The Church That Can Seize The Moment
Excerpted from “SHOULDER TO SHOULDER #200 —- 10/29/01”
HOW TO SHAPE YOUR CHURCH UP:
If we are going to see our churches become all they were intended to be, I
believe two things are necessary . . . . define what they were intended to
be, and personally set the example.
Yesterday I preached a simple but practical message on “The Church that Can
Seize The Moment”, using Matthew 16:18-19 as a launching pad. Since it
didn’t seem practical to use the entire book of Acts and all the Epistles as
a text, Jesus’ basic statements therein would have to suffice.
My point was simple —- what was it about the church of the First Century
that was so radical that the entire Roman Empire was exposed to the Gospel
by the end of the First Century?
I’ve written about this before, but I think it bears repeating.
- First, they Traveled Light. In other words, they had a good idea of
priorities and didn’t bog themselves down with complex, cumbersome, and
restrictive plans, activities, strategies, and beliefs.You may say that this was simply because the Church was in its infancy and
had not yet developed a good system of leadership and strategy. However, I
would suggest that it may have been simply because they knew something we
have apparently forgotten . . . . bigger is not necessarily better, and
simplicity is always more manageable than complexity.+ They traveled light in their Message: It may come as some surprise, but
the early Church didn’t have a creed, a statement of faith, or a set of
doctrinal beliefs around which they rallied and which gained their focus.
Their message was simple . . . . though heavy duty in profoundness, it was
light and simple to understand. God created all of mankind. He loves us
all unconditionally. His love led Him to sacrifice His own Son, Jesus, to
die for us. We can know God through repentance of our independence and
acceptance of His forgiveness. When we come to Christ we are born again and
indwelt by the Holy Spirit who empowers us to be what we ought to be and do
what we ought to do. Someday Jesus is coming back for us.That’s it. All the other stuff about leadership, spiritual gifts, church
structure, were incidental to the main issue of loving God with your whole
heart, loving your neighbor as yourself, and introducing everyone possible
to Jesus.If you and your church are going to “Seize the Moment” that is before you,
you’re going to have to lighten the load and get back to the simple basics
of the Gospel message . . . . that of making disciples, marking them, and
maturing them (Matthew 28:18-20).+ They traveled light in their Motives: It still grieves me deeply to see
just how much Christian service is for the wrong motives. Far too often we
still act like those at the Tower of Babel, wanting to do things on our own,
by our own agenda, for our own purposes, ultimately hoping in the process to
“make a name for ourselves” as at Babel. One of the Church’s great need in
our day is for the return of pure motives among those who lead.The early church had but one motive . . . . to glorify God in all that was
done. Whether it was worship, ministry, evangelism, serving, or whatever .
. . . it was all done for the singular motive of bringing honor and glory
to God. Paul was clear in it . . . . “Whatever you do, do all to the glory
of God.” The early Church traveled light in their Motives, carrying just
one . . . . to glorify God through their entire beings and in their entire
ministries.+ They traveled light in their Methods: One thing is certain . . . . if
anybody could get the Great Commission fulfilled through methods, gimmicks,
and plans, today’s western church could do it. We’ve got so many plans,
programs, ideas, strategies, and the like that it keeps even the leaders
confused with which to use and preoccupied in seeing that their choices pay
off. Some denominations have six or eight or more “evangelism” techniques
for which they spend millions of dollars in creating, producing, and
promoting. Many have forgotten that Jesus’ command was simple . . . . “You
shall be witnesses unto me . . .” and not public relations agents or
promotional campaigners.The old KISS method still works. Let’s “keep it simple, servant”. It isn’t
necessary to confuse ourselves by jumping on every band wagon that comes
along. Find what works best for you, stick with it, and use it. Don’t let
the methods and the administrative structures make you spiritually top
heavy, and certainly don’t wear your people out building your ministry and
that of your church on programs and methods. They are to be tools, but not
goals. The more of such things that you have, the more time, effort, and
resources are required to man them, maintain them, and repair them . . . .
all of which takes away valuable resources from the basics of simply sharing
the Gospel of Jesus Christ and ministering His grace to all.+ They traveled light in their Morality: By that I mean that they had very
little moral “baggage” that needed to be dealt with and done away with. For
the most part they lived, as Paul instructed, moral and upright lives in
such a way that by their good works people would glorify God and would
develop an appetite for the living reality of Jesus living in and ruling
over ordinary human beings. They neither created a list of “don’ts” with
which to condemn people, nor a list of “do’s” by which to intimidate people
into certain performance games.2. Second, they Toe’ed the Line. If anything can be said about the early
church, it is that they did not compromise on the truth. They took
righteousness seriously. They lived holy lives that honored the Lord Jesus.
They understood their responsibilities to human government, living under
foreign rule of a pagan government, but they never compromised their
convictions. When there was sin in the camp, apart from the Corinthian
church early on, they dealt with it immediately before its cancerous effects
could spread.They never wavered from their faith in Christ, their obedience to Him, or
their conduct as becoming His followers. They remained faithful and true to
His teachings and loyal to His Commission. It’s no wonder the entire Roman
Empire was affected by the Gospel.3. Finally, they Took the Lead. By example, even to the point of martyrdom,
they never shrank back from the task before them. They didn’t wait for
someone else to go do it . . . . they did it themselves. They never waited
to be asked . . . . they just did it. They were self starters who simply
assumed that if you were to follow Jesus, you did what He commanded, and you
didn’t dilly dally around waiting for when it was “a good time” or when
“conditions warranted”. Conditions always warranted action, and they did
it.Even when it meant the discomforts of leaving home, abandoning businesses, or
being absent from family, they knew the cause and the call were greater than
personal convenience.SET THE EXAMPLE:
So, friend, how do you and I set the example for our people to see and
hopefully follow?We’ll, it’s quite simple —- we ourselves must learn to travel light with
fewer things on our plates. Somehow we’ve gotten the idea that we have to
do every good idea that is presented to us, as if doing so were a sign of
good leadership. No coach or CEO would ever do such a thing. A sign of
good leadership is the ability to discern between the bad, the good, and the
best . . . . and then live it out personally as an example. People will
follow someone like that.Someone recently said we are to be shepherds and not cowboys. There’s a vast
difference in the two.Some twenty five years ago I did an extensive study on the number of
ministries both Jesus and Paul had at any one time. It was not so hard to
find, for in virtually every reference to what they did, it was in
combinations of two and not more than three things at once. For example,
Jesus’ own ministry was described as “He went about preaching, teaching, and
healing the sick” . . . . just three things. Not ten or twenty, but just
two or three. Paul’s ministry was similar.So, if Jesus, God in the flesh, went about doing only two or three things,
why do we think we have to do a dozen or more? It’s ludicrous to think we
should do such things, or that we could even be half way successful in the
doing of it.It’s time to begin “traveling light” in our ministries. Like Paul, we need
to say with Paul, “This one thing I do; forgetting what is behind, and
looking to what is ahead, I press toward the mark (singular and not
plural!).Then, of course, you and I must toe the line. We must not waver or
compromise either in our convictions, our conduct, or our calling. Too many
are falling by the wayside by compromising their convictions, being careless
in their conduct, and being casual in their calling.This must not be so for you and me. If we expect people to respond to our
leadership, it must be by example rather than by instruction alone. It
really is true . . . . our walk must indeed match our talk, and our walk
must go on even when there is no talk.Finally, we both must be willing to take the lead. Too many of us in
ministry have been unwilling to be point men in uncharted enemy territory.
We’ve been afraid not only of the sniper fire from the enemy ahead but also
the friendly fire from the rear. As a result we’ve often failed to lead our
people into productive depths of prevailing prayer. So they continue
praying superficial prayers that get only token results from a gracious
Father.We’ve failed to lead our people by example into spiritual warfare. Hence
people have remained in bondage, many live without personal victory over
habits and circumstances, and hopelessness and futility prevail over their
minds. They are more surprised when victory does come than when it doesn’t.We’ve often failed to teach our people about true worship and then turn them
loose to enjoy it. We’ve set up our own parameters of worship and then
intimidated them into fitting into those molds. No wonder many go
elsewhere. You cannot stifle true worship. It’s like a flowing river . . .
. it can be diverted, but it cannot be stopped.Unfortunately we’ve also given poor examples of what it means to be a
witness. Jo Ann and I are in almost year round contact with some of
America’s finest Christian young men and women as we work with a local
university. We are stunned to see how few of them really have a Biblical
understanding of witnessing. They think they have to memorize certain
scriptures or master a certain technique or use certain questions.Somehow they have not been taught the difference between a prosecuting
attorney, a judge, and a witness. A witness is simply a person who has seen
something, heard something, knows something, or knows someone responsible.
When these kids discover that all they need to do is tell what they’ve seen,
heard, or known, their excitement about Jesus is suddenly released in
unabated exuberance and caring passion.It’s time that we start forgetting about our own personal reputations and
images and begin taking the lead in these areas . . . . and others. It’s
time for us to follow the admonition of one great leadership motivator when
he said, “Either lead, follow, or get out of the way.”Paul told Timothy, “let no man despise thy youth, but be thou an example to
the believer”. Whether we are young or old, the admonition is still a good
one. If we want our churches to rise to the occasion and seize the moment
that is before us in these unprecedented days, we must be willing to . . . .Travel Light, . . .
Toe the Line, . . . .
and Take the lead.
The conditions of our world today demand that we no longer carry on as we
have in the past. The day of harvest is here. Night is just around the
corner. The writer of Hebrews said it well, “Therefore, since we have so
great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every
encumbrance, and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with
endurance the race that is set before us, fixing our eyes of Jesus, the
author and perfecter of faith, Who for the joy set before Him endured the
cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne
of God. For consider Him who has endured such hostility by sinners against
Himself, so that you may not grow weary and lose heart.” (Heb 12:1-3)Let’s both of us become “this one thing I do” people . . . . and travel
light, toe the line, and take the lead.The time is now.
In His Bond and for His Cause,
Bob Tolliver — Rom 1:11-12
Copyright October, 2001
Life Unlimited Ministries
Do You Get “Shoulder To Shoulder”?