No Benchwarmers Here?

I remember when I got my first taste of an NAB church. I got to see men who were unapologetic in their faith. Men who would preach the Bible as God’s word. Teaching that we are not the authors of creation, we are not the authors of life or the Bible, and so we should not act like it. They taught that if the Bible said it in the Old Testament and repeated it in the New, maybe we should stop, listen, and apply it.

I remember one Pastor I quite liked. In the first sermon I heard him preach, he said, “I am not here to make friends. If I do, that is a bonus. I am here to preach the truth the Bible says unapologetically, I will not spend the first half of my sermons apologizing for what I am about to say.” I remember that was the first time I leaned forward in church. There was something manly about this pastor. But what I didn’t realize then is there was something Biblical about this pastor.

He was following in the footsteps of Moses, declaring the commands of God in a hostile Egyptian environment. This pastor was following in the footsteps of the prophets like Elijah, who stood up against priests and rulers who wanted to kill him for telling them what God had to say about their current condition. He was following in the footsteps of John the Baptist, who didn’t have a problem declaring the news to anyone who would listen. He was following in the footsteps of Peter and the apostles as they denied the Sanhedrin and continued to speak the word of God everywhere they went. He was following in the footsteps of Paul as he spoke the news Jesus had confronted him with on the road to Damascus. But most importantly, this Pastor was following in the footsteps of Jesus, not shying away from the hard topics and declaring what the Bible says as truth, even when surrounded by nay-sayers in a broken world.

This Pastor was a man to admire. There were also Biblical men in this church who backed the pastor. But of course, some people didn’t like what was being said because it challenged their way of life and their way of thinking. It went against popular worldly norms. The problem is the things the Bible says do, go against worldly norms and, as a result, will always call us into opposition to the world.

The men of this church were often involved with children’s ministry, youth ministry, and worship ministry, among other things. This was impactful as a youth and a child to see the men of the church committed to the upbringing of the next generation. It was impactful as a youth to see men who were willing to leave the flock to run after the one. This church would run events like huge block parties to which everyone and anyone would be invited, they would help change single moms' vehicle oil in the parking lot, and they would go out of their way to try to help someone in hopes that someday they would remember a church of Godly men and woman coming around them and helping them when they were down and out.

This seems to be lost on most churches these days. If there isn’t going to be a massive uptick in a revival or attendance to our church, we question why we should even bother. We question whether or not that was worth the time… What is interesting to me is when I hear farmers say these things or people in farming communities say these things. We, after all, are described as a harvest, fruit, chaff, and grain, so there must be something to apply to this. We get frustrated when we tell people about Jesus, but we don’t see an immediate change of heart. Maybe we don’t get frustrated right away, but we get tired after a while of telling someone over and over and over again. So we give up.

Imagine if we did that to our crops. We put the seed in the ground and walked away, but after a few days, we came back to see little to no results. So we give up. That was a waste of time and money, and effort. The problem is we wouldn’t do that. No farmer worth his salt, or even gardener worth their salt, would put a seed in the ground and just give up a few days later. We know that first, a plot needs to be cleared up of any obstructions, then if we don’t need to till, we put in our seed and fertilizer, then if weeds begin to appear, we deal with them; gardeners weed, farmers might spray. Then if we see fungus forming, gardeners might cut off any infected leaves, and farmers might spray again. Then if we notice pests destroying our plants, we all might spray. Then for certain crops, a farmer will desiccate his crop and then harvest. Then if grain cleaning needs to be done, that will take place. Next everything will be brought to the elevator. But a farmer's job doesn’t end there, he needs to do preventative maintenance on his equipment. If he uses leafcutter bees, he needs to process those. I know I am probably missing steps, but to get a harvest, the farmer needs to patiently keep at the work that is required regardless of how tedious or redundant the work may be.

Mark 4:1-33 points us to a few examples of how we are supposed to “farm” for Jesus,

Mark 4:1–33 NASB95

He began to teach again by the sea. And such a very large crowd gathered to Him that He got into a boat in the sea and sat down; and the whole crowd was by the sea on the land. And He was teaching them many things in parables, and was saying to them in His teaching, “Listen to this! Behold, the sower went out to sow; as he was sowing, some seed fell beside the road, and the birds came and ate it up. “Other seed fell on the rocky ground where it did not have much soil; and immediately it sprang up because it had no depth of soil. “And after the sun had risen, it was scorched; and because it had no root, it withered away. “Other seed fell among the thorns, and the thorns came up and choked it, and it yielded no crop. “Other seeds fell into the good soil, and as they grew up and increased, they yielded a crop and produced thirty, sixty, and a hundredfold.” And He was saying, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.” As soon as He was alone, His followers, along with the twelve, began asking Him about the parables. And He was saying to them, “To you has been given the mystery of the kingdom of God, but those who are outside get everything in parables, so that while seeing, they may see and not perceive, and while hearing, they may hear and not understand, otherwise they might return and be forgiven.” And He said to them, “Do you not understand this parable? How will you understand all the parables? “The sower sows the word. “These are the ones who are beside the road where the word is sown; and when they hear, immediately Satan comes and takes away the word which has been sown in them. “In a similar way these are the ones on whom seed was sown on the rocky places, who, when they hear the word, immediately receive it with joy; and they have no firm root in themselves, but are only temporary; then, when affliction or persecution arises because of the word, immediately they fall away. “And others are the ones on whom seed was sown among the thorns; these are the ones who have heard the word, but the worries of the world, and the deceitfulness of riches, and the desires for other things enter in and choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful. “And those are the ones on whom seed was sown on the good soil; and they hear the word and accept it and bear fruit, thirty, sixty, and a hundredfold.” And He was saying to them, “A lamp is not brought to be put under a basket, is it, or under a bed? Is it not brought to be put on the lampstand? “For nothing is hidden, except to be revealed; nor has anything been secret, but that it would come to light. “If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear.” And He was saying to them, “Take care what you listen to. By your standard of measure it will be measured to you; and more will be given you besides. “For whoever has, to him more shall be given; and whoever does not have, even what he has shall be taken away from him.” And He was saying, “The kingdom of God is like a man who casts seed upon the soil; and he goes to bed at night and gets up by day, and the seed sprouts and grows—how, he himself does not know. “The soil produces crops by itself; first the blade, then the head, then the mature grain in the head. “But when the crop permits, he immediately puts in the sickle, because the harvest has come.” And He said, “How shall we picture the kingdom of God, or by what parable shall we present it? “It is like a mustard seed, which, when sown upon the soil, though it is smaller than all the seeds that are upon the soil, yet when it is sown, it grows up and becomes larger than all the garden plants and forms large branches; so that the birds of the air can nest under its shade.” With many such parables He was speaking the word to them, so far as they were able to hear it;

I love this parable because the farmer doesn’t prejudge where he is to spread his seed. He just goes and does it. By the way, if you haven’t caught on, the seed the farmer is spreading is God’s word. Now I am someone who argues that the whole Bible, from cover to cover, is indeed God’s word and should be counted as the final authority in all matters, so when it comes to passages like 2 Timothy 3:16-17 I believe in applying the whole Bible and not just bits and pieces:

2 Timothy 3:16–17 NASB95

All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work.

We need to bring the news of Jesus everywhere we go. We often think of the Great Commission as the command to go, which it is. But I rather like that command to go from Acts 1:8 where Jesus says:

Acts 1:8 NASB95

but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth.”

The command here gets more specific than in Matthew 28:19-20. In Matthew, the command is to go to all nations. But in Acts the command is to go to Jerusalem, Judea, and Samaria. I like to look at it like this, Jesus commands us in this instance to go tell our families, our friends, and also those who we do not like. How often do we avoid the topic of Jesus because we are scared of the conflict that the name of Jesus brings? How often do we steer away from conversations about the sins of this world? Sins such as, drunkenness, working too much (one which I struggle with sometimes, you can ask Chelsea I just can’t leave work alone when I know something needs to be done), not working enough, sex, premarital sex, pornography, abortion, LGBTQ+ issues etc. etc. This month has been declared as pride month, and most people are uncomfortable engaging in the conversations that are happening around us because they don’t want to be offensive… it’s a good thing Jesus didn’t offend anyone or hurt anyone's egos or pride, hey? Didn’t sense the sarcasm? Jesus stood in opposition to normal everyday life. People hated him for it and wanted to kill him! If we are to take after the Biblical examples, we shouldn’t be shying away from these conversations. In fact, these conversations should be happening in our church. We shouldn’t be apologizing for what the Bible says we should be standing upon the rock of which it is.

Recently, I have been talking to different people within our church, and some people have expressed concerns that our church is merely “showing up to play church.” I couldn’t help but notice this as well. This last week I especially couldn’t help but notice it amongst the men. To be clear it is not all men, ( I WILL SAY IT AGAIN IT IS NOT ALL MEN!) There are certainly some women, and some youth who are just playing church as well. We show up, and we want to consume at church. We show up to the ball game and we watch everyone else take up their places around the ballpark, but we elect to just sit in the dugout warming the bench. I look at our Sunday school program, and it is mostly women who teach, I look at our Awana program and its mostly women who volunteer, I look at our Youth program and its mostly women who volunteer there as well. I hear young men in and around our church community saying that the men of the church need to stand up and be the men, but even they don’t show up. The children, the youth, and this church need men (both young and old) who are willing to stand up and be a Godly presence in their lives. Who are willing to call out sin as sin and point people to God’s mercy.

Husbands, fathers, uncles, men of the church if you are not willing to open up the Bible with the children in your lives, if you are not willing to pray with them, if you are not willing to show up to church regularly, if you are not willing to tithe to support your church and if you are not willing to help spiritually lead in the church you are setting a precedence that teaching and being involved in most ministry settings, other than serving communion and preaching behind the pulpit, is a woman’s job; and that should be the farthest thing from the truth!

Ephesians 6:4 says:

Ephesians 6:4 NASB95

Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.

Fathers are to bring up their children in the training and instruction of the Lord. I apply this to anyone who has the opportunity to be a Fatherly figure (no matter how mature or immature). Big brother? Pay attention! Uncle? Pay attention! Older unattached college and careers guy? Pay Attention! You have a kid somewhere looking up to you. What are you showing them? There are kids in this church who need to be adopted by a “fatherly” figure who is willing to love them, train them and instruct them.

Now I do want to give some encouragement there are men and couples I admire a lot in our church. One couple teaches Sunday school together, the other couple helps at the youth group. As a husband and a wife, they knowingly or unknowingly show those who they are ministering what a husband and a wife in Christ are. This speaks volumes to the kids in our church. Imagine when you were younger how it would have impacted you if a husband and a wife took the time to minister to your class together. It shows the kids and youth of our church that outward ministry (e.g. Sunday school, youth group, VBS) should be run by both the men and the women of our church.

Men, I know that this has been heavy, I don’t intend to say that it is just me and a bunch of women doing God's work in the church. The truth is the men of the “church” around the world have taken a back seat to the women as leaders in these programs, but that's also part of the feminization of the church, and that is the world pushing its agenda in the church. We do need to recognize that there are men doing ministry work that isn’t advertised, we have men doing maintenance for our church, and we have men who spend time reaching out on the phone and having coffee with people both inside the church and outside the church.

Ultimately God's word calls men to be leaders in their homes, churches, and communities. As much as the world would like to lie to us and say that men and masculinity are toxic. God's word says otherwise. The fact is: decisive, boldly loving, straightforward men NEED to say no to the culture and stand in the gap God has called them to. Will you be the men God made you to be, and stand in the gap?

Now we have grads here, who I will be calling up in a second; our grads in some instances are going to be heading out and leaving our community. Grads, hopefully, as you heard this message, you understand the importance of realizing that there are children who look up to you as well. Hopefully, you realize that once you find a church to call home, wherever you end up, your call is to not be a bench warmer. God is calling you to use the gifts that God has given you and boldly proclaim the truth the Bible has to say everywhere you go!

I want to end with this charge to everyone here: DON’T BE A BENCH WARMER! BE THE CHURCH. GET INVOLVED IN THE WORK GOD HAS ORDAINED US TO DO.

I want to call up our graduating youth, we have a gift for you, and I want to read and highlight a passage for you. Then our board and deacons want to lay hands and commission you to go out into the next season of your life.

Romans 12 says this:

Romans 12 NASB95

Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect. 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. For just as we have many members in one body and all the members do not have the same function, so we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another. Since we have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, each of us is to exercise them accordingly: if prophecy, according to the proportion of his faith; if service, in his serving; or he who teaches, in his teaching; or he who exhorts, in his exhortation; he who gives, with liberality; he who leads, with diligence; he who shows mercy, with cheerfulness. Let love be without hypocrisy. Abhor what is evil; cling to what is good. Be devoted to one another in brotherly love; give preference to one another in honor; not lagging behind in diligence, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord; rejoicing in hope, persevering in tribulation, devoted to prayer, contributing to the needs of the saints, practicing hospitality. Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep. Be of the same mind toward one another; do not be haughty in mind, but associate with the lowly. Do not be wise in your own estimation. Never pay back evil for evil to anyone. Respect what is right in the sight of all men. If possible, so far as it depends on you, be at peace with all men. Never take your own revenge, beloved, but leave room for the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,” says the Lord. “But if your enemy is hungry, feed him, and if he is thirsty, give him a drink; for in so doing you will heap burning coals on his head.” Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

Please rise to recieve the Benediction which I will read from 1 Peter 4:10-11:

1 Peter 4:10–11 NASB95

As each one has received a special gift, employ it in serving one another as good stewards of the manifold grace of God. Whoever speaks, is to do so as one who is speaking the utterances of God; whoever serves is to do so as one who is serving by the strength which God supplies; so that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom belongs the glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.