Last week I said, “As a body of believers, this statement is what will drive us, motivate us and focus us for the work of the ministry that God has placed before us. All of us are to be equipped as maturing and growing believers so that together we can execute the cure for the common church.
Ephesians 4:11, 12 “And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ..."
“Equip” = a medical term in Greek to describe the setting of a bone in order for its healing, to bring completion.
All of that was a challenge for all of us as 21st century Christians, to get into action! And you say “Pastor, why are you so passionate about this? What’s the hurry?”
I’m glad you asked that question! Simply put the world as we know it and experience it today, is experiencing a tsunami of change that is spreading across this country – in fact this sweeping sea of change is something that we have never experienced before! The Ozzie and Harriet world of just a few years ago is long gone – if you haven’t noticed!
These are critical days for Christianity and how we respond and react to this sweeping sea of change within our culture, will tell a lot about how Christianity survives in the next 25 years!
Saint - we’ve got to start to learn to surf, if we are going to survive this tsunami of trouble America is experiencing! What do I mean by surf?
Surf = overcoming the waves of change that are impacting our culture because of the undertow that is destroying the lives of young and old!
Psalm 42:7 “Your vicious waves have swept over me like an angry ocean or a raging waterfall.”
Jude 13 “Their shameful deeds show up like foam on wild ocean waves.”
LifePoint: The church is a counter-tow to the under-tow!
3 Tidal Wave Responses – Which Is Yours?
1. “It’s Not Coming!”
Denial! The refusal to see the world from any other perspective than your limited one!
C.W. Orton said, “Denial is persistent make-believe!”
In denial, the common church knows deep inside that they are not on top of their ministry!
FBC cannot lose its:
• Touch - sensitivity to others
• Text - system of belief
• Tenor - speaking voice
2. “I’m Out of Here!”
Yep, it’s a tsunami, I can smell it, see it and I’m out of here! Folks, this is the bunker response, the barrack-building, trench-digging, wall building activity that comes from dreaming about the past and demeaning the future!
Bunker mania is understandable if there was no ammunition, no strategy or no power! The fact is, there’s no safe bunker where the 21st century church can hunker! The falseness of bunkering makes Jesus a Savior from the world, not a Savior to the world!
Leonard Sweet writes, “Gated churches are designed to keep people in and reality out.”
I think the best way to defuse sin and destroy principalities and powers is not in escaping from it all, but rather to master it and disarm them!
3. “Hoist The Sail!”
Surfs up! Our responsibility as the cure to the common church is to hoist the sails and become as effective as possible with all the sea of change that’s coming our way!
I’m not saying to compromise! But our job as Christians it not to join in with the common churches that are saying, “The sky is falling!”, but instead say, “How can we stop the sky from falling!”
We need to stop popping pills, nashing our teeth and waging our tongues over the future and just be salt and light today!
A conservative German Theologian Jürgen Moltman said recently, “The American Christian’s faith is losing its mobilizing power. Primarily because of its failure to realize that we are moving into the future at a high rate of speed. Many abandon Christianity in America because they find in it no power for the future.”
I ask us, “We are anointed, authorized and gifted, why are we so afraid of ministering tomorrow?”
My Three Fold Challenge to FBC
1. “Get Over It”
I don’t like it that Christians are the brunt of new slams and slurs – but I have to get over it!
I don’t like when Adam Parfrey the publisher of Scholastics Books for Public Schools says, “I know a book that I’d like everyone to stop reading, because it spreads strange ideas about life – the Bible. I wish everyone would snatch every Gideon Bible from its hotel and throw it in the trash.”
Hey, Bible toting Christian - deal with it, get over it or get help!
I don’t like it when a new book about Pool Playing says, “Billiards celebrates the game for being a sport that has not yet been tainted or sanitized by the Fellowship of Christian Athlete types.”
Hey, sports loving Christian - deal with it, get over it or get help!
I don’t like it when for the last 50 years the Barrington Rhode Island Town Council volunteered to plow from the snow from the parking lots of 9 churches and 1 Synagogue, until the ACLU sued the town and Federal Judge Joseph DiCerio said, “This good deed was
unconstitutional.”
Hey, small town lover Christain - deal with it, get over it or get help!
2. “Get Into It!”
Since when have we got the idea that a hostile world is going to play fair? To act like angels! Sometimes we Christians act so surprised. Our culture is changing so fast, that we can’t even keep up with it!
For too long we’ve said to the world, “I’ve got Jesus and you don’t!” For too long we’ve said to the world, “Come to church!” - Instead of letting the church out to the world!
The cure for the common church is about a new kind of evangelism that says, “Let me help you find a new way for your life!”
It’s called “LIFESTYLE EVANGELISM”
What is that? Lifestyle evangelism believes that how I dress, drink, drive and who I daily dedicate myself to - communicates my values and faith!
The Apostle Peter reminds us of this forgotten principle…
1 Peter 1:13 “Think clearly and exercise self-control.” NLT
1 Peter 2:9 “Proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness.” NKJV
1 Peter 2:12 “Be careful how you live among your unbelieving neighbors” NLT
1 Peter3:15 “If you are asked about your Christian hope, always be ready to explain it.” NLT
1 Peter 4:9 “Cheerfully share your home” NLT
1 Peter 4:14 “Be happy if you are insulted for being a Christian.” NLT
1 Peter 5:7 “Give all your worries and cares to God” NLT
Folks, we need to see America, Calaveras County as a mission field! Only 2 countries have more non-believers than the United States – India and China! America is the 3rd largest mission field in the world! As I see it, “Life Style Evangelism” needs to begin to impact the 2 largest mission fields in our area – the unchurched and the overchurched!
Get this: “Only 15% of this nation’s 320,000 churches are highly effective.” - Barna Research
That means the other 85% of churches are filled with Christian agnostics – at least that the way it comes across!
We have to get into life again!
3. “Get Ahead Of It”
Lead again! We need to be the last of a dying breed of Christian left disgusted and discouraged! We can be the front guard of new saints marching on! We can be the dinosaur in the tar pit or we can choose to be on the frontlines with a new kind of attitude for life!
2 ways I see that we can get ahead of the huge tidal wave of change coming to Calaveras County:
• Re-invent Ministry.
The where and who of ministry doesn’t change, but the how of ministry!
“Change” is a very intimidating word to Christians, but it doesn’t have to be! Listen; if there’s never change, then there will be stagnation, starvation and then destruction!
Woody Allen said, “It’s not that I’m afraid of change, I just don’t want to be around when it happens.”
Bumper Sticker: “Change is good, but you go first!”
• Re-invest Money.
We must always invest in people and purpose and not programs!
Domino’s Pizza has made a fortune for its Christian owner with
2 words that are on every pizza box that goes out their door,
“We Deliver!”
For the sake of those that are hell bound, shouldn’t we make a future of believing that we can deliver the gospel message effectively and powerfully to our community?
