to explain how Jesus & his sacrifice was greater than the OT system.
• In the process of explaining why Jesus is 'greater' the writer encourages these Jesus followers to stay connected to their faith… to have faith in Jesus and live that faith out, and he gives this long list of examples of people from the OT who have been faithful.
o He illustrates their faith and how it played out
o He shows how the faith of the ancients looked forward to Jesus
• Then he says this…
Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, 2 fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith.
Hebrews 12:1-2
Everything in Jesus is greater than everything that came before. THUS… KEEP YOUR EYES ON JESUS.
If, What you stare at determines what you gravitate toward. Then we need to make sure we are staring at… keeping our eyes on… FIXING our eyes on Jesus.
That is what drew the early church together… overcoming all of their differences… and made them irresistible.
IF WE WANT TO BE IRRESISTIBLE, WE MUST BE FOCUSED ON AND UNITED IN JESUS.
Let me say that again.
IF WE WANT TO BE IRRESISTIBLE WE MUST BE FOCUSED ON AND UNITED IN JESUS.
• WE MUST WE MUST LOOK AT JESUS.
The Greek word for "fixing our eyes" is 'aphorao'. It literally means to turn the eyes away from other things and fix them on something
[Mowing a lawn or plowing a field… fix your eyes on point in the distance so you have nice straight lines]
I think too many of us are looking at other things… Our eyes are not fixed on Jesus.
If we are going to be IRRESISTIBLE we have to quit taking our cues from the culture around us.
o It doesn't matter how the Democrats operate.
o It doesn't matter how the Republicans operate.
o It doesn't matter what the left or the right value.
o It doesn't matter what Hollywood, or the news, or social media, say is important
If we are going to be IRRESISTIBLE, we must FIX our eyes on Jesus and take our cues from Him.
o How did Jesus address the issues of His day?
o How did Jesus approach the brokenness in His world?
o How did Jesus deal with those who opposed Him?
Here's a hint. He didn’t do it the way we do it.
o JESUS DIDN'T ADDRESS BROKEN SYSTEMS, JESUS ADDRESSED THE HEARTS BEHIND THOSE SYSTEMS.
We spend a lot of our time trying to attack the broken systems in our culture. And, ironically, we use other broken systems to do it. (i.e. we use political parties - very broken - to address racial injustice or economic inequality. We use government - a very broken system - to address injustices that are both real and perceived). And when we try to use a broken system to change a broken system… we just get more brokenness.
Jesus addressed HEARTS, not systems.
• Zacchaeus & Levi (Matthew) - He didn't tell them to stop collecting taxes for Rome. He called Zacchaeus to repentance and invited Matthew to a completely different life.
• Asked to heal a Roman Officer's servant (slave). Didn't address slavery. Didn't address the fact that Rome was oppressive. He healed a hurting servant.
• Pharisee's challenged him on taxes… should we pay tax to the godless Romans? Jesus didn't address the issue of taxes or the system that oppressed people. He addressed the hearts of the people in the system.
It wasn't that Jesus didn't care about broken, sinful systems. It wasn't that Jesus didn't care about the injustice those systems perpetrated on the world. He did. He died because of those sinful systems.
But Jesus understood that BROKEN and SINFUL SYSTEMS exist because of the sin and brokenness in the hearts of people.
Transform the hearts and you change the system.
Maybe we spend too much time attacking the broken systems and not enough time addressing the broken and sinful hearts that create and sustain those systems.
IF WE WANT TO BE IRRESISTIBLE WE MUST BE FOCUSED ON AND UNITED IN JESUS.
We need to be FOCUSED ON JESUS… learning what HE DID and HOW HE DID IT.
(BTW, the way we focus on Jesus is reading scripture… over and over and over. Study it, meditate on it, learn it, pray it, repeat it)
We need to be FOCUSED ON JESUS… learning what HE DID and HOW HE DID IT. And then…
• WE MUST ACT LIKE JESUS.
Not only must we LOOK AT Jesus. (Fix our eyes). But we then have to DO WHAT JESUS DID. As we see what Jesus did, we must start DOING what Jesus did.
If we want to be IRRESISTIBLE we can't just look at Jesus, we have to ACT like Jesus acted. We have to engage our world the way Jesus engaged His world.
--Even when acting like Jesus will put us at odds with our political parties.
--Even when acting like Jesus will put us at odds with or our nation.
--Even when acting like Jesus will put us at odds with our friends or our family.
How did Jesus act?
o JESUS OFFERED GRACE AND TRUTH TO EVERYONE HE ENCOUNTERED.
Woman caught in adultery…
• Whoever is without sin cast the first stone. (TRUTH)
• Drawing in the dirt (GRACE)
• Then neither do I condemn you. (GRACE)
• Go and leave your life of sin (TRUTH)
Peter
• Get behind me Satan, you're a distraction (TRUTH)
• Feed my sheep (3X). (GRACE)
Jesus never hesitated to call out sin. Jesus never excused sinful behavior. Jesus spoke truth. But Jesus always offered grace. He called out sin and spoke truth but always in a way that communicated that he loved and valued those he confronted.
Jesus not only offered grace and truth, but…
o JESUS SERVED OTHERS (EVEN HIS ENEMIES)
• Healed gentiles
• Fed a crowd that wasn't interested in the message, just in the food
• Washed his disciples feet (all of them)
• Died for every Roman soldier who mocked him, thew dice for his clothes and drove the nails into his wrists and feet
• Died for the religious leaders who faked the charges and had him sentenced to death.
Jesus came to serve and he didn’t distinguish between those who DESERVED it and those who DIDN'T DESERVE it. Jesus just served.
Church when we offer TRUTH and GRACE and when we reach out to SERVE and meet needs like Jesus did… It brings us together under Jesus and it makes us IRRESISTIBLE.
IF WE WANT TO BE IRRESISTIBLE WE MUST BE FOCUSED ON AND UNITED IN JESUS.
SO WHAT?
YOU:
[Have the band come to the stage]
The church is supposed to be a picture of what God intends for his people for eternity. And if we get it right, people will want to be a part of it.
Dr. Tony Evans said it like this. "The church will serve as a commercial for a coming attraction."
But right now, why would anyone want to be a part of eternity if it looks like what the church is advertising? We need to become irresistible once again.
We need to be FOCUSED ON and UNITED IN Jesus.
What we believe is powerful… strange but powerful. We believe GOD became a man. We believe that man, Jesus, died on the cross to pay for our sins. We believe that on the 3rd day, he rose from the dead. (We believe a dead man came back to life).
Not everyone will buy that… I get it. But, Imagine a world where people are skeptical about what we believe but envious of how we treat each other.
If we are FOCUSED ON and UNITED IN Jesus, that is exactly what will happen.
FOCUSED ON and UNITED IN Jesus makes us IRRESISTIBLE… and when the church becomes IRRESISTIBLE again…The divide in our nation begins to heal… the world changes….
I don't know about you, but I want to be a part of that.
WE:
Close with communion and prayer.
