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The Essential Church is really very simple
Luke 2:52
January 11th
What would you carry with you if you were going on an Africa safari? In what was the adventure of a lifetime, Dick Leider, shares this powerful personal experience. He was leading a walking safari of twelve mid-life adventurers in Tanzania along the edge of the great Serengeti Plains. Their guide is Thaddeus Ole Koyie or simply, Koyie, a Maasai village elder. Dick as the leader of their safari is equipped with everything. He proudly sports a brand-new backpack bought just for this adventure. It’s one of those high-tech ultralight models designed for maximum cargo-carrying efficiency. You know the kind—covered with snaps, clasps, and zippers, full of pockets and pouches, compartments inside compartments, a veritable Velcro heaven—and he has the thing stuffed. He looks like a walking advertisement for L.L. Bean. He’s prepared for anything and everything. In addition to the required group-size first aid kit, he’s also lugging across the African desert tons of other items to make the trek not just safe, but comfortable. But as they walk along, Koyie, their native guide keeps glancing at Dick’s bulging backpack. Dick can see him mentally comparing the heavy load that he’s carrying with his own, which consists of nothing more than a spear and a stick used for cattle tending. Eventually they get to talking about Dick’s bulging, backpack and Koyie expresses his fascination with seeing its contents. Pleased at how impressed he appears to be, Dick offers to give him the grand tour of all his wares. He wants Koyie to see how carefully he’s prepared for their journey. The opportunity presents itself late that afternoon as they’re setting up camp. Proudly, Dick begins to lay out for Koyie everything in his backpack. He unsnaps snaps, unzips zippers, and un-Velcros Velcro. From pouches, pockets, and compartments he produces all sorts of strange and wonderful items. Eating utensils, cutting devices, digging tools. Direction finders, star gazers, map readers. Things to write with and on. Various garments in various sizes for various functions. Medical supplies, remedies, and cures. Little bottles inside little bottles inside little bottles. Waterproof bags for everything. Amazing stuff!
Finally, every piece of gear is spread out. It looks like that photo you’ll have in the centerfold of a great explorer article that shows everything necessary for a successful trip to the farthest reaches of the planet. Needless to say, Dick is pretty proud of his collection. He looks over at the native tribesman to gauge his reaction. Koyie seems amused, but silent. Surveying all the items arrayed about them, finally, after several minutes of just gazing at everything, Koyie turns to Dick and asks very simply, but with great intensity: “Does all this make you happy?”
“Does all this make you happy?” Dick Leider then insightfully writes, “There was something very powerful about Koyie's question. His words seemed to hit right at the heart of my deepest values. I honestly couldn't answer him that evening, and even weeks afterwards, I couldn't completely say for sure. In a split second, his question had gotten me to think about all that I was carrying and why—not just on our trek, but through my entire life. In response to the question, I began to realize the truth. Some of the things did make me happy, but many of them didn't-at least not in any way that made sense to be dragging them along. So as I repacked, I set those things aside, and eventually, gave them to the local villages. I went on the rest of the trek without them. I'm not sure that I'll never want or need them again, but I certainly didn't suffer for not having them at the time. My load was much lighter after I'd reexamined my needs. And on the rest of the trip, I was quite a bit happier for having repacked my bags.”
Can you relate? I can. I tend to be an over-packer. When I go on a trip, I often take far more than I need. And we do that with our lives. Most of us by midlife carry a lot of excess baggage. We also do that in the church. We pick up programs and attitudes and belief systems, which have nothing to do with our mission, with what God has called us to be and do. But either we’ve been doing them so long or everyone else is doing them, so we feel that we need the extra baggage too.
This morning we’re starting a several week series on The Essential Church. God created three institutions: the family, government and the Church. Obviously, if the Church is one of just three institutions that God has created, it’s very important. Yet because the Church has been around such a long time, it’s picked up a lot of excess baggage. Add to that the fact that our own church, Grace Church, is over fifty years old.
We tend to be packrats, not just of materials but also of attitudes and behaviors. We carry much more than we need or should. The same is true with the Church. And from time to time we need to do some wise evaluating and get back to the basics, the essentials, what has God called us to do…what’s really important, what really matters. That means we’re going to have to sacrifice some sacred cows. It means discarding some extra baggage. It means realigning our focus. It also means focusing again on what we once were focused on and re-focusing on it. As we work through this series over the next few weeks, we’re going to discover together that The Essential Church is very simple.
Our New Testament has several metaphors for the Church. One of those wonderful metaphors repeated over and over again is that the local church is a body. Turn to just one of many examples, Romans 12:4-5 (p. 803).
Just as we in our human bodies and lives have vital needs, so the local church, as a body has parallel needs. God has designed us so that we each have physical, mental, social and spiritual needs. Another way of describing those needs is that these needs become principles that to have a fulfilling life, we must live by. The core principles that drive our lives are: to live, to learn, to love and to leave a legacy.
There have only been three perfect lives in all of human history. As Paul writes, “The first man was of the dust of the earth, the second man from heaven” (1 Cor. 15:47). First Adam (and his wife, Eve) though were contaminated by sin. Jesus Christ is the second Adam and patterns a perfect human existence for us. These principles were true in His life.
As our Lord began His life, Luke records, “And Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men” (Luke 2:52). Do you see the four essential human needs: physical, mental, social and spiritual? During His earthly ministry Jesus lived out these Four Principles: to live, to learn, to love and to leave a legacy. I want to suggest that those Four needs or life principles are what make up the essentials for a healthy, Christ-honoring church. It really is that simple.
Abraham Maslow, one of the fathers of modern psychology, is famous for developing a “needs hierarchy” in which he identified “self-actualization” as the highest human experience. But in his last years, Maslow revised his earlier theory and acknowledged that this peak experience was not “self-actualization” but “self-trascendence,” or living for a purpose higher than self. Isn’t that what God called each us to live for…isn’t that what God has called our church to be…something higher and greater than ourselves?
In the words of George Bernard Shaw: “This is the true joy in life…being used for a purpose recognized by yourself as a mighty one...being a Force of Nature instead of a feverish selfish little clod of ailments and grievances complaining that the world will not devote itself to making you happy…I am of the opinion that my life belongs to the whole community and as long as I live it is my privilege to do for it whatever I can. I want to be thoroughly used up when I die. For the harder I work the more I live. I rejoice in life for its own sake. Life is no brief candle to me. It's a sort of splendid torch which I've got to hold up for the moment and I want to make it hum as brightly as possible before handing it on to future generations.”
God has called us individually and as a community of believers to transcend this time and place so that what we do here counts for all eternity. This morning as we get back to the essentials, as the launch point for this series, we want to work through what these essentials or principles are not and then briefly unpack what these Four Principles of a healthy local church body mean for us today.1. The essentially minded church body lives by True North principles. You’re probably familiar with the term “True North.” True north is the direction along the earth's surface towards the geographic North Pole. Let’s do an experiment. Close your eyes right now and then point north. Now keep pointing but open your eyes. So which direction is “True North”? We have a lot of opinions, don’t we, on what “True North” is?
When it comes to principles for our lives and principles for guiding our church, it’s very important for us to know where “true north” really is. If you're one degree off in air travel from San Francisco, you could easily wind up in Moscow instead of Jerusalem.
So what is "north"? Is it a matter of opinion? Is it something we should vote on? Is it subject to the democratic process? No, because "north" is a reality that’s independent of us. And the reality of "true north" principles give context and meaning to where we are, where we want to go, and how to get there. Without a compass or stars or a correct understanding of our location, we may have trouble locating it, but it's always there. And just as real as "true north" is in the physical world, so are the timeless principles that make for a healthy growing balanced church. But when we talk about principles for the essential church, it's just as important to know what we are NOT talking about as well as what we are.
a) True North principles are not values. Nearly everyone today talks about values. Have you ever thought about this? Everyone has “values.” Gangsters, drug pushers, Socialists all have values. Out in Bohners Lake you’ll find a nudist colony, Sun Ray Hills. Even nudists have values. Frequently, in the church we think that just because we value something, it’s a vital part of the church experience…of what matters. But values alone are content without context. Values have us picturing what makes a successful ministry without understanding the true north realities these values must be based on to be spiritually real.
Values will not bring eternal results, unless they’re based on Biblical principles. For example, a church may value a certain worship style or music or a certain children’s program, but those things are not “True North principles.” They’re values, not principles.
For most of us our local church values are either based on the church we grew up in, or the church where we either got saved or experienced significant spiritual growth. And we make a fatal blunder, we make our values “True North Principles” that we believe our church must have or it’s not a “good” church. True North principles are not values.
b) True North principles are not practices. Our world is very complex. Its pace is overwhelming. In the midst of the growing chaos, we start seeking security in practices – in specific, prescribed ways of doing things. We focus on methods instead of outcomes. It’s “just tell us what to do. Give us the right steps."
But our world is in a constant state of flux. What works and is effective today is obsolete tomorrow. When I was in college, I typed on a manual typewriter. You’ll find those in antique stores today. Practices must continually change and adapt. But the principles, True North Principles, are timeless and eternal. Most churches have found that the “practice” of Sunday night is ineffective but the principle of Bible study, community and fellowship is a Biblical, timeless principle.
Arnold Toynbee, the great historian, said that all of history can be summarized by a simple little formula: challenge then response. The challenge is created by the environment, and then the individual, the institution, the society comes up with a response. Then, there's another new challenge, another response. The formula is constantly being repeated. The problem is that these responses become codified. They become practices which are set in cement and they become a part of the very way we think and the way we perform. They’re probably even good practices.
The problem is this, in the church when we’re faced with a new challenge, the old practices often no longer apply. They’re obsolete. And we find ourselves out in the wilderness trying to navigate without a road map.
The power though of True North principles is that they're universal, timeless truths. We need then to understand and guide our ministry based on these principles. Then, as the world changes, we can quickly adapt and apply them anywhere. True North principles are not practices.
So we're not talking about values or practices. What we are talking about are the true north principles or essentials from God’s Word that make up a healthy, Christ-honoring local church. These principles deal with things that, in the long run, will create true spiritual success, that will please the Head of the Church, the Lord Jesus. They will result is us hearing Him say those wonderful words, “Well done, good and faithful servants.”
c) True North principles submit to the Law of sowing and reaping. “Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously” (2 Cor. 9:6). “The one who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life. Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up” (Gal. 6:8-9). One of the best ways to understand how these principles work out is to consider the Law of the Farm. In agriculture, we can easily see and agree that natural laws and principles govern the work and determine the harvest. Somehow though in our personal lives and church cultures, we feel that we can dismiss natural processes, cheat the system and still win the day. And there's a great deal of evidence that seems to support that belief.
For example, did you ever cram in school, goof off during the semester, then spend all night before the big test trying to cram a semester's worth of learning into your head? But can you imagine cramming on the farm? Can you imagine forgetting to plant in the spring, goofing off all summer, and hitting it hard in the fall – ripping the soil up, throwing in the seeds, watering, cultivating…and expecting to get a bountiful harvest overnight?
Cramming doesn't work in a natural system, like a farm. That's the fundamental difference between a social and a natural system. A social system is based on values; a natural system is based on principles. In the short term, cramming may appear to work in a social system. You can go for the "quick fixes" and techniques with apparent success. But in the long run, the Law of the Farm governs in all arenas of life. That’s also true in churches.
How many of us wish now we hadn't crammed in school? We got the degree, but we didn't get the education. What about character? Can you cram and suddenly become a person of integrity, courage, or compassion? Or physical health? Can you overcome years of a potato-chip, chocolate-cake, no-exercise lifestyle by spending the night before the marathon working out at the health spa?
Please listen to what I’m about to say. There are many churches today experiencing astronomical growth. They’re drawing a big crowd. They have a big show but sadly, in a generation, many of them will be gone. They’re not building their ministry on God’s eternal principles. In far too many of them God’s Word is never opened. Biblical principles are jettisoned for quick growth and pragmatism. They truly fulfill that prophetic statement we find in 2 Timothy 3:3-4, “For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths.”
In the short run we may be able to go for the quick fix with apparent success. We can make impressions, learn manipulative techniques; what lever to pull, button to push to get the desired reaction. But for the long-term, the Law of the Farm governs. There's no way to fake the harvest.2. The essentially minded church body grows just as Jesus did. Back to that verse in Luke 2, “Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men” (Luke 2:52). This short verse summarizes the childhood years of Jesus in a dozen or so words. The emphasis is on healthy growth and balance. The four areas of Jesus’ growth provide us with parallel principles for a healthy balanced body of Christ or a healthy growing church body. What are they?
Principle #1: Our church must grow in wisdom…to learn. What exactly is "wisdom"? The dictionary defines "wisdom" as the ability to discern what is true or right. Wisdom has both moral implications--discerning what’s right--and intellectual implications--discerning what’s true. The Greek word translated wisdom is the word sophia. It doesn’t mean having a lot of book learning, technical skills or arcane knowledge about some complicated subject. Wisdom, in Scripture, is always practical. It’s the ability to cope with the situations of life, the ability to handle relationships and deal with moral issues. All the knowledge in the world won’t help a person whose life is falling apart because of bad decisions he’s made. Wisdom helps us to make good decisions, and good decisions are those that submit to God’s Word and will. Proverbs says, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is insight” (Prov. 9:10). Ecclesiastes urges us, “Fear God, and keep His commandments; for this is the whole duty of man” (Eccles. 12:13).
Growing in wisdom doesn’t mean that we just know the Bible but that we live it out. It’s our road map, not just some sacred icon. It demands that we be students of the Word because someday you and I will give account for how we used the abilities that God entrusted to us.
It’s frightening how many believers stop growing and learning. They don’t want to be challenged or stretched. Yet God has so richly blessed us in this day in that we have so many Bible study tools readily available. It’s vital that we know the riches of our faith in Christ. Just those wonderful salvation words like justification, propitiation, sanctification, redemption, regeneration remind us that God doesn’t just love us, those words demonstrate that His love is a love beyond comprehension.
Friend, are you in the Word? Are you reading good Christian books, learning more about your faith? Do you know what it is to dig deep? Work through a Bible dictionary? Is God’s Word in you? Principle #1: Our church must grow in wisdom.
Principle #2: Our church must grow physically…to live. Obviously, Jesus grew taller and filled out as a man. A healthy church must be a growing church. Every church should be growing numerically, as it fulfills its mission of reaching the lost folk around it.
A young boy asked his mother and grandmother to play with him in his new sandbox in the front yard. He equipped each of them with a shovel and pail, which they promptly put to use at his request. As the two women became involved in conversation, they began to notice that people passing by seemed very interested in what they were doing. It was then they realized that they’d become so busy talking, they’d not noticed that the little boy had gone off into the back yard to play—leaving them alone in the sandbox.
It’s so easy, as time goes by, to lose your focus on what you’re doing and why you’re doing it. But if you forget what your purpose is, you can look awfully silly. It’s not uncommon for churches to forget what their mission is and then to get involved in all sorts of activities and programs that have nothing to do with their God-given purpose or mission.
God has called us to be His witnesses to a lost world surrounding us. We’re to make disciples of Jesus Christ. Our marching orders are the Great Commission and the result will be physical growth. We’re to honor and bring glory to Him! You’re part of this church…our mission is your mission. So when was the last time that you shared the gospel with a lost person? When was the last time you invited a lost person to church?
Jesus didn’t call us to be champion debaters or brilliant orators or astute philosophers. He calls us to be His witnesses. The job of a witness is simple: he tells what he has seen and heard. Like the man born blind whom Jesus healed, you may not be able to debate theology, but you can say, “One thing I do know, that, whereas I was blind, now I see” (John 9:25). You can tell people, “I know that if you’ll repent of your sins and believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, He will forgive all your sins. He did that for me. He will do that for you.”
Principle #3: Our church must grow relationally…to love. It’s clear from the Bible that Christianity is essentially relational. The two greatest commandments call us to be rightly related to God and to one another: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind” and “You shall love your neighbor as yourself” (Matt. 22:37, 39). But true fellowship doesn’t just happen; we have to faithfully work at it. We’re naturally selfish and self-oriented. And the hard truth is that if you get involved in the life of this church, I can guarantee you that you’ll be offended at some point! Someone insightfully wrote, “To dwell above with the saints we love, O that will be glory! But to dwell below with the saints we know, well, that’s a different story!”
The early church is our model. They were a community of individuals from all walks of life who loved one another, served one another, cared for one another, prayed for one another, problem-solved with one another. Slaves and free were in that community. Rich and poor were in the fellowship. Roman citizens and non-Roman citizens were in that church. Members of the establishment and those violently opposed to the establishment were part of that group. The intelligentsia and the illiterate were members of that community. To the utter amazement of the world outside, they were bound together in an unexplainable love and unity.
How about you? Are you closer to folk in this fellowship than you were last year? Do you look forward to Sunday so that you can see your brothers and sisters in Christ? Or, are there some unresolved issues? Do you need to forgive someone? Problem-solve? God wants us to have community and unity! Principle #3: Our church must grow relationally.
Principle #4: Our church must grow spiritually...to leave a legacy. Jesus grew in favor with God. It was relational. Our Heavenly Father doesn’t want us to know about Him, He wants us to know Him. He wants us to fellowship with Him. He wants us to pray to Him and praise Him. He wants us to realize it’s His power alone that will revolutionize our lives. His Word is the blueprint He’s given us to follow if we want to grow spiritually and construct a life that brings glory to Him, and brings satisfaction and blessing to us.
If you were building a home, you wouldn’t want to hire a contractor who showed up on the job with a bunch of lumber and started nailing it helter-skelter, grabbing whatever piece was close at hand. When you asked him about the plans, he laughed and said, “I never use plans. They’re too restrictive. I just go with the spirit of whatever seems right.”
Yet many Christians construct their lives in that fashion! They’ve hardly ever glanced at God’s blueprint, much less studied it so that they know how He wants them to live. Spiritual growth takes time, but we must actively engage in the process. It’s a lifelong process. The questions we need to ask ourselves are: “What am I doing to grow in the things of God? Do I have a regular time in His Word and in prayer? Do I know Him better today than I did last year? Am I reading devotional books written by believers who walked intimately with Him? Do I regularly engage in spiritual discussions with other like-minded believers?”
Conclusion: If Grace Church is going to be successful by God’s standards, we must function according to His principles He’s outlined in His Word. God wants our church to be a healthy, balanced, growing church. He wants us to serve Him and bring Him glory in this community. Like Jesus, we must grow in wisdom, physically, relationally and spiritually. To accomplish that as a community of believers, it must first begin with individual commitment.
Sadly, most of what the average Christian is living for, doesn’t satisfy. It doesn’t make them happy. It’s just surplus baggage. That’s because God designed us for “True North” principles. We are designed by Him for something greater, transcendent, eternal and truly significant.
Over the course of the last two weeks I’ve received news that I have to confess floored me. It literally took my breath away. The first day of our vacation I learned that Darlene Murphy had stage two breast cancer. And then, this past week I learned that Jeff Kahl had had a stroke. Now that isn’t significant to you…you don’t know them. Darlene and Jeff though were both in my first youth group right out of college. They both came from very difficult situations. Darlene’s mother had MS. As a teen, Darlene had to look after her Mom rather than her Mom looking after her.
Jeff Kahl grew up in a horrible home situation. His Mom lived with a man and was continually on his case, demeaning him. And she used his faith against him. As a result, Jeff was pretty immature and a bit of a goof off. To be honest, I didn’t think that Jeff would ever make it, much less amount to much. I love it when God proves me wrong!
Darlene graduated from a Christian college and is not only active in her church, not only does she teach school; she also has a conference ministry and has been used of God to touch many, many lives.
Jeff Kahl not only went to Bible college. He not only graduated. He started working in a Christian camp and soon became the Assistant Director. A few years ago Jeff was asked to take over another Christian camp that was in terrible decline. The summer prior to Jeff taking over that camp only ministered to 700 kids. Last summer under Jeff’s committed godly leadership, they had over 3000 campers.
Two kids who statistically should never have made it. Life was against them. But they surrendered their lives to Christ. They said, “Here am I Lord, send me!” And God has used them to rock their world!
Jeff and Darlene determined not to be victims but victors by God’s grace. They decided to not be the product of their past, but of their choices. By depending on His power and work in their lives, they are respon-able…able to spiritually excel! And though they are both in their early forties, fighting cancer…recovering from a stroke…they are asking and trusting that God will even use this for His glory!
Like our Lord, they grew in wisdom, stature and favor with God and man. That’s God’s plan for every believer. Those are True North principles for our church. That’s what it means to be a healthy, balanced, growing church. The Essential Church really isn’t all that complicated. It’s really pretty simple. Basically, if we just seek to please King Jesus and Him alone, if we line up our ministry to the principles of His Word, we’ll be a healthy body of believers. It really isn’t all that complicated.