BE THE CHURCH

Sept. 9, 2018

Many years ago, Chuck Swindoll, wrote a wonderful devotional titled, Growing Strong in the Seasons of Life. One of the readings is “Doing vs. Being.” Near the end, he penned these words: “What we want to do is not nearly as important as what we want to be… It’s possible to do lots of things and be zilch as a person.”[1]

          I’m gonna read that again and change one word. “What we want to do is not nearly as important as what we want to be… It’s possible to do lots of things and be zilch as a church.”

          In the 90’s, the Acappella Vocal Band released a song titled, “You Can’t Go to Church.” It starts like this, “you can’t go to church as some people say / the common terminology we use every day / You can go to a building / That is something you can do / But you can’t go to church ‘cause the church is you.”

As a building, Trinity is just a mass of steel, concrete, and wood. It’s just a building, nothing more, nothing less. What makes Trinity a church is the people who choose to show up and “be the church” and I’m so glad we have folks who do that all the time.

As I spent the summer praying and studying, I sensed God give me the phrase, “Be the Church” as our theme for this ministry year. I immediately thought of many ways it could be defined and exhibited. But instead of relying only on my thoughts, I asked a cross-section of people from our Trinity family to tell me what came to mind when they read that phrase. Here’s a sampling of what they shared with me.

• what the world sees is us when we don’t really think they’re watching
• Actions speak louder than words, then once the door is open… spread the gospel.
• If I am to “be the church” I must remain true to my standards in all situations. Only then will non-believers see Christ… It also gives me a charge to be a good representation of Trinity, to develop my “Trinity story” so that I can share a positive reason for my friends to be @ Trinity. It can also be a call for individuals to step up to what Christ has called them to in their spiritual lives.
• getting out of the church and being in the mess of life with believers and unbelievers alike… being involved in community, activities, not just church activities.
• Leaving the comfort zone of the church building and stepping into someone else’s world just to show them that Jesus loves them enough to send someone to them where they are.
• loving the unlovable… stop throwing material things at people and saying “here you go, now fix your own problem. [Instead] start saying, “Come talk to me, I’m here to listen. What do you need me to do at this moment? You screwed up, we all do, let me tell you some stories! I’m still here for you.”
• a deeper understanding of Christianity that bridges the gap between “I go to church” and “I am the church.”
• A large extended family of believers that always accepts and loves you.
• seeing the world as if we are looking through Jesus’ eyes; looking & listening for opportunities to serve others and then doing it.
• not being afraid to let people be ugly and loving them through it all.
• we should be Christ’s hand’s and feet, voice and love for all people
• an environment where everyone can feel safe to share their life’s issues.
• representing your Christian & church family with your actions and behavior.
• striving to be the hands and feet of Jesus.
• reach out; be a visible presence, serve our community, reaching people in an unwanted low-income housing facility.
• sharing / demonstrating love, not religion, to those God strategically places in our lives.
• being what God wants to be through us.

 Watch this video and then I’ll share more about what it means to be the church.

Lifesaving station video

I think we can distill the idea of being the church into 3 phrases:

• Love God
• Love people
• Make disciples

Let’s examine each one.

Mark 12:28-31 (NIV)  – ²⁸ One of the teachers of the law came and heard them debating. Noticing that Jesus had given them a good answer, he asked him, “Of all the commandments, which is the most important?”

²⁹ “The most important one,” answered Jesus, “is this: ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.³⁰ Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ ³¹ The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.”

To “be the church” does not mean having a building to gather in week after week. While it is a great convenience, it is not a necessity because the church is people. The most important way we can “be the church” is to love God with all we are. Loving God may be expressed by coming to this building but coming to this building does not necessarily mean someone loves God. Are you with me on that? Also, loving God isn’t something we do just when the doors of the building are open. It’s what we do 24 hours a day every day of the year.

So, what does it mean to love God? Using Jesus’ own words, loving God=doing what he says – obeying His Word. But here’s the rub, while the act of obedience is important, the attitude is more important. We obey as a loving expression of what He’s done for us, not to get him to like us. Obedient action without obedient attitude=disobedience. Listen, we’re fallible humans and we certainly mess this up at times, but the ideal is for the attitude and actions to be in sync.

Demonstrating our love for God by obeying His Word presupposes that we know His Word—not just the text, but the meaning and intent.

I’m keeping this simple this morning. Since we are going to visit this idea of loving God a few more times during this ministry year, we’ll move on to the second phrase that helps us understand what it means to be the church, love people.

Unsolicited, Jesus included this directive with the greatest commandment – love your neighbor as you love yourself.

          We are commissioned to love people – to do what serves their best interest, not our own. The Apostle John put it this way, “let’s not love with words or speech but in actions and truth (1 John 3:18) We’ve all heard that talk is cheap, that’s because it is. I love Steve Camp’s 1988 song, “Don’t tell them Jesus loves them.”

Don’t’ tell them Jesus loves them / till you’re ready to love them too / Till your heart breaks from the sorrow / and the pain their going through / with a life full of compassion / may we do what we must do / Don’t tell them Jesus loves them / till you’re ready to love them too.

          To be the church means we love people as they are, where they are, not as we wish they were or where we think they should be. Love is messy. Love is difficult, love is risky, love is costly, love is not optional!

          Now for the 3^rd idea that helps us understand what it means to be the church—make disciples.

Matthew 28:19-20 (NIV) – ¹⁹ Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, ²⁰ and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

          We love people all the way to Jesus and teach them how to follow him…not how to follow us, not how to follow the church, but how to follow Jesus. Our individual lives need to echo the sentiment of Paul. “Follow my example as I follow the example of Christ.” (1 Corinthians 11:1)

          Being the church is not about actively going to a building – it’s about actively loving God, loving people, and making disciples. These things don’t belong to the pastors or deacons or teachers, they belong to each one of us. They are informed, they are shaped, they are empowered and encouraged in this building, but they are not, they cannot be limited to this building. At most, some of us who are not staff may spend 8 or so hours here in a given week. That means we are away from here 160 hours or more. Most of us are away from the building more than 165 hours a week That’s the way life works and that’s why we need to be the church everywhere else we go.

What’s the BIG DEAL about the church? Jesus had something to say about the church that was very encouraging and very empowering.

Matthew 16:13-18 (NIV) page 694

¹³ When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say the Son of Man is?”

¹⁴ They replied, “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets.”

¹⁵ “But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?”

¹⁶ Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.”

¹⁷ Jesus replied, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by flesh and blood, but by my Father in heaven. ¹⁸ And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it.

          Jesus said he would build His church (not our church!!) He would build HIS church through those who confess that Jesus is the Messiah—the Savior. Not only that, but he said the gates of Hades would not overcome it.

          When we are Jesus’ church…

• We are a victorious church!
• We are a conquering church!
• We are a powerful church!

Such churches – and this will sound harsh – such churches don’t bow to the whining or desires of pastors or parishioners. They steadfastly pursue the purposes for which Jesus established the church. The people in those places don’t choose to come to church, they choose to be the church! They choose to be the hands and feet and heart and mind of Jesus to people who are harassed and helpless like sheep without a shepherd. They reach out to folks who don’t even realize they’re in danger of drowning. They act as speed bumps and roadblocks for those on a highway to hell. They pledge their lives in word and deed to the cause of Christ next door, across the street, around town, in the state, county, and world. They take up their crosses and follow Jesus!

          I don’t know about you, but that’s what I want. I want to BE the church! If you’re with me, stand and ask God to help you BE the church…to help us BE the church – whatever that means and looks like in your life and in our midst!

[1] Charles R. Swindoll, Growing Strong in the Seasons of Life (Portland, OR: Multnomah, 1983), p. 455.