What Are We Doing Here At Abundant Life? Serve Part II

Romans 12:3-11.  This sermon was preached by Pastor Marty Bonner on Sunday, June 7, 2020.

Today, we continue talking about the purposes of Christians and the Church, specifically serving Jesus by serving one another.  Two weeks ago, we saw how that service can take on very practical forms and be very humbling: the washing of one another’s feet.  Let’s continue in the Romans 12 passage in order to talk further about the giftings that God gives each of us in order to serve one another.

It is true that all giftings in our life are from God and thus could be called spiritual.  However, some gifts are recognized as especially spiritual.  These include prophecy, speaking in tongues, healing, words of knowledge, among others.

A division within the body of Christ has occurred in which some believe that these spiritual gifts were only for the first century believers in order to start the Church, and others believe that they are active still today.  This division has led to two extremes that are both dangerous.  It is commendable to be careful so that you are not deceived by false teachers, but it can lead to a critical and skeptical spirit that refuses to accept any spiritual gifts as legitimate.  On the other hand, it is commendable to step out in faith and trust God, but it can lead to an extreme gullibility and even lust for things such as: wealth, health, and power.

God’s Word is given to us so that we will have a balance that is informed by His Word and the Holy Spirit.  We should neither fail to use the gifts, nor should we abuse them.  Let’s look at our passage.

Do not be proud and arrogant

In the first two verses of Romans 12, Paul emphasized that the servants of God must not be a people who have conformed to the world, but rather, they must be a people who are transformed by the Spirit of God renewing their minds.  Thus, we need to have our worldview and motivations transformed by God if we are going to serve Him.  We should also recognize that conforming to the world can take on many different flavors, among them are false religion, whether Christian or not.

It is no shock that this area of giftings in the Church is a source of much spiritual good, and yet also much fleshly destruction.  Paul puts his finger on the outward red flag that tells us that conformity rather than transformation is present, and that is pride.  The servant of the Lord must not be proud or arrogant towards other believers, or the world.

Paul uses the phrase “thinking too highly of yourself than you ought.”  He sees the problem of pride as one of crossing a boundary.  There is an obligation or “oughtness” that should restrain us from becoming proud and arrogant as the servants of the Lord.  We are sinners, but he has rescued and saved us.  We had nothing to offer, but he put gifts of grace within our life.  Our fellow brothers and sisters are also servants of the Lord with different gifts of grace in their lives.  Those who have high positions in the Church may look like they have a high position (by the world’s estimation).  However, they aren’t higher, but lower.  Just as Christ lowered himself to the lowest place and became the scapegoat for us all, so leaders are actually servants of God’s people so that they can be equipped and helped to serve the Lord.

Don’t be deceived.  Pride and arrogance are never warranted, and are easy to see in others, but the Spirit of God through the Word of God is able to lay His finger upon any pride that we have and lead us out of its bondage.

Paul then adds the metaphor of sobriety versus drunkenness.  We are to think soberly as God enables us.  This is important because of the parable of Christ that warns his servants not to “beat their fellow servants and drink with the drunkards.”  Matthew 24:45-51.  Pride and arrogance are equivalent to being drunk with the drunkards, that is the people of this world who are unaware of God’s salvation and plunging into sin.  The warning is that they think the Lord is never coming back and then take advantage of their position among His things.

Paul also connects this to the “measure of faith” that God has given to each of us.  It is highly unlikely that he is talking about saving faith here, although God does enable us to have faith for salvation.  Rather, he is talking about the particular capacity to recognize the gifts of grace that He gives us for the general good of his Church, and then the capacity to execute that gift properly.  The areas of recognition and execution are both twisted and perverted by the drunkenness of pride and arrogance.  Just because God has put gifts in your life does not authorize you to misuse them for your own purposes.

In verses 4 and 5, Paul reminds them of two important principles.  The first is that we are each a part of the singular body of Christ.  There is only one body of Christ and we are all apart of that unified whole that is directed by him.  He even takes this further in verse 5 by saying that we are members of each other.  This reminder goes back to the oughtness referenced before.  Harming others for your own benefit is illogical in the context of the body of Christ.  To hurt others is to hurt yourself because you are connected to them and need the gifts of grace that God has put in them, just as they are towards you.

Even though we are all part of one body, we are not gifted and placed in the body of Christ to serve the same function.  God’s gifts are varied by function, and they are varied by the scope of that function.  These differences should never threaten the unity of the body and its ability to function as a whole.  Clearly individuals and large groups of believers have failed in this area.  However, never underestimate the power of the Lord to bless and use those who will humble themselves in this area and step out in faith.  If we quit because others have done poorly then our excuse will not stand before Christ.  Jesus told the apostle Peter after his resurrection, “If you love me then feed my sheep.”  This was not only in the context of Peter’s own failures, but also in the context of the failures of the religious leaders of that day.  We must quit looking at what has happened in the Church.  Instead, we must repent of our own pride and embrace the body of Christ and the functions of grace that God leads you to perform.

Use the gifts that God gives for His purposes

In verses 6-8, we have a difficult part of this passage to bring into English, not because it is hard to understand, but because of the structure of the Greek language.  To bring it into English properly, words have to be added due to the context of what he has said and the subject matter, which is God’s gifts of grace.  Ultimately, Paul is emphasizing that if we have a particular gift of grace then it has been given to us by God to use.  We must use these gifts of grace for God’s purposes and for the good of the body of Christ.  In 1 Corinthians 12:7, Paul tells us that, “the manifestation of the Spirit is given to each one for the profit of all.  This is God’s intention and this is exactly how we should use them.

The first gift described is that of prophecy.  Prophecy is a word from God given to an individual for God’s people.  It can be regarding past, present, or future things, and is to be carefully examined by the elders to determine if it is contrary to Scriptures, or whether it is to be retained as truly from the Lord.  Even then, I we must exercise caution in this area.  We should not treat modern prophecy as if it is an addition to the Bible.  God gave the grace of establishing once and for all the faith that we are to believe to those first century apostles.

Prophecy is a heady gift and can easily lead to pride and arrogance in one who is not strongly connected to the Lord and His people.  God can and does speak to every believer in Christ, both through the written word and by His Spirit.  However, He has gifted some individuals to serve as another source of His influence.  Like the prophets of old, they encourage and exhort people in light of the dangers and needs of the present.

Paul basically tells us t hat if God has given us the gift of prophecy then we should do it with the measure of faith that He has given us.  So, God not only supplies the gift, but also supplies the faith to exercise it.  This opens a whole area that we should recognize.  Among people who have the same gifting, there will still be a difference in their sphere of influence or scope of operation.  These things vary in their measure.  No matter the measure of our sphere of influence, it will require bold faith to be exercised.  Stepping out in faith does not come naturally.  It comes by the help of the Spirit of the Lord, and yet we still have to cooperate and step out.  Thus, our measure of faith may be higher than our level of exercise.  Like an athlete discovering the physical limits of their ability, so in spiritual gifts, we must learn to exercise faith to increase our service for the Lord.

Paul then gives us a list of giftings.  It is implied that they also are given with a varied measure of faith.  However, Paul adds the emphasis that we should exercise the gift for the purpose God gave it.  To the degree that He has gifted you with service, then you should give yourself to serving (also, translated as ministry).  To the degree that He has gifted you with teaching, you should give yourself to teaching.  You won’t find the full degree of what He has given you unless you get out there and start being faithful to the little that you do understand today.  We must never see gifts as ours, but as God’s grace put within our life.  I am a steward and must operate in keeping with the One who gave it to me. 

The list continues with exhortation.  This is the same word that is used of the Holy Spirit, the Paraclete.  It involves a whole host of things that are a help to us by coming alongside of us: comfort, correction, encouragement, instruction, etc. (basically everything that could conceivably help us).

In verse 8, another structural change happens in which Paul emphasizes not just doing the gift, but also how we do it.  Those who are gifted with giving should give with a single focus, that is, generously.  Those who are gifted with leading should give themselves to leading with an eager diligence.  Those who are gifted with giving mercy should give mercy with cheerfulness.

In all of this, Paul is describing some of the diversity and variety of God’s gifts within His people.  Other lists and teaching are given in 1 Corinthians 12-14.  Ultimately, the Apostle Peter sums it up in 1 Peter 4:10 when he says, “Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms.” 

There is much more that can be said on this issue, but I want to end with a final emphasis.  In verse 9, Paul begins a section of biblical instruction that has a rapid-fire, staccato feel, to it.  However, at the root of these instructions is our need to serve one another in love.  The love of God must be the root of our serving.  Anything else is unacceptable to God.  With that said, I find it fitting to end with Paul’s words to the Corinthians.  After explaining the use of spiritual gifts for 30 verses, he then says this.

“But earnestly desire the best gifts.  And yet, I show you a more excellent way.  Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I have become sounding brass or a clanging cymbal. 2 And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing.”

This reminds me of the Ken Gulliksen song, Charity.  “If I have not charity, if love does not flow through me, I am nothing.  Jesus reduce me to love.”  Ah, yes, the reduction process.  The difficulties of your life and the struggles that you have with others are all a part of God’s process of trying to reduce you down to His love alone. 

Over the last three months, things have been drastically different, and there appears to be more craziness on the horizon.  Let us remember that the only answer to the chaos of this world is a child of God trusting Him in faith.  We must be a people who are trusting in God and not the voices of this world.  When our hope is only in what God supplies, we will be like a tree planted by the waters, that does not fear when the heat comes, and is not anxious in the year of drought, nor will we cease being fruitful!  (See Jeremiah 17).  God help us to be fruitful trees in these days.

Serve II audio

Growing Spiritually

Ephesians 4:11-16.  This sermon was preached by Pastor Marty Bonner on February 19, 2017.

We have been talking about the purpose that Jesus has for His Church.  It begins with connecting to Him and to His people.  The next purpose comes from the fact that this connection is not intended to be static.  In John 15, when Jesus used the analogy of a vine, he emphasizes that the Father wants each branch to be fruitful.  Thus this second purpose is for God’s people to grow spiritually.  Now this is not just an individual self-help exercise.  Rather, God is working in us in order to help us to grow spiritually as an individual and as a group. 

In our society we see the problem of immaturity everywhere.  It causes problems in our jobs, relationships, homes, politics at every level, and yes, even in our churches.  God’s answer to the reality of immaturity is not that we quit and go down the street, or go home.  Instead, God’s answer is for His people to turn to Him and receive from Him what we need in order to mature.

Now God has some very specific things that He has done in order to help this purpose along.  The first is that He connects us to a group of believers.  The dynamic of learning to love each other fuels this purpose of God.  In Ephesians 4:11-16, the relationship we have with the body of Christ is explained in regards to this purpose of spiritual growth.

Jesus Wants His Followers to Grow

We see the metaphor of growth throughout the Bible.  It points to the changes that happen within us in order to make us more like God Himself.  In Psalm 1 we are told, “Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stands in the path of sinners, nor sits in the seat of the scornful; but, his delight is in the law of the Lord, and in His law he meditates day and night.  He shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water that brings forth its fruit in its season, whose leaf also shall not wither; and whatever he does shall prosper.”  This is God’s vision for each of us.  He wants to make us into a fruitful tree of life to everyone around us.  Sadly we often fall into a minimal intellectual assent to the Faith.  We only accept so much of what God’s Word says and try to ignore the rest.  We can also settle for a minimal association with God’s people.  When God’s word has a minimal impact on our lives it will not result in spiritual growth.  Ask yourself, “Have I settled for having just a little bit of Jesus?  Am I trying to fit a little bit of Jesus into my life?”  The reality is that Jesus is too big to fit into your life.  You must surrender your life to the purposes of Christ, then you will begin to grow spiritually to become like him.

In verse 11 Paul points out that God has raised up certain individuals to serve in differing capacities within the Church, so that we can all grow spiritually.  The top of this list is the apostles and prophets.  It was important for the teachings of Christ and His purposes to be authoritatively recorded.  The truth is that Jesus did not write any books.  He called and authorized certain individuals with the task of passing on His teaching.  More than that, Jesus even told his disciples that he had far more to teach them, but there wasn’t enough time.  Thus He promises that the Holy Spirit will guide them into all truth.  The reality is that Jesus Himself places a stamp of approval, or guarantee, on the authority and teaching of His apostles.    In this sense there are no more apostles and prophets that are establishing Scripture and the foundation of the Faith.  However, apostles were also used mightily to bring the gospel into new areas along with signs and wonders to confirm it.  This aspect still occurs from time to time as God wills.  As for prophets today, they can be used to speak into our lives by God, but not add new teaching to the Faith that was once and for all delivered unto the saints in the first century.  Paul also mentions evangelists, who typically travel from city to city preaching the gospel.  Lastly he lists pastors and teachers.  It appears that he is putting these together, perhaps as two sides of the same coin.  The term “pastor” is a shepherd term that points to the caring and nurturing they do.  “Teacher” points to the transfer of information that they perform.  Teachers teach the Word of God to His people, not because they can’t read it for themselves, but because it helps us to grow.  The purpose of all of these individuals is not to rule over God’s people, or to control His Church.  They are not given by Jesus to dominate the other believers, but rather to help us.  Some people have been hurt by the domineering tactics of some who call themselves apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers.  Yet, we must also recognize the danger of casting off any help in this area.  Without the guarantee of the foundational teaching of the Apostles in the first century, we are intellectually standing on quicksand.

Now in verse 12, Paul explains further why Christ gave these to the Church.  So far I have summed it up under the need for spiritual growth.  Let’s explore further.  The first purpose is for the equipping of the saints.  The King James Version says for the perfecting of the saints.  Equipping is a better translation today, because “perfecting” gives the sense of being done.    To be fully equipped is always done in order to accomplish something.  When you are done gathering all your camping equipment, you haven’t actually camped yet.  You still have to drive to your destination and set up all your equipment.  Equipping is always for a purpose.  Another example is how an Emergency Room is equipped with all manner of tools and medicines.  This is for the purpose of saving a life that is brought into the room.  Similarly God uses these verse 11 roles to equip us.  This leads to the question, “What am I being equipped for?”

Paul next lists several reasons why we are being equipped.  God wants us to be able to do “works of service.”  God has particular works of service that He has for you to do.  Some of that service is towards other believers.  You are to use your gifts out of love in order to help other believers.  However, we are also called to do works of service towards those who are not believers.  Thus I am serving God by going out and serving His people, and those who are still lost.  So what do you need in order to do these things?  First, you need to know what God has already said in His Word.  You also need encouragement and direction in learning to pray and hear from God ourselves.  Ask Jesus each day, “Lord, help me to know the works of service that you want me to do today.”

Next Paul mentions we are equipped for the unity of the faith and the knowledge of Jesus.  Part of spiritual growth is that we are unified as a group of people.  Individual growth is never complete until it enables us to grow in relationship with others.  Today, the concept of unity is held up as essential.  But notice that God is not promoting unity just for unity’s sake.  He actually says unity of the faith.  “The faith” is the teachings that God has revealed through Jesus and His apostles.  Thus, when people talk about finding common ground so that we can unify, they generally mean, “What beliefs can we drop so that we can be one?”  God is calling believers to be unified around the teaching of His apostles.  If you sacrifice the teachings of Christ and the knowledge of who He is, then you have not accomplished the purpose of God.  In fact you have actually rejected it.  You may notice that all such groups that hold up unity and love as their overarching principle, and yet do not adhere to a particular set of teachings, fall apart in the end.  Only promoting love and unity is not enough to deal with the sinful nature of mankind.  Whether it is a leader that tries to dominate the group, or the fact that a person is hurt by another’s concept of free love, we must have a truth that we are committed to that has power against the flesh and is greater than any person today.  The Word of God is the only thing that has demonstrated the power to stop the sinful desires of our flesh.

The third purpose for being equipped is so that we will not be a spiritual child, but instead a mature body of Christ.  This is where we see how the individual weaves with the group dynamic.  If I am individually taken in by every new heresy that pretends to be truth, then I weaken the group.  We are not able to operate as the body of Christ.  Yes, I need to believe the things Jesus and his apostles taught, and I need to live out the things they taught.  But our group has to grow in living these things together.  Together, we can minister, heal, and save far more than any one of us can do alone.  We need each other, but the lost need the Church to be operating as a mature body of Christ.

In verse 14 we are given another reason why God wants us to grow.  He does not want us to be taken in and deceived by false teaching.  Children are easily taken in and deceived.  We see this with Adam and Eve, who had a child-like innocence in regards to sinful ways.  Not all that masquerades as truth is Truth, and not all that masquerades as Jesus is Jesus.  Think about scams that happen in this world.  They are successful because they play on the immature desire to get something for nothing, or at least, the desire to get an inordinate amount of return on minimal investment.  A mature person is often protected by scams simply because they have grown up in regards to working hard for what you get.  Like a person who has already eaten and therefore is not tempted to eat dessert, the mature person can say, “No, thanks.  I am full.”  We need to be so full of the Truth of Jesus that the lies and deception don’t interest us.  We are not hungry for some new, amazing truth.  We already have the amazing truth of Jesus.

Instead of falling into deceptions, Jesus wants us to speak the truth, but in love.  This has been a problem for the Church.  Typically we have not faltered with having the truth, but we have with sharing it in love.  This too is a sign of maturity.  The mature person does not feel the necessity to control how people respond to the Gospel.  They continue to reach out to people who reject them, and sometimes even persecute them. 

Let me just close with emphasizing verses 15 and 16.  Paul points out that it is our connection to Jesus, the head, is what gives us anything to do and share, both as an individual and as a group.  When we are connected to Jesus, His Truth and spiritual Life will not only mature us, but also enable us to be that fruitful branch that has something to offer others.  May God help us to grow spiritually, by keeping our eyes upon Jesus and taking advantage of those gifts that He has given to help us.

Growing Spiritually audio

Connecting to the Body of Christ

1 Corinthians 12:12-27.  This sermon was preached by Pastor Marty Bonner on February 12, 2017.

Here at Abundant Life Christian Fellowship in Everett, WA, we have summed up the mission that God has for our church in these words: Connect people to the Abundant Life found in Jesus.  Last week we talked about how the starting point is for people to connect to Jesus Christ by putting their trust or faith in his teachings and in his work.  Today, we are going to deal with the reality that those who connect to Jesus will be moved to connect to his body, The Church. 

Of course many people scoff at organizational churches and some of them are Christians.  Let’s recognize up front that this has some justification behind it.  We don’t have time to walk through all of those issues.  But it is important to recognize that the Bible reveals that Jesus is creating a group of followers that can be thought of in macro terms, The Church (at all times and all places), and in the micro (a small, local gathering of some of these believers).  We are all part of the universal, macro Church when we are spiritually born again.  But not all are convinced that micro-gatherings are necessary.  Thus they are content to “believe” in Jesus, and yet never face the issue that Jesus is wanting to connect them to other believers.  Suffice it to say, if we are connecting to Jesus then we have no choice of whether or not we are going to connect to his body because this is what his Spirit is trying to accomplish.  If you have put your faith in Jesus, he is working by His Spirit to connect you to his people in some local expression of his greater body.  Let’s look at the passage before us.

Believers all belong to the Body of Christ

In this passage Paul is explaining to the Corinthians why their worldly thinking in the area of spiritual gifts (and many other areas for that matter) was woefully lacking.  They had developed a very fractured and divisive group of believers in Corinth.  Paul explains that there is only one body, and yet many members.  Here he brings up the analogy of a human body.  Jesus, who was no longer here in the flesh, still has an earthly body, and that is His Church.  Thus each believer represents a diversity of gifts and functioning through which the Holy Spirit fits us together in order to operate as Christ’s body.  Now, Paul’s focus is on the individual members.  Even though they are very different, they are still part of one body, just as the individual parts of the body are vastly different and yet all work together for the one body.  Though he doesn’t state this here, in Ephesians 4:11-16 Paul explains that Jesus himself is the head of this body.  Just as the brain sends signals to very different aspects of the body to do very different things, it is all for the singular good of the whole body.  The Corinthians understood the diversity, but not that each part is supposed to be directed by the Spirit for the unified good of the whole.  Ephesians 4 makes it even clearer that we who are connected to Jesus by the Spirit, are also supposed to connect to his earthly body through other believers.

Thus all those earthly divisions that divide this world and are used to gain power for certain ones, is not embraced by the Spirit of Christ.  In verse 13 Paul lists 2 of these divisions: race and economic status.  Whether Jew or Gentile, Free or Slave, those who come to Christ are members regardless of what people may say.  You are a member because Jesus says so, and because the Holy Spirit is working to connect you to it.  We who are believers need to be quick to embrace and welcome new believers.  Of course this is easier said than done.  Do you remember how the believers responded to Saul of Tarsus when he repented of persecuting Christians and became one of them?  They were afraid to associate with him at first.

In verses 15-20 Paul points out that our differences are not meant to divide us.  Now he is not talking about doctrinal differences here.  When it comes to the teaching of the Bible and our interpretations, we need to recognize that certain things have always been recognized as essentials to the faith.  You must repent of sin; that is essential.  Another essential is the deity of Jesus Christ, and His coming Day of the Restoration of all things.  I could go on.  But I hope you get the point.  Some “beliefs” are heretical.  They should never be embraced even for the sake of unity.  Why?  Remember we are to unify with other believers of the faith, not those who believe just anything.  A good statement that has been around for several centuries is this: In Essentials Unity, in Non-Essentials Liberty, and in All Things Charity.  Historically we have often divided over non-essentials and generally without much charity.  Paul on the other hand is talking about our spiritual giftedness and our natural background.  Though they may be very diverse, it is not in order to keep us segregated.  The diversity is on purpose and is meant to strengthen the body and better equip it.  So the differences are meant to strengthen our unity, not weaken it.

Notice in verse 15 that Paul gives some examples.  These first examples all involve a member excluding themselves.  In this case, Paul mentions that they may exclude themselves because they aren’t like another member (perhaps a more visible or “distinguished” member).  The Corinthians saw spiritual gifts as a sort of heavenly commendation.  They all wanted to speak in other languages because in their social context that represented the highest gift.  Of course Paul tells them that they are wrong.  In their mentality, speaking in tongues was a sign that you were extremely close to God.  The more unintelligible something was, the closer to God it must be.  Paul explains to them that this is completely backwards.  The whole reason why the Spirit of God draws believers together is so that they can encourage one another.  Thus Paul, who had nothing against speaking in tongues, counseled them to at least have their “tongues” interpreted so that it could help the other believers.  The Corinthians had it backwards.  The gifts of God (both natural and spiritual) are not given to an individual for their own good, but to enable them to help others.  We need to learn to embrace the natural differences that we have with others, and to also embrace the spiritually diverse ways that God works through us.  When you exclude yourself, the rest of the body goes without the function that God has gifted you with.  No we can’t all be an eye or the lips.  It is not about what I want, but about how God is fitting me into the body.  Don’t exclude yourself because you take away from what God has for others, and you lose out on what God wants to give you through those others.

In verse 21 the example switches.  Notice that here the parts are excluding others.  The proud members can exclude the “weaker” members.  Of course this was being interpreted by worldly thinking and not the mind of Christ.  All new Christians are “weak” in the faith because their faith hasn’t weathered the storms of doubts, fears, and persecution that older Christians have.  Thus those who are strong should not exclude the weak, but quite the opposite.  Your strength is not for you, it is for the sake of the weak.  Help them and strengthen them.  Pride has the tendency to exclude others, whereas shame has the tendency to exclude self.  But in Christ, both pride and shame are supposed to be dealt with at the cross.  The cross speaks to our pride and says, “Only Jesus is worthy of our boasting.”  The cross speaks to our shame and says, “This is how greatly and by whom you are loved!”  Thus the proud come away humbled and the shameful come away healed.  On one hand none of us are anything, and yet, on the other hand, we are everything to God.  This great tension is meant to take vastly different people and help them to be welded into a unit called the body of Christ.  However, it is only possible if we are listening to the Spirit and being led by Him.

Do not look to leadership or being a pastor as something great.  These are not the greatest positions within the Church.  These are actually positions of servitude.  True leaders who are lead by the Holy Spirit will realize that He is asking them to lay down their lives in order to serve the rest.  Why are they being served?  They are served so that they can do the work of sharing Jesus with the world around them.  There won’t be any pastors in the eternal state.  We will all stand side by side as the adult children of God and enjoy His presence forever.

Connecting to the Body audio