Relevance
The Parameters of Church Health • Sermon • Submitted
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THE PARAMETERS OF CHURCH HEALTH
SERMON 4
THE PARAMETER OF RELEVANCE
ETS – PAUL WORKED HARD AT BEING A RELEVANT WITNESS OF THE GOSPEL, FOR THE SAKE OF WINNING EVERYONE POSSIBLE TO CHRIST.
ESS – WE MUST WORK HARD AT BEING RELEVANT WITNESSES OF THE GOSPEL, IN ORDER TO LEAD AS MANY PEOPLE AS POSSIBLE TO FAITH IN CHRIST.
OSS – TO CONVINCE CHRIST-FOLLOWERS TO SACRIFICE PREFERENCE FOR RELEVANCE.
PQ – ARE WE RELEVANT WITNESSES OF THE TRANSFORMING POWER OF CHRIST TO THE COMMUNITY AT-LARGE?
UW – RELEVANCE
INTRODUCTION:
ABOUT THIS TIME OF YEAR, IN 1989, ONE OF THE SUMMER’S FIRST BLOCKBUSTER MOVIES WAS RELEASED…
IT WAS A MOVIE ABOUT A SMALL-TOWN FARMER NAMED RAY, WHO WAS STRUGGLING TO MAKE ENDS MEET…
IN THE MIDST OF HIS STRUGGLE, HE BEGINS TO HEAR VOICES, WHICH HE BELIEVES ARE TELLING HIM TO DO SOMETHING WHICH WAS INCREDIBLY OUT-OF-THE-ORDINARY…
THE PHRASE THAT IS REPEATED IS A PHRASE THAT MANY OF US KNOW AND CAN EASILY QUOTE…
THE PHRASE IS…”IF YOU BUILD IT…THEY WILL COME…
IF YOU BUILD IT, THEY WILL COME…
OF COURSE, I’M TALKING ABOUT THE MOVIE “FIELD OF DREAMS…”
AND THE POINT IS THAT THIS IS SOMETIMES THE ATTITUDE OF MANY CHURCH MEMBERS…
PLEASE TAKE YOUR BIBLE, WHETHER IT IS A PRINTED VERSION OR AN ELECTRONIC VERSION, AND OPEN WITH ME TO THE BOOK OF 1 CORINTHIANS, CHAPTER 9…
I WANT US TO TAKE A FEW MINUTES THIS MORNING TO LOOK AT THE FOURTH PARAMETER OF CHURCH HEALTH, THE PARAMETER OF EXCELLENCE…
AND TO DO THIS, WE’LL TAKE VERSES 19 THROUGH 23 AS OUR TEXT…
STAND – READ – PRAY
WHEN IT COMES TO MINISTERING TO THE COMMUNITY AT-LARGE, MANY FEEL AS THOUGH THE LABOR INVOLVED TO ESTABLISH A CHURCH AND ERECT A BUILDING SHOULD BE CAUSE ENOUGH FOR PEOPLE TO RUSH THROUGH THE FRONT DOORS…
SADLY, WE ARE NOT ALLOWED TO TAKE AS OUR SLOGAN, “IF YOU BUILD IT, THEY WILL COME…”
THE REASON FOR THIS IS THAT THE CULTURE, NO MATTER THE TIME PERIOD, HAS ALWAYS DEMANDED RELEVANCE FROM THE CHURCH…
UNFORTUNATELY, THE CHURCH HAS OFTEN BEEN THE LAST TO GET THE MEMO, SO THE CHURCH HAS STRUGGLED TO UNDERSTAND AND ADDRESS THE CULTURAL CHANGES AROUND IT…
NOTICE I DID NOT SAY EXPLAIN AND ENDORSE THE CHANGES AROUND IT...
NOR DID I SAY ACCEPT AND EMBRACE THE CHANGES AROUND IT…
BUT TO BE RELEVANT, WE MUST UNDERSTAND AND ADDRESS THE CULTURAL CHANGES THAT WE ARE ENCOUNTERING ON WHAT SEEMS LIKE A WEEKLY BASIS…
AND TO DO THIS, WE NEED TO HAVE A BIBLICAL MODEL FOR WHAT THIS LOOKS LIKE…
AND I CANNOT THINK OF A BETTER MODEL TO HELP US UNDERSTAND THE PARAMETER OF RELEVANCE THAN THE MODEL GIVEN TO US BY THE APOSTLE PAUL HERE IN THESE VERSES…
SO LET’S UNPACK WHAT THE WORD OF GOD HAS TO SAY TO US FROM THESE VERSES…
1. PAUL’S THEOLOGY OF SERVANTHOOD (VERSE 19).
a. – FOR THOUGH I AM FREE FROM ALL, I HAVE MADE MYSELF A SERVANT TO ALL, THAT I MIGHT WIN MORE OF THEM.
b. PAUL UNDERSTOOD SOMETHING VERY VALUABLE THAT WE WOULD DO WELL TO UNDERSTAND…
c. THAT IS THAT THE GOSPEL – ONCE RECEIVED – FREES A PERSON AND ENSLAVES A PERSON AT THE SAME TIME…
d. NOW I KNOW THAT THIS DOESN’T SOUND VERY SENSIBLE, ESPECIALLY IF YOU ARE HERE THIS MORNING AND YOU DO NOT HAVE A RELATIONSHIP WITH CHRIST…
e. BUT IT IS THE TRUTH…
f. LET ME TRY MY BEST TO EXPLAIN THIS TRUTH TO YOU…
g. FREEDOM IN CHRIST…
i. HOLMAN ILLUSTRATED BIBLE DICTIONARY – FREEDOM: A KEY BIBLICAL THEME FINDING EXPRESSION IN BOTH THE SPIRITUAL AND SOCIAL RAMIFICATIONS OF SALVATION IN CHRIST. SCRIPTURE PORTRAYS FREEDOM IN A COMPLEX AND MULTIFACETED MANNER. IT ADDRESSES ISSUES RELATED TO POLITICAL FREEDOM, FREEDOM FROM THE INSTITUTION OF SLAVERY, FREEDOM FROM OATHS AND OBLIGATIONS, FREEDOM FROM GUILT AND PUNISHMENT, AND FREEDOM FROM SINFUL, DESTRUCTIVE HABITS.
h. THERE IS A WORD THAT’S REPEATED IN THE NEW TESTAMENT OVER 120 TIMES…
i. IT’S A WORD THAT IS USED TO DESCRIBE BOTH THE FORMER AND THE CURRENT CONDITION OF THE BELIEVER…
ii. IT’S THE WORD “DOULOS” AND IT MEANS SLAVE OR SERVANT.
iii. IN THE FORMER CONTEXT, IT SPEAKS OF THOSE THINGS THAT WE DESCRIBED ABOVE AS BEING FREED FROM IN CHRIST…
1. FREEDOM FROM GUILT AND PUNISHMENT…
iv. BUT IN THE CURRENT CONTEXT OF THE BELIEVER, IT SPEAKS OF THE INDEBTEDNESS THAT WE NOW HAVE TO OTHERS, BECAUSE OF OUR RELATIONSHIP WITH CHRIST…
v. NOT THAT WE OWE ANY MAN ANYTHING, EXCEPT TO SHOW THE LOVE OF CHRIST TO THEM…
i. THIS IS WHAT PAUL MEANT WHEN HE SAID IN…
j. – FOR THOUGH I AM FREE FROM ALL, I HAVE MADE MYSELF A SERVANT TO ALL, THAT I MIGHT WIN MORE OF THEM.
k. BUT HERE’S A QUESTION WE NEED TO ANSWER…
2. TO WHOM ARE WE TO BE RELEVANT? (VERSES 20-22A)
a. WHO ARE THE “ALL” THAT PAUL SPEAKS OF?
b. SHORT ANSWER – EVERYONE…
c. -22A – 20 TO THE JEWS I BECAME AS A JEW, IN ORDER TO WIN JEWS. TO THOSE UNDER THE LAW I BECAME AS ONE UNDER THE LAW (THOUGH NOT BEING MYSELF UNDER THE LAW) THAT I MIGHT WIN THOSE UNDER THE LAW. 21 TO THOSE OUTSIDE THE LAW I BECAME AS ONE OUTSIDE THE LAW (NOT BEING OUTSIDE THE LAW OF GOD BUT UNDER THE LAW OF CHRIST) THAT I MIGHT WIN THOSE OUTSIDE THE LAW. 22 TO THE WEAK I BECAME WEAK, THAT I MIGHT WIN THE WEAK.
d. PAUL POINTED OUT FOUR DIFFERENT CATEGORIES (SOME SAY THREE) OF PEOPLE TO WHOM WE ARE TO BE RELEVANT, BUT UNDERSTAND THIS…
e. JUST BECAUSE HE SPECIFICALLY POINTED OUT DISTINCT CATEGORIES, HE LEFT NO ONE OUT…
f. WHAT DOES THIS MEAN FOR US?
i. IT MEANS THAT WE CANNOT DISCRIMINATE TOWARD ANY GROUP OF PEOPLE WHEN IT COMES TO FINDING WAYS TO INSERT OURSELVES INTO THEIR LIVES, WITH THE HOPE OF SHARING THE GOSPEL…
ii. NOW THINK ABOUT THAT FOR JUST A MOMENT…
iii. THINK ABOUT THE GROUP OF PEOPLE YOU ARE LEAST LIKELY TO BE WILLING TO HAVE A GOSPEL CONVERSATION WITH…
iv. THOSE PEOPLE ARE JUST AS IMPORTANT AS ANYONE ELSE…
g. SO LET’S LOOK AT THE PEOPLE PAUL SAID HE WAS CONCERNED ABOUT BEING A RELEVANT WITNESS OF THE GOSPEL TO…
i. THE JEWS…
1. TO THE JEW I BECAME A JEW…
2. PAUL, BEING A JEW HIMSELF – AND A SELF-DESCRIBED “HEBREW OF HEBREWS” – WAS MORE THAN QUALIFIED TO SPEAK TO THE JEWISH PEOPLE ABOUT CHRIST…
3. AND SO PAUL INSERTED HIMSELF INTO JEWISH CULTURE IN ORDER TO WIN JEWS TO CHRIST…
ii. TO THOSE UNDER THE LAW…
1. I BECAME AS ONE UNDER THE LAW…
2. AND PAUL DID NOT TAKE THE EASY ROAD WHEN IT CAME TO MINISTERING TO THE JEWS…
3. HE DIDN’T JUST GO TO PEOPLE WHO WERE JEWISH BY NATIONALITY…
iii. HIS STANDARD PRACTICE WAS TO GO INTO THE SYNAGOGUE – THE PLACE THAT HE KNEW WOULD GIVE HIM THE BEST OPPORTUNITY TO ENCOUNTER RIGOROUSLY TRAINED JEWS…
1. HE ENGAGED IN THEOLOGICAL DEBATE WITH THEM…
2. IN ORDER TO WIN MORE JEWS TO CHRIST…
iv. TO THOSE OUTSIDE THE LAW…
1. I BECAME AS ONE OUTSIDE THE LAW…
2. IS PAUL TALKING ABOUT THE LAWLESS, AS WE WOULD UNDERSTAND IT TODAY?
a. AS IN A LAW-BREAKER?
b. WELL, NO, IN THIS CASE, IT SPEAKS OF EVERYONE OUTSIDE JUDAISM…
c. IT SPEAKS OF THE GENTILES SPECIFICALLY…
3. PAUL IS KNOWN AS “THE APOSTLE TO THE GENTILES” BECAUSE GOD USED HIM GREATLY TO REACH THOSE WHO WERE NOT JEWISH WITH THE MESSAGE OF THE GOSPEL…
v. TO THE WEAK…
1. I BECAME WEAK…
2. HERE, SOME THEOLOGIANS BELIEVE THAT PAUL WAS TALKING ABOUT ENCOURAGING WEAK BELIEVERS TO MATURE IN THEIR FAITH…
h. BUT THE POINT IS THIS…
i. PAUL INSERTED HIMSELF IN NUMEROUS CULTURAL SITUATIONS…
j. IN ORDER TO BE ABLE TO SHARE THE GOSPEL MESSAGE IN A WAY THAT WAS RELEVANT TO THE UPBRINGING AND THE CURRENT SITUATIONS OF A VARIETY OF PEOPLE…
k. PAUL WORKED HARD AT BEING A RELEVANT WITNESS OF THE GOSPEL MESSAGE TO EVERYONE HE ENCOUNTERED…
3. BUT WHY ARE WE TO WORK HARD TO BE RELEVANT TO EVERYONE? (VERSES 22B-23).
a. VERSE 20…IN ORDER TO WIN JEWS.
b. VERSE 20…THAT I MIGHT WIN THOSE UNDER THE LAW.
c. VERSE 21…THAT I MIGHT WIN THOSE OUTSIDE THE LAW.
d. VERSE 22…THAT I MIGHT WIN THE WEAK.
e. :22B-23 – I HAVE BECOME ALL THINGS TO ALL PEOPLE, THAT BY ALL MEANS I MIGHT SAVE SOME. 23 I DO IT ALL FOR THE SAKE OF THE GOSPEL, THAT I MAY SHARE WITH THEM IN ITS BLESSINGS.
f. ALL THINGS…
g. TO ALL PEOPLE…
h. USING ALL MEANS…
i. SO THAT SOME MIGHT BE SAVED…
j. FOR THE SAKE OF THE GOSPEL…
k. SO THAT I MAY SHARE THE BLESSINGS OF THE GOSPEL WITH THEM…
CONCLUSION:
ETS – PAUL WORKED HARD AT BEING A RELEVANT WITNESS OF THE GOSPEL, FOR THE SAKE OF WINNING EVERYONE POSSIBLE TO CHRIST.
ESS – WE MUST WORK HARD AT BEING RELEVANT WITNESSES OF THE GOSPEL, IN ORDER TO LEAD AS MANY PEOPLE AS POSSIBLE TO FAITH IN CHRIST.
OSS – TO CONVINCE CHRIST-FOLLOWERS TO SACRIFICE PREFERENCE FOR RELEVANCE.
PQ – ARE WE RELEVANT WITNESSES OF THE TRANSFORMING POWER OF CHRIST TO THE COMMUNITY AT-LARGE?