How to Be a Vibrant Church
Series: Will the Real Church Please Stand Up?
October 8, 2006
READ Rev.3:1-6
The ache in the chest wasn’t particularly bad. It wasn’t the fierce, crushing pain that usually signals a heart attack, (like in the movies)… but it was bad enough to wake me up from a deep sleep. I rolled over and looked at the dial on the clock next to my bed. It was exactly 4 a.m. I tried to forget about the pain and go back to sleep, but a few minutes later I was sitting on the edge of the bed, wishing I could burp! I got out of bed and went downstairs for a soda. “It was probably indigestion”, I told myself. A soda would make me burp and, when it did, the ache would go away, and I could go back to sleep.
Standing in the darkened kitchen, in the light of the opened refrigerator, I drank a whole bottle of soda and then burped. But the pain in my chest didn’t go away. I squeezed my chest muscles with my hand and moved my arms up and down, hoping it was just muscle pain. But the ache in the center of my chest wasn’t affected at all. I was getting increasingly worried, as I went upstairs and lay down in bed… but sleep was impossible. It was now 5:30 a.m., the loneliest hour of my life. I didn’t want to wake my wife, afraid that it was all a false alarm. Still, I knew what I had to do. “If you have chest pain, Dial 911 and ask for fire rescue” Right?.
Skilled paramedics will reach your door in 4-5 minutes. They’ll place monitoring electrodes on your chest. If you go into shock, they have drugs and equipment to revive you and keep you alive until you get to the hospital. Rich or poor, if you’re having a heart attack it’s the best way to go to the hospital. But it seemed silly for a big red truck to blare and flash to a screeching halt in front of my house at 6:30 in the morning…just because I had to burp! So I drove myself to the hospital.” When he finally made it to the emergency room… Donald Drakes suspicions were confirmed. At 45, he had what we all fear… a heart attack!
A heart attack occurs when the heart muscle is damaged because blood is being blocked from reaching it. Fatty deposits build up on the inside of blood vessels and reduce the flow of oxygen to the heart. As a result part of the heart muscle dies. Now because blockages can occur in any number of coronary arteries, a heart attack can happen at any time and without any warning. One of our own loved members can testify to that fact, isn’t that right Donelda?
The bible says that the ‘church’ is the living, breathing, BODY of Christ, and in Rev.2-3 Jesus comes to His church and points out not only it’s strengths, but it’s weaknesses. Today, it’s “Jesus, M.D.”, because the Church at Sardis was having a heart attack, and they needed attention STAT! (in case you didn’t know, that’s emergency room lingo for ‘we better burn rubber”!) When Jesus shows up it’s almost too late…He says in vs. 1 of Rev.3…“To the angel of the church in Sardis write: These are the words of him who holds the seven spirits of God and the seven stars. I know your deeds; you have a reputation of being alive, but you are dead. “
Jesus arrives on the scene, he checks Sardis out and announces… “You’re DOA!” (dead on arrival). I’d say that’s a pretty dangerous position for a church to be in wouldn’t you?
· Ephesus was the “Busy Church”
· Smyrna was the “Persecuted Church”
· Pergamum was the “Compromising Church”
· Thyatira was the “Tolerating Church”…
But Sardis was in the most serious condition of all! They’re the DEAD Church! Plaque had been building up on it’s blood vessels for so long… that the life giving oxygen of the Spirit had been choked off… and they DIED! But it hadn’t always been that way… see, Sardis had a “reputation for being alive”! In otherwords, there’d been a time in this churches history when all the valves were pumping!
This was a church that was known for it’s outreach to the poor, it’s life-saving programs, it’s vibrant worship, the faith of it’s members… but something happened. Instead of moving forward, forging new spiritual territory… they’d gotten comfortable, content…lazy! They’d become “Couch Potatoes for Jesus”. After all, they’d done their part! Now…
· programs were more important than a fresh love for their Lord.
· traditions were more important than life change, and
· living in the past was easier than living for the future.
They stopped exercising their faith, and as a result, fatty deposits built up… the flow of the Spirit was reduced and the heart of the church died! Just like our bodies are nothing more than a shell without life. There’s nothing worse than a dead church… and so Jesus (never one to beat around the bush) states the obvious here…YOU’RE DEAD”!
Have you ever typed the word, ‘DISEASES’ in your favorite web browser? You ought to try it sometime. I did, and was amazed that there were 188 million different sites on the web that talk about human diseases! In the alphabetical listing of human diseases there are lit. thousands of them, from “Acne” to “Zygo-mycosis”! With so many diseases attacking our bodies everyday, it’s a wonder we’re even alive! In the same way, heart disease isn’t the only thing that can kill a church. In fact, there are a lot of life threatening diseases that threaten to cripple if not kill a church. Fortunately for us, Jesus is the “GREAT PHYSICIAN”, and not only can he heal our physical diseases, but He can heal our ‘spiritual’ ones!
I few years ago, a guy named “Christian Schwarz”, (after the most extensive study ever done), identified 8 essential qualities, that a church HAD to have in order to be healthy and growing. Without them, over time, they’d die. I have a suspicion that the Church of Sardis was missing these essentials. So, 1st of all, I’d like to list 8 diseases that afflict the church today, and then give you the characteristic that CURES that particular disease. If we as a church, don’t want to end up with a “toe tag”, like Sardis… we should listen very carefully to what the Spirit is saying to our church today… This mornings message is called, “How to Be a Vibrant Church”, but it just as well could be called, “How to Kill a Church in 8 Easy Steps”! …
8 Church Diseases and Their Cures…
Disease #1… Spirit Anemia
The church of Sardis had lost their passion! As a result, they were “spiritually anemic”! Do you know what ‘anemia’ is? It’s when your body doesn’t produce enough healthy red blood cells, loses too many of them, or destroys them faster than they can be replaced. As a result, your blood is low on the cells needed to carry oxygen to your tissues — leaving you fatigued and tired. Sounds like some peoples Christian walk! They’re tired because they’re ‘putting out’ more than their bringing in. They’re trying to live the Christian life in their own strength… and because they never spend any quality time with God…they lose their enthusiasm.
Did you know that ‘enthusiasm’ comes from the Grk. ‘en theos’, which means… “In God”. So when you’re “IN GOD”, and God is in you… you’re enthused about life, you’re enthused about God, you’re enthused about the church! But whether it’s sin, or busyness, or disobedience, or just plain laziness that blocks the flow of God’s Spirit in your life… you quickly become spiritually anemic! When you’ve got a whole church full of people like that…(including the pastor)…the church dies! Somebody once said, that if you want to determine the temperature of a church, put a thermometer in the pastor’s mouth! HA! True!
The cure for Spiritual Anemia is “Passionate Spirituality” The thing that separates passionate churches from anemic churches, growing churches from non-growing churches, healthy churches from ‘sickly’ churches is this 1 question… “How genuine is your relationship with Jesus Christ?”
In churches where they tend to be legalistic or ritualistic, where it’s more of a religion than it is a relationship… their spiritual passion is almost non-existent. ‘Alive’, ‘fired-up’ churches are filled with people who are excited and committed to developing a continually deeper relationship with the person of Jesus Christ. Somewhere along the line, the Church of Sardis had forgotten that! They allowed ‘reputation’ to replace relationship… and they died!
Disease #2… “Acute deli-gitis”
“Acute deli-gitis” is spread when leaders (either on purpose or by accident) get the idea that they’re the only ones who can do a certain ministry, and they’ve convinced everybody else that that’s true! Churches that have this disease in epidemic proportions, eventually die, because people get the idea that everything is done, that needs done. They look around and say, ”Hmmm…looks like everythings running pretty good! What do they need me for?” As a result, they either end up leaving, (because they don’t think they’re needed), or they end up taking up space in a chair, because they think that’s what it means to be a Christian. Sit and soak! If you’re leading a ministry this morning and you’re not delegating, or you’re not training up people around you, (who will eventually replace you or expand your ministry)… then you’re jeopardizing the over-all health of this congregation!
Cure for “Acute deli-gitis”… Empowering Leaders
The bible says in Ephesians 4:11-12 "God has given pastors and teachers to prepare God’s people for works of ministry, so the body of Christ may be built up." In the Bible the pastors are the ad-ministers and the people are the ministers. Most churches have this all turned around! In otherwords, it’s not my job to do all the ministry in this church… and it’s not yours either. The Bible says that it’s my job as a pastor and teacher to ‘prepare’ God’s people to do ministry. That’s why one of the most important things I do in this church is to teach the “Great Adventure Mt. Classes”. Because by doing that, I’m training and discipling new leaders for our church!
Empowering leaders…equip, support, motivate and mentor people around them to become all God wants them to be! And churches that have ‘empowering leaders’ will never die! Because there’s always a fresh flow of leadership to take on new ministry!
Disease #3… “Ministry Guilt-osis”
“Ministry Guiltosis” – happens when the way things get done in a church is by making people feel ‘guilty’. It’s like the lady who confessed, “My mother is in the travel-business. She’s a professional when it comes to sending me on ‘guilt trips’”. Well, Mom’s aren’t the only ones who are good at sending people on ‘guilt trips’. Churches are pretty good at it too! “You know… if you don’t take the Nursery… those poor little babies will suffer and cry from neglect and diaper rash!” So we take the job, but not without feeling forced, resentful & manipulated. If that’s why you’re doing what you’re doing…then let me be the 1st to say, “You won’t be doing it very long!”. That’s the quickest way I know to burn people out in the church. Eventually burned, worn out people, leave… and the church dies a quick death!
Cure #3… The cure for ‘ministry-guiltosis’ is found in having a “Gift Oriented Ministry”. This is where you actually match people up with their ministry based on 5 factors…we call it your “SHAPE” in our Mt. Calling Class. The acronym S.H.A.P.E. stands for…
a. S-piritual gifts.
b. H-eart
c. A-bilities
d. P-ersonality
e. E-xperiences.
If you don’t understand your SHAPE, then you’ll end up doing things God never intended or designed for you to do. On the otherhand, when you begin to serve in the area of your SHAPE… you’ll begin to function less on your own strength and more in the power of the H.S! That’s why churches with a gift-oriented approach to ministry are alive! The Spirit of God is surging through them, empowering ordinary people to do EXTRA-ordinary things!
If you’re a Christian this morning… then God has given you a spiritual gift…he’s given you desires, abilities, a unique personality and experiences. He didn’t give them to you so you could feel spiritually superior to somebody else! The bible says He made you the way you are, so that you can serve Christ and His Body (the church!) READ Eph.2:10… “God has made us what we are. In Christ Jesus, God made us to do good works, which God planned in advance for us to live our lives doing.” –Eph.2:10 (NCV) In his research, Christian Schwarz (after asking 1000’s of people) discovered that “no factor influences the sense of joy in living the Christian life, more than when we are living it according to our spiritual gifts!” I agree! You want to be excited about being a Christian? Begin to serve God using your God given gifts! It’ll not only bring life to your life, but it’ll bring life to this church body! (don’t know SHAPE? Attend Mt. Calling!)
Disease #4… Cancerous Structur-itis
One of my all time favorite titles for a book is…”Sacred Cows Make Gourmet Burgers”. In his book, author Bill Easum explains that a ‘Sacred Cow’ is “something that is immune from criticism or attack”. It comes from the Hindu worship of cows. Cows are more important than people in India. Some people lit. starve to death while surrounded by their ‘sacred cows’. To even suggest killing a cow and using it for food is sacrilegious! In the same way, there are people in churches where the traditions of that church, or controlling what happens… are more important to them than winning souls & making disciples. Easum says that… “CONTROL is the sacred cow in many churches and needs to be ground into gourmet burgers!” I couldn’t agree more!
Our human bodies are extremely complex. We’re made of a 100 trillion different types of cells, and each cell works independently of the other cells…but for the same purpose…i.e, the well-being and health of the entire body. All the cells are working cooperating together for the common good. However, every once in a while there’s a mutiny. A rebellion takes place. We call it cancer. Cancer happens when fat cells become disloyal and start living for themselves…instead of for the body. They try and take control of the body. In the body of Christ, we’re like cells… each of us is called to function on behalf of the entire body…but if any one of us decides that we’re here to control the others… then we become like a cancer. If the ‘controllers’ ever take over the church, (just like if cancer completely takes over our bodies)… the result is death.
The Cure for “Cancerous Structuritis”… is to have Flexible Structures.
One of the things I teach in our Membership Class (Mt. Community) is that “ the nature of the church determines the structure of the church”. (repeat) What that means is…if the church was a business then we’d run it like a organization. Only the church isn’t a business, (it has some char. of a business, but essentially it’s not a business…) it’s a body…so we have to run it like an ‘organism’. We’re a Body not a business. We’re an organism…not an organization! (I hear people say,” Well, I don’t believe in organized religion”. I say, “Come to our church, we’re DIS-organized religion! Just kidding! Actually, we’re very well organized, NO thanks to me!)
Because we’re an ‘organism’ not an organization… it means our bottom line isn’t ‘profit margin’…it’s people! It’s changed lives! In an organization, MAINTENANCE is the focus, but in an organism, MINISTRY is the focus. And because ministry is the focus…we want to make it easy for you to get involved in serving. If you want to start a ministry in our church, you don’t have to be elected or wait until you’re a part of the ‘in’ crowd. In fact, if you become a member today, you can be a part of a ministry tomorrow! Can you imagine what would happen if the parts of your body had to ‘get permission’ from the controllers, before they could do their job?
“Uh… my name is ‘Lung’ may I have permission to breath, please?
Sorry Mr. Lung, you’ll have to fill out this permission slip in triplicate, and then go wait in line over there behind Mr. Heart and Mr. Kidney for your turn to meet with the “Committee on Healthy Living”.
Excuse me, but … how long will that take?
Oh, about 6 weeks.
We’d die if that were the case! And some churches are dying while their committees and their ‘controllers’ try and micro-manage the ministries of the church. See, my job, the job of our LBA (Church Leadership Board), isn’t to control the church (that’s the H.S. job)… our job is to make sure nothing gets in the way of completing the mission that Jesus set for His church…of making disciples of all nations! And if we ever forget that… we will die as a church!
The 5th deadly disease of the church is what I call…
Disease #5… Chronic Worship Predic-tolosis
The Church of Sardis, looked good on the outside… the lights were on… but nobody was home! I’ve been to churches like that! Have you? You drive by and from the outside they’ve got beautiful, well maintained buildings, manicured lawns, the pastor preaches nice homiletically sound messages, there’s lots of money in the bank… but as soon as you walk in the door and step inside, there’s a chill in the air! The people are walking zombies… going through the motions, unfriendly, bored. It’s so cold the ushers wear ice-skates as they take the morning offering! There’s no getting around it…it’s dead! Yet some people are impressed by the outward appearance. It’s kind of like when you go to a funeral, and everyone files by and says, “Don’t they look nice?” I want to say, “I guess so, for a dead person!”
Cure for this insidious church disease is an Inspiring Worship Service Jesus tells us in -John 4:23,24 (NLT) what kind of worship He’s looking for… “But the time is coming—indeed it’s here now—when true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth. The Father is looking for those who will worship him that way. 24 For God is Spirit, so those who worship him must worship in spirit and in truth.” See, unlike us, God’s not impressed with the size of the crowd, He’s only impressed by one thing…the condition of our hearts. I’ve always said, ”It doesn’t matter how good the preaching, how big the crowd, or how polished the music is, if the Spirit of God doesn’t show up, we’re just putting on a show!” In churches that are alive Jesus is a regular attender! People not only walk away inspired, but they walk away changed! I pray every Sunday, “God, if it’s just me, there won’t be any lasting change, so you have to show up! You have to do what no person can do!” (Franklin Hauser, can still remember principles he taught. That’s the Spirit!)
Disease #6… Arthritic Koinonitus
“Under Christ’s control the whole body is nourished and held together by its joints and ligaments, and it grows as God wants it to grow. –Col.2:19
Anybody here got arthritis? I do! Maybe we need to start an arthritic support group! (EXPLAIN). Arthritis is one of the most pervasive diseases in the United States and is the leading cause of disability. According to the “Centers for Disease Control and Prevention”… 1 out of every 3 Americans (that’s 70 million people) are affected by 1 of the more than 100’s of types of arthritis. With “joint arthritis”, the cartilage that lubricates the joints, may be damaged by inflammation making movement painful. The grk. word in the bible for ‘fellowship’ is ‘koinonitis’… so, “Arthritic Koinonitus” is “inflammation of the fellowship”. According to the vs. we read…‘the body is held together by it’s joints and ligaments”… so when the fellowship is irritated and inflamed… there’s going to be a lot of pain. Sometimes it gets so painful that people leave the church. And if something isn’t done to stop the inflammation… the church suffers deeply.
The cure for “Arthritic Koinonitus” is found in: Holistic Small Groups
In small groups… we learn how to trust each other, understand each other, pray for each other, encourage each other and serve each other. We’re going to irritate and frustrate each other, but it’s in small groups that God sends the oil of His H.S. to lubricate and restore our inflamed relationships. If you’re not in some kind of small group study… you need to be… or eventually you’ll be a casualty of this disease!
Disease #7
Disease #7… Dysfunctional Relatosis
“Dysfunctional Relatosis” happens when we really don’t love each other like Jesus commanded us to love each other, in John 13:34,35. “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. 35 By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” -John 13:34,35 Instead of really loving each other, we gossip about each other, criticize each other, and use each other. People outside the church watch and think, “Why should I be a part of church? I can get that at work!”
The cure for ‘Dysfunctional Relatosis’ is found in Loving Relationships The local church is a classroom for learning how to get along in God’s people. It’s a lab for practicing unselfish, sympathetic love. As a part of a church family you learn to care and share the experiences, the ups the downs, the pains and the joys of others: 1 Corinthians 12:26, says, “If one part of the body suffers, all the other parts suffer with it. Or if one part of our body is honored, all the other parts share its honor”. It’s only when you’re in regular contact with ordinary, imperfect believers that you learn ‘real fellowship’ and experience the New Testament truth of being connected and dependent on each other. A lot of people know John 3:16 (for God so loved the world…) but they don’t know 1 John 3:16 (NIV): “Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers.” Did you catch that? Biblical fellowship is being as committed to each other as Jesus was (and is) to us. In otherwords, God expects us to give our lives for each other. (Illus. of 5 Amish girls who were shot in cold blood… the older ones volunteered to be shot first, hoping that the others would be spared.) They understood the meaning of that verse! When the world sees that… kind of love, they stand in awe…and THEN…stand in line to get in the church!
I found a great definition of the church, in a book I just read entitled, “Becoming Friends With God” by Leith Anderson… He said…
“The church is not a gathering of perfect people; it’s not even a gathering of adequate people, but rather it’s a coming together of people with problems, weaknesses, stresses, and struggles. It’s a gathering of people who do not have the answers, but who come together in the name of Jesus Christ seeking those answers. It is a group of people who gather together to experience God – to be helped and to help, to be healed and to heal. It is a group of people who provide for one another by meeting their problems”
Wow! That kind of stuff is LIFE for the body of Christ!
Disease #8… Meism Myopsis
I know one thing about dying or dead churches, they don’t really care about the lost around them… they only care about themselves. They have a ‘consumer mindset’ that’s continually asking… “What about me? What about my needs?” That’s why this disease is called “Meism Myopis”. When churches have this disease, all they can see is… SELF!
The cure for “meism myopis’ is called: Need Oriented Evangelism
Notice that Paul’s attitude was totally opposite of self when it came to the needs of the unbeliever… He said in I Cor.9:22-23…”When I am with those who are weak, I share their weakness, for I want to bring the weak to Christ. Yes, I try to find common ground with everyone, doing everything I can to save some. 23 I do everything to spread the Good News and share in its blessings” Did you notice where his concern was? It wasn’t on himself, it on the needs of the unbeliever. There are some people who think that evangelism works best when you push and manipulate people to commit their life to Christ. But I’ve always believed that if you could push them in to the church, they could find a way to pull themselves out! Growing, healthy churches have found a way to share the gospel in a way that meets the needs and questions of non-Christians. The
Thankfully, Sardis came to the right emergency room, because even though they were pronounced dead…
“Dr.Jesus” is able to raise the dead! Just like when Jesus spoke to the little girl in Mt.9, He speaks to Sardis in vs.2…“Wake-up!” The congregation at Sardis were performing deeds; they were going through the motions. But those deeds, Christ declared, were not completed in the sight of My God. They got the church a reputation but they weren’t good enough in God’s sight. They were the pointless, lifeless motion of corpses; The spiritual zombies of this church were living a lie.
As a church, lets commit ourselves to be like the people Jesus points out in vs.4,5… “Yet there are some in the church in Sardis who have not soiled their clothes with evil. They will walk with me in white, for they are worthy. 5 All who are victorious will be clothed in white. I will never erase their names from the Book of Life, but I will announce before my Father and his angels that they are mine” -vs.4,5
PRAY… Lord I want to be yours! Healthy, pure, victorious!
Lord, boost our immune system, so we can resist disease.
