This morning it’s time for a cartoon quiz! Ready? Here we go! (Winners win the satisfaction of knowing their cartoon trivia!)
Who says, “Yabba dabba do?” (Fred Flintstone)
Who concludes a certain cartoon series with “TTThat’s all folks!” (Porky Pig)
What two partners would rather eat than solve mysteries? (Shaggy and Scooby-Doo)
“Who lives in pineapple under the sea?” (Sponge Bob Square Pants!)
Who says, “To infinity and beyond!?” (Buzz Lightyear)
Who has been known to say, “I yam what I yam?” (Popeye)
Not only are we “maavelous” we are who we are! And this morning we continue our series getting in shape for God by learning and understanding that we accept ourselves for who we are while growing in Christian maturity.
Now we have spent the past three weeks looking at ways of getting in shape for God. (Overhead 1) We get in shape for God when we “believe, accept, and live out the truth that we are God’s workmanship, created anew in Christ Jesus to do good works that He planned for us to do long ago.”
Another way that we get in shape for God is by learning to serve and be a servant to/for others. Now being a servant takes time and money and faith. But it does not mean that we keep people from becoming responsible for their lives or allowing ourselves to become doormats.
Then last week we looked at a third way of getting in shape for God as discover and use our spiritual gifts and find our place on God’s team - the Church. This way requires us to embrace what God has given to us and accept our place and space of ministry and service.
This morning then we turn to a fourth way - accepting ourselves for who we are while still obeying the Holy Spirit as we mature as followers of Christ. Now what does this mean?
It means a couple of things:
1. It means that we begin to understand who we are and how we operate in life.
2. It means that we surrender to the Spirit who makes us more like Christ, and more like the person that God wants us to become.
Let’s turn to our scripture passage for this morning and take a look at what Paul said as it relates to our two points:
In this segment of scripture Paul is reminding the Philippian Christians that their place in Christ is not based on the issue of circumcision or any other “human effort” as he says in verse 3 but on the work of Christ for us and he uses his own life to make a point about what he is saying.
First of all he says, “I was a real Jew if there ever was one.” He had the right lineage, the right upbringing. He was, as he says in verse 5, “born into a pure-blooded Jewish family.”
And not only was he “real Jew” he was also a Pharisee – who demanded the “strictest obedience to the Jewish law.” And not only was he a Pharisee he was zealous in his efforts to be one! And such zealousness caused him to be a passionate persecutor of the church and to carefully obey the Jewish law so that he would never be accused of any fault. So what kind of a person was Paul?
He was a passionate person. He was a driven person. He was a disciplined person. He was an educated person. And God knew that quite well.
And one day, while he was acting like the passionate, driven, disciplined, and educated person that he was, God stood right in his path (as we read in Acts 9) and turned all of these characteristics in the direction of His purposes and plans. Paul was still Paul in many ways after his conversion experience. Yes, his name changed from Saul to Paul and his purpose in life changed as well from persecution of the Christian church to the proclamation of its faith. But, he was still Paul in many ways. But, God knew what he was doing when He stopped Paul in his tracks as he was going to Damascus to arrest Christians and bring them back to Jerusalem for trial.
Paul wrote, or is credited with writing nearly half of the New Testament. He went on three separate trips to spread the gospel that took a total of nearly 9 years to accomplish. He traveled thousands of miles around Southern Europe and Western Asia on foot and ship and probably by camel, horse, and donkey. He was, as we read in 2 Corinthians 11, beaten, stoned, shipwrecked, arrested, and jailed as he traveled to spread the Christian faith. What other kind of person could have done that? Paul was God’s person for the job, flaws and all.
Paul admits, throughout his writings, that he was still growing as he needed to. In fact, he says in verse 13, “I am still not all that I should be” but I continue to work toward what God has in mind for me. The same holds true for you and me.
So one of the ways that we get in shape for God is to understand who we are.
It has to do with personality. Now for a lot of good reasons, we need to learn to keep personality out of the way. But, one of the ways that many of us have grown in our faith and relationship with Christ took place when we began to accept ourselves for who we were (and still are) but knowing that God has called us to become more like Him.
For a moment I want each of us to reflect on a couple of dimensions of our personality. (Overhead 2) (This comes from our study guide, “Developing Your Shape to Serve Others” published by Zondervan.)
First, “How do you get recharged and excited?” In other words, are you an introvert or an extrovert?
Introverts are private people. They process their thoughts internally before they speak. People will often tire them out.
Extroverts are public people. They process things out loud before they speak. People get them going.
The ministry of the church needs both. God made both introverts and extroverts. He needs extroverts like Paul and Peter who are outgoing and able to influence people toward a Christian faith and commitment.
He needs introverts like Andrew; the first disciple called by Christ, who through a deeper and quieter influence brought his brother Peter to Jesus. After that encounter that is recorded we hear little of Andrew. But, when we read the gospel accounts of disciples in action and ministry, we remember that Andrew was right there with them doing what Jesus had told them to do.
Now there are times when the Lord puts extroverts in a place where they have to be quiet and still and He puts introverts in a situation where they have to interact and be more outgoing or even outspoken. Why? Because God is in the process of helping us grow and sometimes that growth comes in ways that require us to develop the importance of quietness and outgoingness so that we become more mature and Christ-like. Jesus knew the importance of time with people and the practice of being alone for times of rest and prayer.
Second, “How do you like to work?” In other words do you prefer routine or is variety your spice of life? Some of us like routine and tasks. Predictability is important to us and change is hard at times.
Others of us, however, like variety. We thrill to new opportunities and challenges. Change is looked forward to.
The church needs both. In fact, this is perhaps where the greatest tension and difficulty often lies not just in the church, but also in our family life and work and other areas as well. Some of us like things the way they are and want them to continue. We value continuity. We value tradition. Stop messing with it.
Others of us like variety and newness. “The old has passed away, the new has come.” We see potential and possibilities. “Let’s try it! Let’s go forward! Yee-haw!!!”
The ministry of the church, the message of the faith is both about continuity and change. It is also about continuity through unity, about being one in Christ. Change is at the heart of the Christian message - a change that is made possible through a personal salvation experience. Jesus spoke to the disciples about unity and love as being just as important in sharing the faith “as going into all the world to make disciples.”
Again Paul and his ministry is an example of one who had a place of service and ministry that was rich and varied. It required him to be. But, he acknowledged in the letters (now called books) that he wrote of those who did the routine of ministry. We read their names at the end of each book as Paul wraps up his writing and identifies people who are a part of the ministry of that particular Christian community.
In the book that contains our main text we read some of these names in chapter 4- Euodia and Syntyche – two women who were having a disagreement that Paul wants to see resolved. Then there is also a reference to Clement and Epaphroditus two men who are involved in the ministry of the church there in Philippi. We know little or nothing about these people – but they are involved in continuing the ministry there that Paul started.
And just as God sometimes puts outgoing people in places of quietness and reserved people in places of outgoingness God will also sometime call those who like routine to step out in faith and walk with Him and others. And sometimes God will tell those who are way out in front, “Stop! Turn around and wait for the others to catch up.”
Third, “How do you express yourself?” In other words, are you self-controlled or are you self-expressive?
Some of us think before we speak. We are people of few words (and there’s nothing wrong with that.) Others of us are very transparent and people can tell by our expressions what we are thinking before we say anything.
The church needs both kinds of people. God uses both kinds of people. He uses people like Peter who was very self-expressive and let his opinions be known right away. He also uses people like Mary, who as we read in John 12, says nothing but demonstrates a great love for Jesus when she anoints his feet with expensive perfume.
The disciples were a mix of all these traits. And Jesus called them to follow him. The same holds true for us.
The ministry of the church needs both kinds of people. We need thoughtful people who can help us see different sides of the issue in a caring and godly fashion. And we need those expressive go-getters who get us fired up for the cause and challenge us to move forward and take that hill! But there are times when God moves in the self-controlled people to have faith and take a risk for Him and there are times when He calls the self-expressive people to calm down and relax.
Fourth, “How do you relate to others?” In other words, are you competitive or cooperative?
Now it would seem that competition and the Christian faith do not go together. And by and large that is true. The opening chapters of I Corinthians, which we studied a portion of last week, paints a picture of a church in which competition was in operation and cooperation was not.
And if we reflect on what the Gospels tell us – competition is in direct conflict with doing good in Jesus’ name and helping people follow God through Christ. But we are in competition – competition for people’s souls.
We see this in the temptation of Christ when He is tempted to compromise and give into common temptations such as the challenge to turn stones into bread that demonstrated the common temptation to take shortcuts in the meeting of legitimate needs such as hunger by using His power to do so. We read of it in Paul’s statements in Ephesians when he speaks of the battle that is fought between good and evil in chapter 6 and that the weapons that are used to fight are not laser guided bombs or M-1 tanks or F-117 stealth fighters but the weapons such as the sword of the Spirit – the Bible, the body armor of God’s righteousness and the shield of faith.
“For we are not fighting against people of flesh and blood, but against the evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world.”
Some of us love a good fight. We are ready for battle. We are competitive. We stand for the faith. We are ready to suffer inconvenience and even discomfort for the faith. “Bring it on!” we say!
Others of us thrive on cooperation. We love to be a part of a group that is working toward a common goal. We may agree with the action plan that says we are in a battle against evil, but we play a support role (always aware of the battle however).
As we read the Bible we find common illustrations of both and even in the same person moments of cooperation and moments of competition – King David comes to mind. And I would have us recall this morning the passage from Philippians 1 in which Paul rejoices that those who are “competing” with Paul in the spread of the faith are still spreading the faith despite their motives for doing so.
Now if Jesus were to move an extrovert to a place of quietness and a person who loved variety in ministry to a ministry that required routine, how might He direct a person who is in a competitive mode as well as a person who is in a cooperative mode?
Some of the front line warriors may need to take a break to be renewed and they may be replaced by those who need to be reminded of what the battle is all about and pick up the armor and put it on and have at it with Satan and His forces in the lives of people who are broken and bleeding and battered and need some one to come and help them to Jesus.
He may also ask, “Where are you doing battle?” It is very easy to fight the wrong battle for all the right reasons. He may also ask, “Who are you aligning with?” It is very easy to be on the wrong team for the right reasons.
So… what kind of servant are you?
Maybe you are an introvert who says little yet finds great service in a variety of ministry tasks and thrives on competition. God uses you. Or maybe you are an extrovert who loves routine and cooperation. God uses you.
The beauty of the church is that it takes all kinds of people to accomplish its God-given mission and purpose because the world is filled with all kinds of people who need Jesus. And for some of us, God’s call is sometimes to a group of people or an individual who seems the total opposite of who we are because that opposite is the avenue in which God moves to bring people to Him.
Just as Paul acknowledged who he was, we are to acknowledge who we are so that Christ can do His work in and through us. And that’s the second part of this aspect of getting in shape for God.
Paul goes on to say, (and I am paraphrasing here), “Though I am an extrovert who likes variety and am ready to take on the world for Christ, I am still growing more and more like Jesus as time goes on so that I will be more effective for Him.”
“You are who you are.” And God uses you that way, as you also become “who you truly are in Him.”
Two things to conclude: 1. Be who you are. 2. Become the who that God wants you to become. We get in shape for God this way. This is true of us individually and congregationally. Amen.
(If you would like copies of the overheads (on Power Point) please e-mail me at pastorjim46755@yahoo.com and ask for 012504svgs)
