Changing Church in a Changing Culture
Matt 7:1-5
1"Do not judge, or you too will be judged.
2For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.
3"Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye?
4How can you say to your brother, ’Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye?
5You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.
In today’s world, people are very suspicious of the church and Christians.
They want to see our lives showing truth, not just speaking it.
Any inconsistency will label us a hypocrite.
Illustration
I read that years ago in England when they still used the balanced scales that a baker sued a farmer over the pound of butter that he was buying. And he said that when he first started buying butter from the farmer, it was a full pound. But gradually the farmer was selling him less and less, until now he was only giving him about three quarters of a pound of butter and still charging him for the full pound. And so he sued him in court. The farmer in his own defense said to the judge, "Sir, I only have a balanced scale to measure the butter." And he said, "I always put the baker’s pound loaf of bread on the other side of the scale and that’s how I know when he has his pound of butter."
We all have a spiritual battle with the flesh
Every one of us daily fights temptation and struggle with sin.
We are weak creatures; this is why the Father sent Jesus and then the Holy Spirit.
The apostle Paul acknowledged his own battles in:
Rom 7:15-25
I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do.
And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good.
As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me.
I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out.
For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do-this I keep on doing.
Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it.
So I find this law at work: When I want to do good, evil is right there with me.
For in my inner being I delight in God’s law; but I see another law at work in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within my members.
What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? Thanks be to God-through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself in my mind am a slave to God’s law, but in the sinful nature a slave to the law of sin.
We may not have biblical answers for people, but we have our life and testimony to his saving grace.
Paul testified to being saved by grace.
It is only by this grace we are who we are.
You and I are no better than the prostitute or the drug addict; the difference is Christ.
It is Him we must measure our lives by. It is Him that they must measure their lives by too.
We have planks in our eye if we point the finger.
The church as turned many away by their actions and words.
Refer back to my youth group.
So how do we communicate the gospel?
· Honesty
· Humility
· A deep respect for the person (worth/value as a human)
· Assume God is already at work in them.
All have a deep hunger for:
· Significance
· Purpose
· Freedom
We cannot deny change is happening, things will not go back to the way they were, yet the message remains the same.
We have communities in crisis.
Unruly children
Drugs
Abuse
Debts
Violence with knife/gun crime
How can we guide them without judging them?
Does the church understand its mission and calling?
Matt 4:19 Jesus said ‘come’, but in 28:19 he says ‘go’.
We have to face the churches failure in not turning decisions into disciples.
It was noted that most converts stay in a passive role; only 10-30% get involved in bible study.
The rest want ‘worship experience’ but show little evidence of transformation.
In the first 3 centuries it was ‘the church’, not ‘going to church’.
Going to church = 60-90 mins per wk
The church = 24/7
We are the ekklesia the called ones.
As the church we should join together in reaching the community for Christ.
Discipline = disciple
· Setting priorities
· Making commitments
· Vigilance and consistency
Watch out for legalism and judgmental spirits.
There has to be accountability.
Some one has to deal with personal needs, make disciples and make sure growth occurs
What is a disciple?
1. A learner: not like school but an apprentice, not info but skills in faith; it’s a craft.
2. A pilgrim: people who spend their time going somewhere.
Discipleship is relational and brings about transformation
It’s not going it alone
1. A personal response
¨ New birth = new growth
¨ Conversion = journey = new direction
2. Life-long learning
¨ Always new things to learn
¨ We never arrive
3. Leaning must be in a community
¨ There were 12 disciples – each with different views, temperaments and willing to learn from each other.
¨ Mutual interaction
¨ A travelling learning environment
We don’t learn Jesus by rote (my class and children)
4. We must reflect his teaching and apply it.
¨ Don’t just inform the mind, but there has to be inward change
¨ Not selective learning, but through experiences
5. Life of service and giving
¨ Close contact with Jesus
¨ By following we learn how to catch others
Disciples who don’t make disciples are not doing has Jesus taught
6. We must teach as Jesus taught
¨ Use a variety of communication approaches:
a) Storytelling
b) Proclamation
c) Demonstration
d) Riddles
e) Aphorisms (embodying a general truth, or astute observation)
f) Penetrating questions
So, has we face the future of the church in a changing culture we must stand up to the challenge of being obedient to Christ.
Obeying is a command not an obligation, but from a spontaneous desire to share the good news (journalists)
A desire planted by the Holy Spirit who is the true driving force of mission.
How do you view others?
Through your plank?
If so, your vision is distorted.
Don’t be a hypocrite; be squeaky clean before God and others.
