LBA INSTALLATION: SPIRIT FILLED LEADERS
ACTS 6: 1-7
MAY 23, 2004
INTRODUCTION:
This is a letter from Ziya Meral, a student at London School of Theology and a new friend of mine. Ziya is from Turkey, and this letter expresses what it feels like to be one of 2000 followers of Jesus in a country of 75 million people. It is a plea for help, concern, even awareness to Christ-followers in the West. Ziya’s voice is important for all in the emergent friendship to take to heart. – Brian McLaren
O Brother Where Art Thou?
Ziya Meral
I walk aimlessly among the streets of Smyrna; tired, weary, alone. The clouds thicken and hide the blue sky behind ever present darkness. Millions of people pass me as I tremble with an instant realization; we are less than 200 hundred believers in this old city, we are less then 2000 thousand in this country of 75 million. I stand in front of the church of St Polycarp, as the sky opens her arms and lets go of the tears that she holds next to her chest. I am not sure if it is her tears or mine that fall down to the road from my cheeks. This is where Polycarp was burnt for his faith in the God who has never left him. This is where I grow up and this is where I suffocate. I sang a song, unknown to me. ‘We the broken, we the crushed, we the abandoned, we the persecuted; long for air, for comfort, words of encouragement. We yearn for friends to hold our hands.’ No, I am not alone in singing this; these are our words, our laments. All the demons surrounding us, mock all day long; ‘Why are you alone? Why is there no one around to comfort you?’ We stand weak and tired. We are afraid to even think, not so much to realize, that there is no one out there paying attention to our cries. They draw closer. We are put to shame among crowds. Our own names become thorns in fragile flesh. As we are trapped in our long standing fortresses, we fear of knowing that we may not survive one more siege. Our walls are weakened, our supplies are almost finished. Our hearts, for the first time, start to entertain thoughts of giving up. ‘There is no point in calling for help! They cannot hear you. Their ears are full of their own voices. They only hear the calls that give them what they want. Those are much sweeter to listen than your cries. Do not expect them to come to your help. They are in spiritual retreats, far away from you, seeking to find out what’s wrong with their spiritual lives. Do not hurt yourselves anymore! You are the only ones out here in this distant post. Give up your foolish resistance! No one really cares! See you are alone. If your God was this much precious to follow, than why is it only you out here? ’ The darkness sieges us and we, just like a flock of sheep, draw closer to one another and scream as much as we can calling for help.
Brother where are you in the hour of our distress? Where are you in the hour of Christ’s distress? We don’t want a simple mention of our names in your busy prayer schedules. We don’t just want your donations. We want you and your presence. We want to know that this final post, that is about to give in, stands with millions behind it. We want to know that we the nameless are in the very heart of the body of the One who is suffering right here next to us. We want to know that when we close our eyes, we can see the faces of thousands who share that moment. We want to know that if we cry, you will run to us. We want to know that you care and what we are doing is not pointless. Do you hear us? If we are to ask you to hold our hands and cry with us tonight, will you be there?
Only God knows how broken and fearful I am, not the crowd that mistakes this weakling with a bold one. I hide away from the familiar faces that do their best to turn me away from what seems to them a useless faith. Shame waves through my veins and I feel the nails going through my wrists. I bow down, and watch my own tears falling. Faceless and colorless tears drop on the dust beating the ground as if it was a mighty drum. In that silence, I wonder where you are now. So I grab a pen and write to you. This is my letter to a church which has never written to me. These are the words that have been baptized with tears and pain falling all around me. This is a cry to the church that seems distant, cold, indifferent and self-obsessed. I dare to ask, will you be there? If you are not with us tonight, when will you ever be?
TRANSITION THOUGHT: This Long letter really does have something to do with our text for this morning and the installation of the 2004/2005 Local Board of Administration. The reality is that we live in a world that is desperate for Jesus and desperate for real believers to meet them in a real world and introduce them to a real savior named Jesus. I believe the real question for today, for the church, for the people who make up the church, and especially those that LEAD WITHIN THE CHURCH, is “WILL YOU BE THERE, IF YOU ARE NOT WITH US TONIGHT, WHEN WILL YOU EVER BE?”
THESIS SENTENCE: SPIRIT FILLED LEADERS BUILD THE CHURCH
I. SPIRIT FILLED LEADERS WORK WITH COMPLAINERS/ WAIT ON TABLES VV. 1-2
A. LEADERS BUILD UNITY/ DEAL WITH FELT NEEDS!
Complaints can be legitimate and illegitimate! Complaints create energy! Complaints call for action!
SCRIPTURE: UNITY: Ephesians 4: 1-6, “As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit – just as you were called to one hope when you were called – one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.”
B. LEADERS SERVE/ WAIT ON TABLES
These early leaders were called and appointed to serve food (Kitchen crew)!
SCRIPTURE: SERVE: John 12:26/ Matthew 20: 20-28 Jesus said, “Whoever serves me must follow me; and where I am, my servant also will be. My Father will honor the one who serves me.”/ “Then the mother of Zebedee’s sons came to Jesus with her sons and, kneeling down, asked a favor of him. ‘What is it you want?’ he asked. She said, ‘Grant that one of these two sons of mine may sit at your right and the other at your left in your kingdom.’ ‘You don’t know what you are asking,’ Jesus said to them. ‘Can you drink the cup I am going to drink?’ ‘We can,’ they answered. Jesus said to them, ‘You will indeed drink from my cup, but to sit at my right or left is not for me to grant. These places belong to those for whom they have been prepared by my Father.’ When the ten heard about this, they were indignant with the two brothers. Jesus called them together and said, ‘You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be your slave – just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.’”
ILLUSTRATION: J. Oswald Sanders writing in his book on spiritual leadership said - "If those who hold influence over others fail to lead toward the spiritual uplands, then surely the path to the lowlands will be well worn. People travel together; no one lives detached and alone." (Spiritual Leadership, J.Oswald Sanders, p. 19) Contributed by: Gary Bordelon
TRUTH: WITHOUT SPIRIT FILLED LEADERS THE CHURCH CANNOT FUNCTION!
QUESTION: DO WE HELP OR HINDER THE WORK OF THE CHURCH?
II. SPIRIT FILLED LEADERS ENABLE THE PASTOR TO FOCUS/ PRAYER AND WORD VV. 2-4
WHY IS THIS AT ALL IMPORTANT? HERE IS WHAT I READ THIS WEEK:
Research from Barna concerning Leadership:
The Deception of Effective Leadership
Most pastors are content with the way things are going in their ministry. A national survey among pastors revealed that a majority feel they are doing an excellent or good job in leading people spiritually in relation to 12 of the 13 areas of performance evaluated. (The exception was in the area of raising money for ministry.) In fact, the larger the church is, the more likely the pastor is to feel pleased with his performance as its leader.
Barna confessed confusion over that outcome. "Pastoring is a difficult job," he acknowledged, "and it’s important not to become discouraged by the magnitude of the spiritual battle in which we are engaged - after all, we know that we are aligned with the winning camp. However, it’s a bit troubling to see pastors feel they’re doing a great job when the research reveals that few congregants have a biblical worldview, half the people they minister to are not spiritually secure or developed, kids are fleeing from the church in record numbers, most of the people who attend worship services admit they did not connect with God, only 2% of the pastors themselves can identify God’s vision for their ministry they are trying to lead, and the average congregant spends more time watching television in one day than he spends in all spiritual pursuits combined for an entire week. "Pastors, alone, cannot be held accountable for the spiritual disrepair of America. But it’s worrisome when there is a strong correlation between church size and self-satisfaction, because that suggests that attendance and budget figures have become our mark of success. It’s troubling when our spiritual leaders cannot articulate where we’re headed and how the Church will fulfill its role as the restorative agent of our society. Maybe the comfort afforded by our buildings and other material possessions has seduced us into thinking we’re farther down the road than we really are." Contributed by: Dana Visneskie
A. LEADERS UNDERSTAND THEIR PLACE (DIFFERINTIATION/ SUPPORT)
SCRIPTURE: EACH ONE HAS A PART TO PLAY: Romans 12: 1-8/ I Corinthians 12: 12-26
B. LEADERS UNDERSTAND THE PASTOR’S PLACE STUDY/ PREACH/ TEACH/ PRAY/ EQUIP/
SCRIPTURE: EPHESIANS 4: 11-16
ILLUSTRATION: Mordecai Ham emerged as an evangelist from Kentucky at the turn of the century. He had a background in business and the study of law. From the very beginning his approach was zealous and blunt. Rather than sit and talk with Christians at revival sites, Ham insisted on being taken to the worst sinners in the community. On one occasion a non-believer hid in a corn field, but Ham tracked him down. The man asked what his intentions were, and the evangelist said he was going to pray for God to kill him. When the man protested, Ham told him he shouldn’t be bothered, since he didn’t believe in God, anyway. But if there was a God, then death would be appropriate for a man who had poisoned his family’s spiritual prospects. The lost man begged him not to pray for his death, so Ham relented and prayed for his salvation. At the final meeting Ham baptized the man and his family.SOURCE: Leadership Journal, Fall 1988, p. 32.Contributed by: Ian Biss
Small Churches Struggle to Grow Because Of The People They Attract
September 2, 2003
(Ventura, CA) - The United States is dominated by small churches, with the average church attracting less than 90 adults on a typical weekend.
Theolographic Limitations in Small Churches
The study also found that small churches have some theolographic limitations – that is, their spiritual beliefs and practices reflect challenges that are less prevalent in larger congregations.
The data revealed that small churches have a lower proportion of attenders who are “spiritually active,” which was defined as individuals who attend a church service, read the Bible, and pray to God during a typical week. This paralleled a finding that showed small church attenders are less likely to claim that their religious faith is “very important” in their life.
In addition, the research showed that adults affiliated with small congregations are less likely to be born again, less likely to believe in salvation by grace alone (i.e., not by good deeds), and less likely to have an orthodox view of God (i.e., holy, creator, ruler of the universe, alive today). The report indicated that such views undermine a solid theological foundation for congregational growth and may suggest that other spiritual perspectives that conflict with the Bible are common in smaller churches.
TRUTH: SPIRIT FILLED LEADERS CREATE A HEALTHY BALANCED CHURCH!
QUESTION: DO WE HELP OR HINDER THE WORK OF THE CHURCH?
III. SPRIRIT FILLED LEADERS CAUSE THE GOSPEL TO GO FORWARD/ WORD AND DISCIPLES V. 7
SCRIPTURE: THE GREAT COMMISSION: Matthew 28: 16-20
A. LEADERS CREATE MOMENTUM/ THE WORD SPREADS
The body at its best: Synergy!
B. LEADERS MODEL THE GOSPEL/ DISCIPLES INCREASE
The church at its best: making disciples!
C. LEADERS ARE A CATALIST FOR GOD’S WORK OF SALVATION/ LARGE NUMBER OF PRIEST SAVED
The kingdom at its best: Religious people getting saved!
SCRIPTURE: Beautiful feet: Romans 10: 5-15
ILLUSTRATION: Chris Seay, a US pastor writing in Leadership magazine – a journal for pastors, says “One of our greatest obstacles is that the people we refer to as "the lost" may be more spiritual than most of us pastors. It is difficult to teach spiritual disciplines of prayer, study, and meditation to people who are seeking to know God with more clarity and passion than we are.” Contributed by: Andrew Hamilton
TRUTH: SPIRIT FILLED LEADERS SHARE IN SALVATIONS WORK!
QUESTION: DO WE HELP OR HINDER THE WORK OF SALVATION?
CONCLUSION: INSTALLATION OF LBA (RED DISCIPLINE)
BENEDICTION: I THESSALONIANS 5: 23-24
