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 First Corinthians ... chapter 12, beginning at verse 1 ... and then to the Gospel of Luke ... chapter 14, beginning at verse 15.
SCRIPTURE READING — 1 CORINTHIANS 12:1-7; LUKE 14:15-23 (KJV)
(1 Cor 12:1) Now concerning spiritual gifts, brethren, I would not have you ignorant.
(12:4) Now there are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit.
(12:5) And there are differences of administrations, but the same Lord.
(12:6) And there are diversities of operations, but it is the same God which worketh all in all.
(12:7) But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal.
(Luke 14:16) Then said he unto him, A certain man made a great supper, and bade many:
(14:17) And sent his servant at supper time to say to them that were bidden, Come; for all things are now ready.
(14:18) And they all with one consent began to make excuse.
(14:21) Go out quickly into the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in hither the poor, and the maimed, and the halt, and the blind.
(14:22) Lord, it is done as thou hast commanded, and yet there is room.
(14:23) Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled.
NEIGHBOR TURN
Turn to your neighbor and say ... Neighbor — GOD DOESN'T HAVE A BENCH. EVERYBODY PLAYS.
You may be seated ...
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. 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. This is my prayer. Amen.
INTRODUCTION
Week 3 of Cultures That Don't Break ... and we are at the third pillar of C3PT ... COLLABORATION.
Collaboration is one of the most biblical concepts in the New Testament. Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 12 that God designed the church the way He designed a body — diverse parts, different functions, one purpose.
The problem is ... we have turned collaboration into competition. Instead of asking "how can my gift serve yours?" we ask "how can I make sure mine is noticed?"
And the culture breaks.
Point 1 — The Design of Collaboration
Point 2 — The Disease of Competition
Point 3 — The Table Has Room
POINT 1 — THE DESIGN OF COLLABORATION
1 Corinthians 12:4-7
Paul opens with: "Now concerning spiritual gifts, brethren, I would not have you IGNORANT."
The Greek word for "ignorant" here is AGNOEO — ag-no-eh-o. To be without understanding of something that matters deeply.
(Greek: agnoeo — ag-no-eh-o — to be ignorant of, to not perceive, to be without understanding)
Verse 4: "Now there are DIVERSITIES of gifts, but the SAME Spirit."
The Greek word for diversities is DIAIRESIS — dee-ah-ee-res-is — a distribution, a deliberate apportioning.
(Greek: diairesis — dee-ah-ee-res-is — a distribution, a deliberate apportioning of different things for different purposes)
God did not make a mistake when He gave you your gift and gave somebody else a different one. That was deliberate. The diversity in the body is not a problem to be managed. It is a strength to be leveraged.
Verse 7: "But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man TO PROFIT WITHAL."
In the Greek, SUMPHERO — soom-fer-o — for the common good. For mutual benefit.
(Greek: sumphero — soom-fer-o — for the common advantage, for the profit and benefit of the whole group)
Your gift was not given to you for your own benefit. It was given to you for the benefit of the body. When you hoard your gift, protect your territory, or refuse to collaborate ... you are robbing the body of what God assigned you to provide.
THAT is the design of collaboration. (Repeat)
POINT 2 — THE DISEASE OF COMPETITION
Luke 14:18 — "And they all with one consent began to make excuse..."
Jesus tells a story. A man throws a great supper. The table is set. The food is ready. There is room for everyone. And he sends his servant to say ... Come.
And verse 18: "And they ALL with one consent began to make excuse."
ALL of them. With ONE consent. There was more unity in their refusal than there was in their participation. And that is what competition does to a culture. It unifies people around the wrong thing.
What were the excuses?
I bought land. I need to see it.
I bought oxen. I need to prove them.
I got married. I cannot come.
Let me translate these into boardroom and deacon meeting language:
I have my own ministry to run.
I was here before you. I built what I built.
I have my own relationships to protect.
It is the same spirit. And that spirit is competition. And competition in the body of Christ is a disease.
Dr. Howard Thurman wrote in "Jesus and the Disinherited": "The penalty of deception is to become a deception, with all sense of reality lost."
(Dr. Howard Thurman, "Jesus and the Disinherited," Abingdon-Cokesbury Press, 1949)
The penalty of competition in the body of Christ is that you lose the ability to feel the loss. You become so protected, so territorial, so focused on your own ministry ... that when the table is empty ... you don't even notice.
But God noticed. The master was ANGRY.
POINT 3 — THE TABLE HAS ROOM
Luke 14:21-23 — "Go out quickly... bring in hither the poor, and the maimed... yet there is room."
Watch what the master does when the invited guests refuse to come. He doesn't close the table. He doesn't cancel the supper. He says: Go out quickly ... and bring in the poor, the maimed, the halt, and the blind.
And when the servant says "it is done ... and YET THERE IS ROOM" ... the master says go further. Go to the highways and hedges. Compel them to come in. That my house may be FILLED.
Not half full. FILLED.
Patrick Lencioni says in "The Advantage": "It is organizational health that will ultimately make the difference between a successful company and a mediocre one."
(Patrick Lencioni, "The Advantage: Why Organizational Health Trumps Everything Else in Business," Jossey-Bass, 2012)
Replace "company" with "church." It is the health of the collaboration that makes the difference between a church that transforms a community ... and a church that survives inside its own four walls.
And the table has room. (Repeat)
There is room for the person who was told their gift does not matter. There is room for the voice that has been silenced. There is room for the leader who was pushed out because somebody felt threatened.
THE CLOSE
Somebody in this room has been carrying a gift that no one has made room for. Somebody has been showing up faithful, serving hard ... and the people around them have been too busy protecting their own position to make room.
I came to tell you ... that was not God's design.
But I also came to say something to the people who are holding the territory ...
Your gift is not diminished when you make room for someone else's. Your seat at the table does not get smaller when you pull up a chair for the person God sent.
The table gets bigger. (Repeat)
That is the economy of the Kingdom. The more you collaborate ... the more the mission advances. The more you let go of competition ... the more the culture grows.
THE TABLE IS SET.
THERE IS ROOM.
STOP COMPETING.
START COLLABORATING.
THE MISSION CANNOT WAIT. (Repeat)
ALTAR CALL
Every head bowed ... every eye closed ...
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
This week find one person whose gift you have never made room for. Go to them and say: I see what God put in you. I want to collaborate with you.
That one conversation could change your culture.
Now unto Him who is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us ... unto Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus. Amen.
— Rev. Kelvin L. Parks, M.A. | C3PT Kingdom Culture Ministries | c3ptexecutivesolutions.com
