LITURGICAL OPENING — PSALM 34:1-8
• I will bless the Lord at all times: his praise shall continually be in my mouth.
• My soul shall make her boast in the Lord: the humble shall hear thereof, and be glad.
• O magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt his name together.
• I sought the Lord, and he heard me, and delivered me from all my fears.
• They looked unto Him, and were lightened: and their faces were not ashamed.
• This poor man cried, and the Lord heard him, and saved him out of all his troubles.
• The angel of the Lord encampeth round about them that fear him, and delivereth them.
• O taste and see that the Lord is good: blessed is the man that trusteth in him.
(Psalm 34:1-8)
GREETING
Good Morning ... and too, God be the Glory!
I greet you in the name of our Lord and Savior Jesus the Christ.
And there is a Word from the LORD ...
So let us turn our hearts and our Bibles to the book of Hebrews ... chapter 5, beginning at verse 12 ... and then chapter 6, beginning at verse 1.
When you find it ... please say Amen.
SCRIPTURE READING — HEBREWS 5:12-14; 6:1-3 (KJV)
(5:12) For when for the time ye ought to be teachers, ye have need that one teach you again which be the first principles of the oracles of God; and are become such as have need of milk, and not of strong meat.
(5:13) For every one that useth milk is unskilful in the word of righteousness: for he is a babe.
(5:14) But strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.
(6:1) Therefore leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on unto perfection; not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works, and of faith toward God,
(6:2) Of the doctrine of baptisms, and of laying on of hands, and of resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgment.
(6:3) And this will we do, if God permit.
NEIGHBOR TURN
Turn to your neighbor and say ... Neighbor — SOMEBODY IN THE MIDDLE NEEDS TO GROW UP.
You may be seated ...
SOMEBODY IN THE MIDDLE NEEDS TO GROW UP.
PRAYER
Father ... the task of teaching Your Word is once again in my keeping. I commit myself to do the very best that I can. Clear my mind of distractions. Warm my heart with compassion. Fill my soul with faith in Your goodness and power. Speak to me ... that I may speak for You. Speak through me ... that I may speak to those who wait to hear Your unadulterated gospel. Right now, Lord ... remove self. Remove pride. Increase in me and I decrease in You. Hide me behind Your cross. May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in Thy sight. My Lord ... You are my strength and my Redeemer. This is my prayer. Amen.
INTRODUCTION
I want to talk to you this morning about something that everybody in this room has experienced ... but very few have been willing to name.
I want to talk to you about ... the middle.
Now ... I'm not talking about the middle of a football field. I'm not talking about the middle child. I am not even talking about middle age ... though some of us in here need to have that conversation too.
No ... I'm talking about the middle of your church. The middle of your organization. The space between what you say you believe ... and what you actually practice.
THAT'S the middle I came to talk about today. (Repeat)
You see ... the writer of Hebrews has a problem on his hands. He has a congregation that ought to be teaching ... and they still need somebody to teach them the basics. They ought to be eating steak ... and they are still on baby food. They have been in the faith long enough to lead ... and they are still waiting to be led.
In other words ... the middle broke down. And when the middle breaks down ...
EVERYTHING. BREAKS. DOWN.
Dr. Peter Drucker — the father of modern management — once said: "Culture eats strategy for breakfast."
(Peter Drucker, management consultant and author of "The Practice of Management," 1954, widely attributed)
Now Dr. Drucker was talking about corporations ... but he could have been reading the book of Hebrews. Because what the writer of Hebrews is describing is a culture problem. And a culture problem is always a character problem before it is an organizational one.
This morning we are beginning a seven-week series called CULTURES THAT DON'T BREAK. And for the next seven weeks we are going to examine what it takes to build a culture — in your church, on your board, in your organization — that does not collapse under pressure.
This week we begin where every culture begins ... in the middle.
And our text gives us three things we need to see. This morning I want to talk to you about:
Point 1 — The Problem in the Middle
Point 2 — Milk Christians in a Meat World
Point 3 — The Call to Grow Up
Stay with me ...
POINT 1 — THE PROBLEM IN THE MIDDLE
Hebrews 5:12 — "For when for the time ye ought to be teachers..."
He is not writing to brand-new believers. He is writing to people who have been in the faith long enough ... that by now ... they should be teaching somebody else.
You see ... the Greek word for "ought" here is OPHEILO — oph-i-lo. And it does not mean "it would be nice if." OPHEILO means: you are under obligation. You have a debt. You OWE this.
(Greek: opheilo — oph-i-lo — to owe, to be under moral obligation)
The Roman Empire in the first century had what they called the cursus honorum — the "course of honors." The expected sequence of offices a Roman citizen held as he matured. You didn't become a senator without first serving in lower offices. You didn't lead an army without first serving in one.
(The cursus honorum — Latin: "course of honors" — the sequential career path expected of Roman citizens in public life, c. 2nd century B.C. to 1st century A.D.)
The Romans understood something the church sometimes forgets: growth is not optional. Maturity has a schedule. And when people stay stuck at the level they started ... it does not just hurt them ... it destabilizes everything around them.
THAT is the problem in the middle. (Repeat)
Patrick Lencioni — in his landmark book "The Five Dysfunctions of a Team" — says this: "Not finance. Not strategy. Not technology. It is teamwork that remains the ultimate competitive advantage — both because it is so powerful ... and so rare."
(Patrick Lencioni, "The Five Dysfunctions of a Team," Jossey-Bass, 2002)
The middle is where culture lives ... or culture dies. (Repeat)
POINT 2 — MILK CHRISTIANS IN A MEAT WORLD
Hebrews 5:13-14 — "For every one that useth milk is unskilful in the word of righteousness: for he is a babe..."
The Greek word there is APEIROS — ay-pi-ros — which means inexperienced ... untested ... unproven.
(Greek: apeiros — ay-pi-ros — inexperienced, unskilled, untested)
There are MILK CHRISTIANS in positions that require MEAT.
There are people sitting on boards ... who have never been tested. There are people leading ministries ... who have never been mentored. There are people holding titles ... who have never done the work the title demands. And because they are on milk ... in a position that requires meat ... the whole culture suffers.
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. said it this way: "The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy."
(Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., "Strength to Love," Harper & Row, 1963)
Verse 14 gives us three things:
1. Full age — not natural age but spiritual maturity.
2. By reason of USE — you develop discernment by using it. You are shaped in the fire. Not before the fire. IN the fire.
3. EXERCISED — the Greek word here is GYMNAZO — goom-nad-zo. Gymnasium. You do not get strong by sitting in the stands. You get in the gym. You do the reps. You feel the resistance. And over time ... the muscle grows.
(Greek: gymnazo — goom-nad-zo — to exercise, to train, to discipline through sustained practice)
The middle needs people who have been exercised. (Repeat)
POINT 3 — THE CALL TO GROW UP
Hebrews 6:1-3 — "Therefore leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on unto perfection..."
THEREFORE is a pivot word. In light of everything I just told you ... here is what you need to do.
The word "leaving" here is not saying throw it away. It is saying stop laying the foundation again. Stop going back to the beginning every time things get hard.
The Greek word for perfection here is TELEIOTES — tel-i-ot-ace. It does not mean sinless perfection. It means completeness. Maturity. Being fully formed for the purpose for which you were designed.
(Greek: teleiotes — tel-i-ot-ace — completeness, maturity, being fully formed for one's intended purpose)
John Maxwell — in "The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership" — says: "Leadership develops daily, not in a day."
(Dr. John C. Maxwell, "The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership," Thomas Nelson, 1998)
DAILY.
"And this will we do ... if God permit." You bring the willingness ... and God brings the power. You bring the yes ... and God brings the way.
THE CLOSE
Somebody in here has been in the middle for a long time. You stopped growing. And because you stopped growing ... the people around you stopped moving forward. And the culture ... started to break.
You see ... the culture in the middle is always a reflection of the character in the middle. (Repeat)
Nehemiah understood this. When he came back to Jerusalem and found the walls broken down ... he WEPT. He fasted. He prayed. He examined himself before God. THEN ... and only then ... he went to work.
Because Nehemiah knew that you cannot build a broken wall ... with a broken spirit. And you cannot build a healthy culture ... with a character that has never been examined.
IT IS TIME.
It is time to stop blaming the culture ... and start examining YOUR contribution to it.
It is time to leave the milk behind ... and go on unto perfection.
It is time ... to GROW UP in the middle.
AND HERE IS THE GOOD NEWS ...
You do not have to grow up alone.
Because the same Jesus who is the author and finisher of our faith ... is also the builder and sustainer of our culture. The same Christ who called you ... is the same Christ who will complete you.
GO. ON. (Repeat)
HE is the culture. HE is the foundation that does not have to be laid again. HE is the strong meat that satisfies. HE is the one who takes us from milk ... to maturity ... to mission ...
DON'T STOP IN THE MIDDLE.
DON'T QUIT IN THE MIDDLE.
DON'T DIE IN THE MIDDLE.
GO. ON. UNTO. PERFECTION. (Repeat)
ALTAR CALL
Every head bowed ... every eye closed ...
If you have never given your life to Jesus Christ ... the Bible says in Romans 10:9-10:
"That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation."
Come down this aisle ... give me your hand ... and give God your heart.
BENEDICTION
The culture in the middle is your assignment. Not someone else's. YOURS.
This week ... ask yourself one question before God: "What am I feeding the culture in the middle of my church, my organization, my family — milk ... or meat?"
Now may the God of all grace ... who has called us unto His eternal glory by Christ Jesus ... make you perfect, stablish, strengthen, and settle you. To Him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.
— Rev. Kelvin L. Parks, M.A. | C3PT Kingdom Culture Ministries | c3ptexecutivesolutions.com
