Patrons Ain't - [Being the Church part 1]

Most of you know that my wife has been very sick. We continue to wait upon the Lord for wisdom on how to get her better, or simply a touch from Him. Again, I want to thank all of those who are keeping my wife and our family in your prayers. Your love, encouragement, and especially your prayers have been what is helping pull us through this difficult season. Sometimes, when a disciple is going through a difficult time, it is easier to simply back away from the walk of faith, from the call of God… take a ‘time-out’, in a sense. This week I have found myself in God’s Word, and being reminded by it of the importance of not backing down… of the importance of my own calling… to be the pastor of this wonderful body of believers.

I’ve been reading Scriptures such as…

Hebrews 13:17

“Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they keep watch over your souls as those who will give an account, so that they can do this with joy and not with grief, for that would be unprofitable for you.”

1 Peter 5:2-8

“Shepherd God’s flock among you, not overseeing out of compulsion but freely, according to God’s will; not for the money but eagerly; not lording it over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock. And when the chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading crown of glory. In the same way, you younger men, be subject to the elders. And all of you clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, because God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble. Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God, so that He may exalt you at the proper time, casting all your care on Him, because He cares about you. Be serious! Be alert! Your adversary the Devil is prowling around like a roaring lion, looking for anyone he can devour.”

Titus 1:5-9

The reason I left you in Crete was to set right what was left undone and, as I directed you, to appoint elders in every town: one who is blameless, the husband of one wife, having faithful children not accused of wildness or rebellion. For an overseer, as God’s administrator, must be blameless, not arrogant, not hot-tempered, not addicted to wine, not a bully, not greedy for money, but hospitable, loving what is good, sensible, righteous, holy, self-controlled, holding to the faithful message as taught, so that he will be able both to encourage with sound teaching and to refute those who contradict it.

I don’t take lightly the extreme honor that it is to be called ‘pastor’… or the great responsibility that comes with it. Having said that, I so appreciate that this body allows me to also maintain my responsibility to my wife and family. You all have loved us immensely. The truth is, I’ve been serving the Lord, in ministry, since 1989… however, it seems that only in the past year have I truly seen what, I believe, God meant by ‘the Church’.

I think that most people have a false idea of what ‘church’ is really all about. They see it as a building… or a social club. They act as though it is an option. The truth is; it is God’s main strategy for reaching the world! Our theme this year is ‘DISCIPLE’, and I’d suggest that it’s impossible to make disciples aside from the Church of Jesus.

You see, there’s something about our culture that tends to look up to the loners… the Lone Rangers. Most of our heroes are self-sufficient, and they walk alone. Even in Christianity we see this, right? We hear Jesus’ call to take up our cross and follow Him, and we decide to follow Him regardless of what anyone else says or does. That’s awesome… but we have to be careful too. Because, while every individual needs to obey Jesus’ call to follow, we cannot follow Jesus as individuals. The proper context will always be… with others… with His Church.

We read this a few weeks ago, but remember in Matthew 28 when Jesus told us to go and make disciples, and “teach… them to observe everything I have commanded you”? Well, Jesus ‘commanded’ a lot of different things. All throughout the New Testament we’re told to do stuff for “one another”. Love one another, pray for one another, encourage one another, etc. How exactly are we supposed to do that if we’re alone? How do we do that if we’ve got no one to love, pray for, or encourage? It’s sorta impossible to “one another” yourself. Can we honestly really say that we ‘follow Jesus’, if we don’t do the stuff He commanded us?

The Church is Jesus’ idea. He created it. He’s building it (Matthew 16:18). It’s how He is going to accomplish His mission. Church isn’t a building. It isn’t a social club. It really isn’t an option.

Sometimes a person who has the wrong idea about what ‘the Church’ really is, will approach it as though it were simply a place to “go”… like it’s just a building.

When they say, “I’m going to church” what they mean, many times, is that they are going to go and put in some time at a specific building… and sorta do their religious duty for the week. They approach church like they would a restaurant or a store. They’re there to ‘get something out of it’… or to ‘fulfill some type of obligation’. They are basically… patrons.

The dictionary defines ‘Patron’ as, “a person who is a customer, client, or paying guest, especially a regular one, of a store, hotel, or the like.”

Doesn’t that sound like how a lot of folks view their relationship with ‘church’?

I’d suggest that God never called any of us to simply be ‘patrons’. He’s calling us... to be a ‘part’.

In the New Testament, at one point, 3,000 people all of a sudden gave their lives to Christ. It was awesome! These were people who lived all over the region, and were only in town for a particular feast, when God’s Holy Spirit totally blew them away. Can you imagine that many people finding Jesus all at once? They were hungry to learn more and to grow in their faith!

We’re told that they actually started living communally [not that everyone is supposed to live in communes today, but at that time, because they had come from so many different places that were so far away – without cars and trains and planes to travel back and forth to the big city – they would bunk together and share their stuff]. Why?

Because they were hungry to learn and grow in their new-found faith. Check it out…

Acts 2:42 – HCSB

“And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching, to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread, and to the prayers.”

This was Church! This was a group of people who devoted themselves to eating together, praying together, and the ‘apostles teaching’. They weren’t just dabbling in God’s Word… they were devouring it! They wanted more and more! The devoted themselves to ‘the fellowship’. The Greek word for ‘fellowship’ is ‘koinonia’, which means ‘communion,’ or ‘communication’.

In most of today’s Christian culture, a common approach to studying the Bible is to have a quiet time where we isolate ourselves in solitary study. I do this… and I love it, to be honest…but there is more!

In Jesus' community-oriented culture, they had a very different approach. From Jesus' time until today, students in Jewish religious schools have always studied in pairs - discussing, arguing and grappling with the text together. When one doesn't understand, the other explains, and together they think of possible interpretations and other Bible texts that help in understanding.

I found a well-known saying, “If you want to truly study the Scriptures you should get yourself a teacher (rabbi) and get yourself a friend (haver)." (Pirke Avot 1:3). The word haver (hah-VAIR) is loosely translated "friend", but more specifically refers to a partner in studying God's Word. Anyone who has been a part of a good Bible study group knows that the bonds between haverim are often deep and strong. By spending time discussing God's Word and praying for each other's burdens, people quickly become very close. The testimonies of how their lives are impacted by their studying reinforces what they are reading in the Bible, giving real-life examples to inspire one another.

Listen, I’m not saying that we can’t hear God speak to us when we are alone… sitting next to a river, or taking a hike in the mountains, or even watching a great sermon preached on TV. 

However, sometimes we need to realize that God's Spirit often speaks best through other people. God desires that we live in community and love Him together -- not turn inward, ignore others, and only seek Him when we’re alone. 

The rabbis of Jesus' time had a fascinating way of describing this. They said, "When two sit together and exchange words of Torah, then the Divine Presence dwells with them.” (Pirke Avot 2:3) Does that sound familiar to you? It should. It seems that Jesus wanted to reinforce this to His own followers, telling them that for eternity, His Spirit would be with them in their assembling as a body too. He said, “For where two or three are gathered together in My name, I am there among them” (Matt 18:20).

God cares about the way we love each other and the way we pursue His mission. The church is a group of messed up, but totally redeemed people that live and serve together in such a way that their lives and communities are transformed. What matters is our interaction with the people God has placed in our lives. If we are not connected with other Christians, serving and being served, challenging and being challenged, then we are not living as He desires, and the Church is not functioning as He intended.

I truly think the Bible makes it clear that being a disciple and making disciples involves committing our lives to a local church where we are joined together with other believers to grow in the likeness of Jesus and to express the love of Christ to the world around us.

Hebrews 10:24-25

“And let us be concerned about one another in order to promote love and good works, not staying away from our worship meetings, as some habitually do, but encouraging each other, and all the more as you see the day drawing near.”

Gang, I need you. I’m not sure where I’d be right now without my Church family. I’m truly grateful for you… and for the greater body of Christ that we are a part of.

There is so much about the Church… what God desires of it… what it can and should be… that we don’t have time for today. So, we’ll be taking a look at what it means to ‘be the Church’ for the next few weeks… because it’s important. We’ll spend more time thinking about ‘bearing each other’s burdens’ and so much more.

Today, I pray that none of us would settle for being spectators…  or patrons only… but that we’d see that being totally committed followers of Jesus also means being totally committed to the local church. It’s something that is not only good for us and will help us in being radical disciples, but also help us reach this world with the tremendous love of Jesus Christ.