OPEN: In August 1994, a Korean Air jet skidded across a rain soaked runway and rammed a safety barricade while landing in Cheju, Korea. All 160 passengers escaped safely just moments before the plane exploded into flames.
What was the cause of the accident?
According to news reports, the pilot and the co-pilot had gotten into a fist fight… over who was in charge of the landing controls.
APPLY: Who was in charge of those landing controls???? I’d have thought that would have been covered in the flight manual!!!
But the main thing that we see in this story is that NOBODY knew who was in charge…and the confusion that followed resulted in absolute chaos & destruction
I. (pondering…) Who is in charge?
That’s an important question to answer in almost every situation because when we don’t know who’s in charge there can be confusion and frustration.
For Example… who should be in charge in the church???
The Bible very clearly tells us that Look again with me at Colossians 1:16-18
For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities;
all things were created by him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together.
And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy.
Now every church has a structure to it. Whether it’s the Anglican church, or the Presbyterian, or ours, every congregation has people who are designated to run the day to day affairs.
In Scripture, we find that the early church had:
1. Elders or Presbyters or Bishops – also called Shepherds of Pastors
2. Preachers or evangelists (like me)
3. Deacons
4. Teachers
5. And all kinds of ministries within the church.
But someone might say:
“That’s all very nice… but who’s IN CHARGE of the church?”
That would be Jesus
“No… I mean, who has the AUTHORITY in the church?”
That would be Jesus
“No, no, no… who has the FINAL SAY in the church?”
That would be Jesus
II. Now, if you were to ask: who makes the day to day decisions in a congregation…
that would be our Elders: Jim Bowman, Dave Marks and Don Allison. And they get input from me… and Brad… and Greg and everyone else within the congregation.
ILLUS: I once had a person ask me for a copy of a Church’s by-laws where I served. Why did they ask? Because they weren’t satisfied with a policy of the church and they wanted to find something in the by-laws that would help them with their cause.
I explained to them that – in all the time I’d been preaching there - I’d never seen the church’s by-laws… but that I could sum the by-laws up in just a few words:
· any policy that wasn’t covered in the Bible was subject to the decisions of the Eldership
· If the Elders approved of something… it was church policy
· If the Elders didn’t – it wasn’t going to happen.
AND - unless there was a compelling Biblical reason not to do so – I would back any decision the Elders made.
You see, God has given Elders have a very important responsibility. Their job is to take care of the Bride of Christ (the church)… and to protect her from heresy and false doctrine and immorality. They are the protectors of God’s family. That’s why God wanted His Elders to be good fathers and husbands. A good husband/ father will have experience in protecting their own family. And so – because they understand how to take loving care of their own families - these Elders will experienced in how to do what is best for God’s people. They’ll know how to love God’s children, and set standards for the family.
Now - Who does the church belong to? (It belongs to Jesus). Thus, Elders must always make their decisions based upon what they think Jesus would want – because the church doesn’t belong to the Elders… it belongs to Jesus. And the Elders (along with preachers, and teachers and other leaders in the church) will be accountable on the day of judgment for how they have treated the bride of Christ. That’s why we need to continually lift up our elders in prayer and encourage them and help them wherever possible.
III. Now, Jesus is the Head of the Church
We’ve talked about the Elders and how important it is for them to keep Jesus as the Head of His church. But, how about the rest of us? How do WE know whether WE have allowed Jesus to be the Head of His Church?
ILLUS: Now, there are - unquestionably - a number of ways to judge that, but Greg Peck (our children’s minister) gave a devotion at JAM last Wednesday that got me to thinking.
Now, before I tell you of Greg’s lesson, I want to think on this very consider this truth: When Jesus is the Head a congregation… that congregation will be a healthy church. But, if that church is not healthy… that is because somebody forgot to let Jesus be in charge.
ILLUS: Now what is this? (on screen: picture of a thermometer)
What’s a thermometer measure? (heat)
What’s the normal body temperature of most people? (98.6)
IF you were to take my temperature and it was 102… what would that tell you? (I’m sick).
That’s right, if my temperature is too high, then I’m sick… I’m not healthy. Likewise, if somebody’s temperature within the church is TOO HOT.
When we say that somebody has gotten hot, what do we usually mean? (they’ve gotten angry).
In almost every language anger is portrayed as being “hot” about something. For example… somebody will say – “That just makes me boiling mad!” In the Greek, there’s a word called “Thumos” which is translated “wrath in Galatians 5. Strong’s concordance tells us this word literally means “heat, anger forthwith boiling up”
Thus, anger is often a sign of a heat- a heightened temperature - an unhealthy soul.
In Galatians 5 we’re told about what constitutes spiritual health:
“The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: …hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy...” Galatians 5:19-21
“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,
gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.” Galatians 5:22-23
Notice the difference between the “acts of the sinful nature” and the “Fruit of the Spirit”
The acts of the sinful nature are filled with anger and frustration
But the fruit of spirit has no anger. It has no strife. There is no contention.
Why? Because when we bear the fruit of the Spirit – Jesus is in charge. He’s our head. When He’s in charge we can trust Him to control the situation. We feel no need to grab a hymnal and beat somebody over the head with it because Jesus is in control.
Do you remember why that Korean jet crashed? The pilot and co-pilot got into a fist fight because they forgot who should have control. When we get angry (in the church) we tend to mistreat other people in the body of Christ because they’re not living up to OUR expectations.
Thus, when we’re angry, we’ve become the head of our church… we’ve taken control away from Jesus.
ILLUS: When Greg talked about this with the kids in JAM, he asked them if they knew how to deal with a “temperature”. They answered… “you take medicine”. And so, Greg suggested a medicine that worked with Him when he would get angry. And then he sang a song:
Sing it with me (“Jesus loves me”). Greg explained it was hard to be angry when you sang that song (elaborate by trying to sing the song with your teeth clenched and your face angry).
Why would it be hard for me to be angry while I sang that song? Because, if Jesus loves me He’ll take care of things I cannot control… things that make me angry.
IV. Now, we’ve established that Jesus must be the head of His church
We’ve pointed out that EVERYONE in the church – Elders/ Preachers/ Teachers, etc… is subject to the leadership of Jesus. Every decision we make in the church must be based upon what we think Jesus would want in this congregation.
AND we’ve examined ONE of the ways in which we personally can judge whether we’ve allowed Jesus to have control in His church.
Now the question is why?
Why should Jesus be allowed to be the Head of His church?
One answer is that Jesus earned that RIGHT. As Colossians 1:16-18 tells us
“…by (Jesus) all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him.
He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy.”
Jesus is the head of the church, because that’s His right.
But there’s another answer to that question: Why should Jesus be allowed to be the Head of the Church? And that answer is: Jesus being the head of the Church because that is the way that God DESIGNED the church to function.
For example: Years ago I bought a Chevy Capri. It was a great car and initially it ran real well. But in time the engine began to run rough and I took back to the dealer. He discovered the problem was with one of the pollution controls. Someone had put a BB inside the control under the mistaken belief that would increase the car’s gas mileage.
In other words, the car began to run rough because somebody tried to change something in the design of the engine. And the end result was a car that didn’t run right.
It’s only when Jesus is the “HEAD OF THE CHURCH” that the church will EVER run right.
Just before Paul introduces this idea of Jesus as the Head of the Church he says this:
Look with me to Colossians 1:10-11 “And we pray this in order that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and may please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might…”
When Jesus is the head of the church… this is what you get:
1. You are empowered to live a life worthy of your Lord
2. You can please Him in every way
3. You can bear fruit in every good work
4. You can grow in your knowledge of God
5. And be strengthened with all of the power of God.
If Jesus ever gets to the point where He’s not head of this congregation…
· Then you will not be empowered to live a life worthy of God
· You won’t be able to please Him
· You won’t be able to bear fruit
· You won’t grow in your knowledge of God
· And you won’t be strengthened by the power of God.
I praise God that this congregation has Jesus as it’s head
I praise God for Elders that acknowledge Jesus as the owner of this congregation
I praise God that I serve with so many people that show love for each other and create an atmosphere of safety and acceptance that reflects our Master
I have learned that when Jesus is IN a Church, people change
When He is in charge of people’s lives, they become different…they’re transformed by His presence and His power.
CLOSE: There’s a true story told of a young man who left home for his freshman year of college. His mother was concerned that he wouldn’t keep his dorm room in order. So when she visited him at Thanksgiving, she was not surprised to find his room in total disarray. Papers and books were scattered all over the place. But what shocked her the most were the obscene pictures hanging on the walls.
At Christmas time, she sent her son a box of presents, including a portrait of Jesus.
He thanked her for the gifts but didn’t say anything about the picture.
In the spring, when she visited the school again, her son was eager for her to come to his room. Upon entering, she found on the best wall space the picture of Christ. All the other pictures were gone. Wisely she said, “Jack, there is something different about your room. Did you get a new rug?”
“No.”
“Is this new paper on the wall?”
“No.”
“When I was here before, it seemed to me you had more pictures than now.”
“Yes, I did, Mother, but those other pictures seemed out of place after that one of Jesus came into the room.”
SERMONS IN THE “MEETING JESUS” SERIES
The Son Of God - Matthew 16:13-16:20
Knowing Who You’re Looking At - John 12:20-12:36
Whose In Charge Here? - Colossians 1:10-1:20
WWJD In Worship - Luke 4:14-4:21
How Jesus Ministered - Matthew 11:1-11:6
