813 Rom.12.3-8 The Team Mentality
Romans • Sermon • Submitted
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· 16 viewsAfter dealing with the need to transform our thinking to match what God has done in Christ, Paul proceeds to personal attitudes & actions that make for progress in the body.
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- The word, “barney” as in, “he had a barney with his friend”. Where has that word come from?
Date: 18-11-18 813 Echuca
- The word, “barney” as in, “he had a barney with his friend”. Where has that word come from?
- No one knows but some have suggested it is a cockney English saying or Irish in origin
- If you ask me, it could well have had its origin in the disagreement between Paul & Barnabas in Acts
36 After some days Paul said to Barnabas, “Let us return and visit the brethren in every city in which we proclaimed the word of the Lord, and see how they are.” 37 Barnabas wanted to take John, called Mark, along with them also. 38 But Paul kept insisting that they should not take him along who had deserted them in Pamphylia and had not gone with them to the work. 39 And there occurred such a sharp disagreement that they separated from one another, and Barnabas took Mark with him and sailed away to Cyprus. 40 But Paul chose Silas and left, being committed by the brethren to the grace of the Lord. 41 And he was traveling through Syria and Cilicia, strengthening the churches.
—36 After some days Paul said to Barnabas, “Let us return and visit the brethren in every city in which we proclaimed the word of the Lord, and see how they are.” 37 Barnabas wanted to take John, called Mark, along with them also. 38 But Paul kept insisting that they should not take him along who had deserted them in Pamphylia and had not gone with them to the work. 39 And there occurred such a sharp disagreement that they separated from one another, and Barnabas took Mark with him and sailed away to Cyprus. 40 But Paul chose Silas and left, being committed by the brethren to the grace of the Lord. 41 And he was traveling through Syria and Cilicia, strengthening the churches.
—36 After some days Paul said to Barnabas, “Let us return and visit the brethren in every city in which we proclaimed the word of the Lord, and see how they are.” 37 Barnabas wanted to take John, called Mark, along with them also. 38 But Paul kept insisting that they should not take him along who had deserted them in Pamphylia and had not gone with them to the work. 39 And there occurred such a sharp disagreement that they separated from one another, and Barnabas took Mark with him and sailed away to Cyprus. 40 But Paul chose Silas and left, being committed by the brethren to the grace of the Lord. 41 And he was traveling through Syria and Cilicia, strengthening the churches.
- Paul had a sharp disagreement with Barnabas – he had a barney with Barnabas – it's possible the biblical story influenced the saying!
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- As we look at this passage, often we take sides: Paul was right or Barnabas was right
Q. But what if both were right?
- Paul was right in merely reflecting the teaching of Jesus
- Remember that Luke has recorded this account in Acts & that Luke is the only Gospel writer that records this saying of Jesus
62 But Jesus said to him, “No one, after putting his hand to the plow and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.”
—62 But Jesus said to him, “No one, after putting his hand to the plow and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.”
- Paul did not want John Mark to come with them, since he had previously deserted them & the work they were committed to
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- Barnabas was right in that he wanted to help John Mark get back on the horse, so to speak
- Those who side with Barnabas, then, believe Paul was wrong because later, Paul takes Barnabas back & that somehow is evidence that Paul admitted he was wrong
11 Only Luke is with me. Pick up Mark and bring him with you, for he is useful to me for service.
Only Luke is with me. Pick up Mark and bring him with you, for he is useful to me for service.
- It is surely reading too much into it to suppose that Paul was admitting wrong here
- It is most probable, that John Mark has now proved himself faithful & Paul is happy to work with him again
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- God used Paul & Barnabas to help John Mark get to that level in his faith commitment
- Yes, he did fail God in turning his back on a mission that he had committed to
- Paul's stand was beneficial to John Mark, in that he was called to the higher standard & had to face the consequences of his unfaithfulness
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- However, Barnabas – who is called “son of encouragement” - got beside John Mark & gave him comfort & encouragement to persevere
- Now we may want to see one person as doing the wrong thing – either Paul or Barnabas which led to their “barney”
- Paul for being harsh & unforgiving; or Barnabas for accepting a lesser standard than Jesus demanded
- Yet, as much as we need to work through matters peacefully to the best of our ability, both men were beneficial to John Mark's growth
- Each played a part in the working of God's ministry in John Mark & perhaps even beyond is the spreading of the Gospel
1. Grace Evens Out the Church
1. Grace Evens Out the Church
- When I was in Bible College sitting through lectures on psychology, I remember the psychologist trying to prove to me & the class that the notion of promoting self-esteem is taught in the Bible
- He latched on to v.3 from our passage today
3 For through the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think more highly of himself than he ought to think; but to think so as to have sound judgment, as God has allotted to each a measure of faith.
—3 For through the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think more highly of himself than he ought to think; but to think so as to have sound judgment, as God has allotted to each a measure of faith.
- You see, there it is, he would say - “think so as to have sound judgement” & that sound judgement somehow means to love yourself or, at least, think well of yourself
- But that is not what the apostle is talking about here at all
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- The trouble is, if you bring your “psychology” & it's theories to the Bible, you will read those theories into the Bible
- We call that eiegesis – a reading into the Bible or imposing a meaning upon the Scriptures that is not there
- The correct way is by doing exegesis – which is taking from the Bible
- One tries to read into it something that is not there, the other tries to take from, what the Scriptures say of itself
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- Look at what the apostle says - & note the imperatives (the commands)
- The command is to not think more highly of yourself than you ought to think
- In other words, you take a humble view of yourself
Q. What is the key? The key is in understanding GRACE
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- Even the zeal of Paul & all his accomplishments, he has to say – to be true to reality - “through the grace given to me”
- So if you are going to have a sound judgement of yourself, then you need to agree with the apostle on the truth of grace – that it is by grace that you are who you are
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- The temptation, of course, will be towards “self-promotion” & the airing of all the great things I have done
- Yet, that is 180 degrees off where it ought to be
- You can always tell what level of humility a person has, by noting who becomes the topic of every conversation with that person
- To not think more highly of yourself than you ought will cause you to not gush out with self-promotion – in giving yourself airs & graces because it is inappropriate in light of the grace that has been given
- Talk of self-promotion, take a look at Diotrephes
9 I wrote something to the church; but Diotrephes, who loves to be first among them, does not accept what we say. 10 For this reason, if I come, I will call attention to his deeds which he does, unjustly accusing us with wicked words; and not satisfied with this, he himself does not receive the brethren, either, and he forbids those who desire to do so and puts them out of the church.
- Here you have a self-willed man who loves to be first & puts himself above everyone else, even the apostles
-- 9 I wrote something to the church; but Diotrephes, who loves to be first among them, does not accept what we say. 10 For this reason, if I come, I will call attention to his deeds which he does, unjustly accusing us with wicked words; and not satisfied with this, he himself does not receive the brethren, either, and he forbids those who desire to do so and puts them out of the church.
- Here you have a self-willed man who loves to be first & puts himself above everyone else, even the apostles
- Most people don't appreciate a person big-noting themselves, especially Australians, but if we take on board the meaning of grace, then we will be much more balanced
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- Speaking of grace, I want to raise an issue that I think is very neglected in church life
- When we think of grace, too often we think of it as a free gift – a “get-out-of-jail-free” card if you like
- Too often, this grace card has been used to ignore commands of Scripture, holy living & even, sadly, as an excuse for continuing in sin
- After all, if God forgives your every sin, they why not sin away
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- As we have gone through Romans, we find that the Jews accused Paul of this very thing
- Paul has been preaching that Christians are not under law, but under grace
- Therefore, to their ears, they hear that grace means “lawlessness”, “loose-living”
- If you don't live under law, then you must be lawless, therefore, grace is just an excuse to be lawless
- Let us be lawless, because God's grace abounds to the lawless
- To those Jews Paul says...
—8 And why not say (as we are slanderously reported and as some claim that we say), “Let us do evil that good may come”? Their condemnation is just.
8 And why not say (as we are slanderously reported and as some claim that we say), “Let us do evil that good may come”? Their condemnation is just.
- They either misunderstood his meaning or they did understand it & twisted it to their advantage
- It doesn't follow, however, that if you are without the letter of the law, that you are lawless
- You don't need to read a 40 klm/hr speed sign to make you slow down for children crossing the road, do you!
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- If you haven't heard it before, let me introduce you to what I call effectual grace
- Grace is effectual – meaning that grace actually changes lives
- Grace is not some mere pronouncement that your sins are forgiven
- They are, but it's never left there
- In Romans, we have learned that we are free from the penalty of sin & the power of sin
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- Let me take you to Noah
8 But Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord. 9 These are the records of the generations of Noah. Noah was a righteous man, blameless in his time; Noah walked with God.
1 Then the Lord said to Noah, “Enter the ark, you and all your household, for you alone I have seen to be righteous before Me in this time.
—1 Then the LORD said to Noah, “Enter the ark, you and all your household, for you alone I have seen to be righteous before Me in this time.
- I want you to notice the preface to all this - “Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord”
- I want you to notice the preface to all this - “Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord”
- You can't earn grace, or else grace would not be grace, nevertheless, Noah found grace & that grace is what changed him
- He was a righteous man, blameless in his time
- Blameless, not as in perfect, but as loyal, faithful, obedient
- Grace is God's unmerited & His active favour
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- Going back to our passage, Paul says to think with sober judgement
as God has allotted to each a measure of faith
Q. Is it saying that some of us has more faith given to us from God than others?
Q. Do you have more faith than me, or that I have more faith than you?
- It doesn't appear to be the meaning here
- It is more likely that God has allotted to each an “expression” of faith
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- It is not saying that God gives you more faith than the other person, even though you can have a person who is weak in faith as opposed to someone who is strong in faith
- What this is saying here is reliant upon what he says throughout this passage down to v.8
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- It's about the gifting that each person has & how significant each person is with their contribution to the life of the church
- It's not about more faith, but the different expressions of faith
- Let's say there are faiths that are blue, purple, gold, silver, red, orange, etc. & all this is saying is that God has made you to fit into the church in a way that is unique to you & you for the benefit of the whole
- He has alloted to you a measure of particular faith
2. Making Sure You Play Your Part
2. Making Sure You Play Your Part
2. Making Sure You Play Your Part
2. Making Sure You Play Your Part
- Most of us have played a team sport sometime in our lives
- Especially, popular in Victoria is the AFL
- I want us to consider this sport for the moment
- The ones who win the most prestigious medal in the competition – the Brownlow metal – are the mid-fielders
- These guys are the most active in the game because of their position on the field
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- A good midfielder will rack up over 30 possessions of the ball a game
- But the other positions may only rack up 10-15
- Positions like defending your goal square or being a forward where you have to wait until the ball comes to you before you can to do your thing are positions that don't feature as well as the mid-field positions
Q. Those positions don't win the Brownlow, but does it mean that those positions are any less valuable?
- Everyone knows that to win a game, the team has to be good right across the spectrum
- But the world chooses to focus on the more spectacular & entertaining positions
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- We do that too in the church
- We think to be a pastor - well some think – or an Elder, or a missionary – means that you must be a cut above the others
- Yet, that is the wrong view according to this passage
- Look at the things we need to take on board here
1. The body of Christ is a variety – it has many members
2. The body of Christ is ONE body – we form a team, a unit
3. We are members of one another – so when another church or another Christian kicks a goal – they're kicking it for all of us
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- Imagine what it would be like with churches competing against one another – we don't have to imagine that do we, it's happening
- So when one of our midfielders gets the ball someone from our own team tackles him & takes the ball off him
Q. How well would such a team go? It's a bit like scoring an own goal!
- Or what Jesus says about Satan driving out Satan – his kingdom would not stand
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- But to a degree, this competition between churches is actually harming the team
- The church growth movement in the 70-80's did the churches a huge disservice by making pragmatism the test of a good church
- That is, they set the standard for a good church by measuring bottoms on seats
- Since then, churches feel either that God is with them if they are going well, numbers wise, or that God is against them, if they are not going quite so well
- So there's pride when there's bottom's on seats or despair when there's not
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- But pragmatism should not be the standard of a faithful church
- This is all Jesus asks us to be – faithful & deligent - & this is not something I'm saying because I'm trying to deflect responsibility, but trying to get us to see that we function as a body & as a team, the body is dependant on every member playing it's part
- I can't play your part for you or you play my part for me
- But if you kick a goal, I'm going to be happy because you kicked it for the team & I'm part of the team
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- Jesus said this to the struggling, persecuted church in Philadelphia
8 ‘I know your deeds. Behold, I have put before you an open door which no one can shut, because you have a little power, and have kept My word, and have not denied My name.
-- 8 'I know your deeds. Behold, I have put before you an open door which no one can shut, because you have a little power, and have kept My word, and have not denied My name.
- They were one of the few churches commended in Revelation & yet, they were commended, not for their numbers nor their strength, but for their faithfulness
- Notice these comments from Os Guinness about churches who are more concerned about numbers & hence how they can fill a church...
Here is one example from a well-known Christian marketing consultant: “It is also critical that we keep in mind a fundamental principle of Christian communication: the audience, not the message, is sovereign.” The audience is sovereign? No! Let it be repeated a thousand times, no! When reaching out as the church of Jesus, the message of the gospel and Jesus the Lord of the message is alone sovereign—and never, never, never the audience, however needy, however attractive, however prestigious or well-heeled an audience may be. — Os Guinness
3. Bountiful Diligence
3. Bountiful Diligence
3. Bountiful Diligence
3. Bountiful Diligence
- A fruitful church is a church that, at a minimum, is a church where ALL its members play a part
- We exercise the gifting God has given us in accord with the grace that He has given us
- Again, this is not saying that some people receive more grace than others
- What it is saying is that that grace comes in different colours & it is made to fit the individual as God determines
- If you receive the purple grace, good for you; if you receive the yellow grace, good for you
- We will all receive grace, but it will come in different expressions of ministry
- One of the main points here is about respecting the contribution of others
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- We should remember that we are not the same
- My goodness, how easy it is to forget that we live in a world of variety & we love it – full of colours, shapes & sizes
- This is what we are like too
- Sometimes someone ministers & you say, “I didn't get much out of that”
Q. Well, what about the other people in the church?
Q. Is it the same for them too?
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- There is only two standards by which we need to be concerned
1. Faithfulness to the truth of the Gospel
2. An ethical life that backs up what we do
- One person's style may not be everyone's cup of tea & if it's not, then we all need to exercise patience because someone else may find it helpful to them
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- What seems to follow here is a list of gifts that serve as an example of what he has been teaching
- His point is that whatever grace & faith that is alloted to you, you are to exercise your gifts accordingly
- If you don't, you let the team down & you're disobeying God
- Your gifts are to help the whole & if you don't exercise them, you impoverish the body
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- Now I have to be careful here & I'm going to risk wrath
- But here's the thing: if you speak of yourself in a derogatory way – implying that your contribution is insignificant or worthless, that is evidence of an unhealthy obession with self
- “Self must be there to derogate” says Tozer
Self-derogation is bad for the reason that self must be there to derogate. Self, whether swaggering or groveling, can never be anything but hateful to God — A. W. Tozer
- A woe is me attitude is still me, me, me, so be careful here
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- Boasting is not the only evidence of a person thinking more highly of themselves than they ought
- The only difference is that self-boasting is evidence of self-congratulations whereas self-loathing is evidence of self-dissatisfaction
- Both are rooted in self
Boasting is an evidence that we are pleased with self; belittling, that we are disappointed in it. Either way we reveal that we have a high opinion of ourselves — A. W. Tozer
- The answer, as some would say, is “to get over yourself”
- That's true, because we are a team when every member is respected & when we play as a team
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- God gifts both supernaturally & naturally – all the same to God:
Prophecy, Serving, Leading, Teaching, Exhorting, Giving, Mercy ministry
- The one thing that seems to bind these together is the need to do them actively
- You must be involved & engaged because you are part of the team – the team needs you & you need the team
- You can't join it – if you belong to Christ – you're in it
Summary
Summary
1. We are a team – you are not the only person on the team
2. We have differing gifts by the grace of God – you are who you are due to the particular flavour of God's grace to you
3. We need to respect the ministry of others
4. We need to leave self out of it & humbly serve God for it is His grace that will be working in us & through us all for the team