Life on Mission: A United Front

Introduction

Barna group surveyed pastors, identifying Christians, both practicing and non-practicing, people of other faiths, and people of no faith. They asked them “What do you believe makes people doubt Christian beliefs?”. The result might be surprising to you. The number one reason why people doubt Christianity isn’t the resurrection of Jesus, it isn’t unanswered questions, or difficulty reading the Bible. The number one reason is the hypocrisy of religious people and past experiences with a religious institution. Here’s a quote from their research.

“Our data shows that those who are reluctant to affiliate with a church say Christians seem closed and judgmental, or that they often value being right in their beliefs over and above helping others make their own faith discoveries.”

Another survey Barna group did asked people if they had positive or negative feelings about Jesus, spirituality, the Bible, church, pastors, etc. Between all three groups, Christians, people of other faiths, and people of no faith, the consensus was that people are open to the idea of Jesus and His teachings but want nothing to do with the church.

How did we get here as God’s people?

I think our church is a very healthy place to be. Our church is so welcoming and shows so much love to our community, but I think it is good to look at these trends and strategize as we look at living life on mission.

The Secularization of the World and the Church’s Retreat

This call to live on mission that Christ has placed on our lives is not a call to win the world’s affection. It is a call to faithful obedience. Jesus tells us that to follow Him means to welcome hostility from the world.

John 15:18–19 NASB95

“If the world hates you, you know that it has hated Me before it hated you. “If you were of the world, the world would love its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, because of this the world hates you.

The problem the church has experienced in recent years is not that the world hates us because we look like Jesus. In a strange turn of events the world is hating us because we don’t look like Jesus. He has called us out of the world, set us apart to follow Jesus. The temptation for the church is to neglect this command to surrender in exchange for a comfortable Christianity, and when the church gets comfortable it settles. A comfortable church will lose sight of the needs of their community around them. Sharing the Gospel can be uncomfortable. Being generous can be uncomfortable. Helping people in messy situations can be uncomfortable. A church determined to be comfortable will settle with good enough, but nobody is good enough. We need a church who is Christian in action and not Christian in culture only.

Frederick Douglass, a former slave who became a leader in the abolitionist movement before and during the Civil War, wrote in the appendix of one of his autobiographies about the American church he had encountered.

“I am filled with unutterable loathing when I contemplate the religious pomp and show, together with the horrible inconsistencies, which every where surround me. We have men-stealers for ministers, women-whippers for missionaries, and cradle-plunderers for church members. The man who wields the blood-clotted cowskin during the week fills the pulpit on Sunday, and claims to be a minister of the meek and lowly Jesus. The man who robs me of my earnings at the end of each week meets me as a class-leader on Sunday morning, to show me the way of life, and the path of salvation. He who sells my sister, for purposes of prostitution, stands forth as the pious advocate of purity. He who proclaims it a religious duty to read the Bible denies me the right of learning to read the name of the God who made me… We have men sold to build churches, women sold to support the gospel, and babes sold to purchase Bibles for the poor heathen! all for the glory of God and the good of souls! The slave auctioneer's bell and the church-going bell chime in with each other, and the bitter cries of the heart-broken slave are drowned in the religious shouts of his pious master.”

He continues to speak against the things he endured at the hands of the church, but he says his hurt is not from the Christianity of Christ but the Christianity of America. When the church looks Christian and sounds Christians but doesn’t live and serve the way Jesus did she becomes blind to the atrocities done in her name and the atrocities done by the world around her.

There will be people who grow up in the church, and spend their whole life in a Christian culture and never experience true heart change that comes from being transformed by the Gospel. Jesus says in Matthew that many will claim to be Christian.

Matthew 7:22–23 NASB95

“Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?’ “And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness.’

Many will stand before Jesus and say, “I did tons of Christian things. I went to church, I gave money, look what I did, look what I did.” On that day they will learn that being Christian in culture is not our hope for salvation, but the work of Christ alone is our hope. It isn’t about what we have done and accomplished. It is about what Jesus has done on our behalf. In times when it feels like culture is open to Christianity the temptation is to get comfortable, but the world still needs Jesus and the world needs an uncomfortable church.

Today culture is secularizing. America is pulling away from being Christian in culture and is revealing itself for what it has always been, broken and in desperate need of the Gospel. As much as it feels like the world around us is changing and as scary as that may feel the encouragement for all of us is that we have a hope for every season. No matter what happens or who is in charge we don’t have to be afraid of our world. Jesus tells His disciples that the world will hate them, but in the next chapter He encourages them saying,

John 16:33 NASB95

“These things I have spoken to you, so that in Me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world.”

In a world that is constantly changing Jesus remains the same yesterday, today, and forever. The promises for His church do not change, His love for us does not change. He is our refuge and our strength. Our ever present help in times of trouble. This is our confidence, that Christ has won the battle. We don’t have to be afraid of what might come because the victory has been won. For a world that is Christian in culture or a world that has secularized the power of the Gospel stands center stage.

Romans 1:16 NASB95

For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.

If the world is going to hate us, let it be because we are unashamed of what Christ has done. When the church becomes too comfortable and too afraid to proclaim the good news of the Gospel a broken and desperate world sees a powerless church focused on hiding behind appearances and keeping the lost world at arm’s length. Jesus did not hide from this broken world but instead put Himself into our mess. Jesus, knowing the full extent of mankind’s sin chose to die for even the most ungodly of sinners. The comfort of heaven and fear of the world had no sway over our perfect savior. He despised the shame but for the joy set before Him endured the penalty of our sin. This is the power of the Gospel, this suffering Savior is the One who is calling us to take up our cross and follow Him.

Many churches struggle to be obedient to this call with good reason. It is hard to do alone. But it shouldn’t be done alone. God has put us in this community of faith to encourage one another and inspire one another to love and good works. Christ has called us to unity, but many churches are divided. They bicker, they grumble, they argue, they gossip. Instead of being a place of healing and growth it becomes toxic and people get hurt by the church. What do we do with this? What do we do when the church becomes the cause of people’s hurt and the reason for their walking away from the faith?

I think that as God’s people, we need to look internally and see the trends and how we can protect people inside our congregations, build each other up, and enter our mission field as a united front.

A Church Divided Against Itself

In Matthew 12 Jesus says, “A house divided against itself cannot stand”. It was a quote used by Abraham Lincoln before his presidency to describe the condition of the Union. He was preparing for the inevitability of war between two halves of the nation he loved. For the church, our war is not against flesh and blood but against Spiritual darkness. When the church is divided and at war with itself, it is rendered ineffective in this war against Spiritual darkness.

I spend a lot of time thinking about churches. I grew up in church, I’ve spent a lot of time around a lot of different churches and some generalities happen here and there in the life of a church. If you’ll humor me I’d like to give a caricature of some obstacles to unity that the church has struggled with.

A Caricature of the American Church and the War for Personal Preference

It’s 1950 and First Baptist Church of Wherever is thriving. Billy Graham is on the radio and life is good. Church is very traditional and very clean. As the years go by and as the world begins to change they have a general uneasy feeling about the way younger generations do things. They want to dress differently, talk differently, and worship differently and it doesn’t feel Christian. They are afraid of a secular culture infiltrating the church and so there is pressure for younger generations to conform to the status quo. With each year that passes this church begins to cling to tradition more and more. They begin to say things like, “Well this is how we have always done it”. They feel like the world is changing so fast. People are landing on the moon, technology is advancing, they have to get emails. They are forced to adapt to a changing world and so the church becomes a place where things can be as they have always been. Church becomes about what people wear, and what people sing, and First Baptist Church of Wherever pulls away from younger generations for personal preference.

It’s 2000, a new millennium, and younger generations of First Baptist Church of Wherever are growing frustrated with older generations. “They don’t get it, they don’t understand, I’m tired of hymns, I want to wear jeans.” and so the younger generation says, “Let’s go plant a church across the street and call it Wherever Church”. No older generations just young people. This ain’t your grandma’s church. To be at this church you gotta change with the times. The music is loud the lights are dark. They discard the old-time traditions because they aren’t cool enough. They don’t want church as it has always been. And so the church becomes about what people wear, what people sing, and Wherever Church pulls away from older generations for personal preference.

In a war for personal preference, the church is left split.

Older generations feel hurt. They have wisdom to give but nobody to listen. The energy and passion in the church feel empty and they’re afraid this church they love will die. They have been told the way they worship is wrong and the world has moved on.

Younger generations are hurt. They have energy and passion but no wisdom for how to use it. The church feels a mile wide and an inch deep, will it stand the test of time? They have been told the way they worship is wrong and that they shouldn’t look so much like the world.

The church is hurting, people are walking away from the faith, and a new generation of believers will pay the price.

A War for Unity

God desires for all of His people to live in unity. We all come from different backgrounds, different passions and abilities, and different hobbies and interests, but when we gather together as God’s people we have everything in common. His grace is what has brought us here. It is His mercy and forgiveness that defines us. As Christians, we have unity in Christ. All preference and division are laid aside so that we might glorify God together.

This call to unity is produced in us by the Holy Spirit at work in us. In this world we live in unity is not something that comes naturally. The enemy wants us to be divided. He wants us to be angry, bitter, frustrated people. Unity is a supernatural work of God through His people. That being said, unity is a product of sanctification. It takes hard work and effort to cultivate it. With each fruit of the Spirit that is produced in us as we follow Christ, we grow closer and closer in unity. Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Faithfulness, Gentleness, and Self-Control. These things do not come easy. They require sacrifice. They require discipline. One by one these fruits are evidence that we are one people attached to one Vine brought together for one purpose.

Ephesians 4:1–16 NASB95

Therefore I, the prisoner of the Lord, implore you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, showing tolerance for one another in love, being diligent to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit, just as also you were called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all who is over all and through all and in all. But to each one of us grace was given according to the measure of Christ’s gift. Therefore it says, “When He ascended on high, He led captive a host of captives, And He gave gifts to men.” (Now this expression, “He ascended,” what does it mean except that He also had descended into the lower parts of the earth? He who descended is Himself also He who ascended far above all the heavens, so that He might fill all things.) And He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ; until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ. As a result, we are no longer to be children, tossed here and there by waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, by craftiness in deceitful scheming; but speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all aspects into Him who is the head, even Christ, from whom the whole body, being fitted and held together by what every joint supplies, according to the proper working of each individual part, causes the growth of the body for the building up of itself in love.

The Need for Authenticity

Paul begins this passage by telling us to “walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which we have been called”. It is a call to be authentic. The world is hurting. People in the church are hurting. And many have looked to the church for answers and found a people living inconsistent with what the Bible teaches. Let me show some grace, the church is a collection of broken people. It will never be perfect. But that does not change the responsibility placed on the church to be a light in the world. Some Christians live openly in sin. They treat people poorly, they tip bad at restaurants, they are angry grumps with no love. They are hypercritical, they are difficult to be around but they go to church every Sunday even if it’s only to talk politics during Sunday school. They have their arms crossed they don’t look like they want to be there but they go.

You have some people that drink too much, eat too much. They live lives of excess and abuse grace for the sake of living in freedom. There is little concern about surrender or how they are representing Christ just living life to the fullest.

Or you have the folks who look like they have it all together. They dress clean and have a perfect family but underneath they are judgmental. They talk bad about what people wear and gossip to each other saying, “Can you believe she did that? She needs a husband to straighten her out”. They force purity and piety with no thought of grace. I don’t say these things to condemn, I am saying this because this is what the world sees. I know this because this is what I’ve seen in myself. I’ve been all of these things at one point or another and it’s exhausting. Over the years I have been learning to be authentically me. I’m broken. I hurt. But God wants to use me. I am deeply flawed. I am depressingly weak. But God is working through my weakness to demonstrate His power. The world needs to see the church for what it is. A collection of broken sinners saved by grace. Not content in their brokenness but repentant and actively seeking to live out authentically this calling in their lives. The world doesn’t need perfection from the church. They have that in Jesus. What the world needs is a church who can come alongside them and say, “I know where you are at, I understand, Jesus is the answer.”

So, what is this calling that Paul is talking about?

A Call to Christ

In Ephesians 1, Paul says it is in Christ that we have been blessed with every spiritual blessing in heaven. It is in Christ that we have been called and adopted into this family of faith. It is in Christ that we have been sealed and had grace lavished over us. Christ is the subject of our worship, He is our King of Kings and our Lord of Lords. He is the image of the invisible God, creator and ruler of all authorities, He’s the one the angels worship and the one the Father praises. He is eternal. He is an all-sufficient savior. He is the firstborn from the dead, the Alpha and Omega, the Head of the Church. Walking in a manner worthy of the calling begins and ends in Jesus. It cannot be done apart from Him. It should not be attempted. When our focus is taken off of Christ the church wanders. It goes and spends all its energy on things that Jesus cares nothing about. In everything the church does, it must be solely fixed on Christ.

A Call to Be Made New

In Ephesians 2, Paul says by grace we have been made new. We once were dead in sin but now we have been transformed by the grace of Jesus. It isn’t by our works that this has been done but the work of salvation has been won for us by Christ and Him alone. This new identity, this new life is offered to us freely to all by grace and it is received by any who would by faith. Guilt and shame have nothing over us. There is no condemnation against us because we are found in Christ Jesus, our advocate and our redeemer. My life is not my own. I have been bought with a price.

2 Corinthians 5:14–15 NASB95

For the love of Christ controls us, having concluded this, that one died for all, therefore all died; and He died for all, so that they who live might no longer live for themselves, but for Him who died and rose again on their behalf.

Galatians 2:20 NASB95

“I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me.

A Call to be Stewards of Grace

In Ephesians 3, Paul says as receivers of this amazing grace we have now been made stewards of it. This mystery of the Gospel, that God became a man, lived a sinless life, died for our sins, and rose again on the third day, this mystery that changed our eternities we now share with the world. We rest in what Christ has done allowing the Spirit to shape us according to His will. We walk with Christ in grace going wherever He may lead. And we share this good news of God’s plan of redemption with all who might hear.

A Call to Serve

Finally, here in Ephesians 4, Paul tells us that this calling is to live in unity under Christ by loving and serving one another. Christ has given us all giftings and talents. He calls us to different roles in the church. Each person has a way they can contribute to the church. Each of us is working together for the sake of building up the Body to be wise, mature, producing Christians.

This is where humility comes in.

The Need for Humility

Paul says the attitude in which we live out this calling should be “with all humility and gentleness, with patience, showing tolerance for one another in love, being diligent to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace”. When pride slips in and church becomes about what I want, what I’m doing, and what I can get out of it people are bound to get hurt. Pride runs people over but humility picks people up. The best thing to ever happen to me was when I realized coming to church and being a church member wasn’t about me. I have things I’m good at. I have things I can contribute. But church isn’t about making myself look good or showing people how gifted I am. It’s about letting God use me for His people. Sometimes Sundays feel exhausting but that’s okay because God’s people are being built up and God is being glorified. We can take a nap when we get home. When we’re here make the most of the time we have together to serve one another in humility. We don’t have to argue over non-essential doctrines, we don’t have to grumble and complain, we can come together in love, gentleness, patience, diligently preserving this unity we have in the Spirit. When we do that, church goes from being cultural to intentional. It goes from being about personal preference to being about the work of God in us.

Reconstructing the Deconstructed

How do we begin to heal those who we have hurt?

There is a term that has become popular in the last couple years and that term is deconstruction. Deconstruction is “the process of systematically dissecting and often rejecting the beliefs you grew up with”. There is a generation of people who have grown up in the church and are looking critically at the church and the way we do things. How does the church respond in a pandemic? How does it respond in election years? How does it respond when it gets squeezed by circumstances? How does it respond to sin in our culture like homosexuality or racism? Some who are deconstructing are looking for reasons to leave. They’re struggling with the church, they’re angry and hurt, but some are looking for how they can make the church healthier and how they can better follow Jesus.

How do we help people who have become disillusioned with the church? How do we repair the hurt caused by unhealthy churches? How do we rebuild what has been deconstructed?

After the Civil War, America entered into a period known as the Reconstruction era. The union sought to heal the wounds of division caused by war. Newly freed African Americans were looking for a place in this new America that had been made available to them. Many were angry and disillusioned with the Union. Others were disenfranchised and fighting for basic human rights. All these things in the midst of grieving loved ones lost in the bloodiest war in our nation’s history. With an entire nation hurting, how do you begin the process of healing?

What do we do when people we love walk away from the faith? When they walk away from the church because of the hurt and division that they have encountered?

Setting a Strong Foundation

We begin at the foundation. What is a church built on?

Psalm 127:1 NASB95

Unless the Lord builds the house, They labor in vain who build it; Unless the Lord guards the city, The watchman keeps awake in vain.

If a church is built on the backs of individuals it is only a matter of time until it falls. We can’t build a church off of someone’s teaching ability or charisma, we can’t build a church on traditions and programming. Strong churches are built in the hands of God and are anchored on hearing and doing the Word of God.

Matthew 7:24–27 NASB95

“Therefore everyone who hears these words of Mine and acts on them, may be compared to a wise man who built his house on the rock. “And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and yet it did not fall, for it had been founded on the rock. “Everyone who hears these words of Mine and does not act on them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. “The rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and it fell—and great was its fall.”

A wise church is built on hearing and doing the Word of God. Scripture is the final say on everything we do as a people. With a strong foundation built on living out the truth of Scripture, resting in the promises of Scripture, proclaiming the hope we have in Scripture the church is equipped to weather any storm it may face.

Raising Safe Walls

The second step is building safe walls. Churches should be a place of safety physically and spiritually.

Church should be a place of physical safety.

For many, the church is the place where abuse happened. It is where pastors were manipulative to their congregations. Where deacons used their position to bully people. Where Sunday school teachers took advantage of the kids they were teaching. Many are hurt by church because the church has turned a blind eye to protecting the innocent and being a refuge for the broken. As those who have been called by a just God, we are committed to justice. As people who have been called by a God who protects the innocent, we are committed to protecting the innocent. As those who have been called by a God who comforts the brokenhearted, we are committed as God’s people to comforting the brokenhearted.

Church should be a place of spiritual safety.

Many who walk away from the church are wrestling with unanswered questions. Many came with their questions and were met with a response of, “Well you shouldn’t doubt God you shouldn’t ask questions, you just need to have more faith”. God is big enough for any question we bring to Him. We may not have an answer to every question as a church but we can be a place where people can safely wrestle with things without feeling judged or shut down for asking questions. I think about Job’s life and what happened to him. What would it have looked like if his friends, rather than spending 40 chapters arguing with him, if they had come alongside him and loved him through his questioning? “I don’t know why this is happening to you Job, but I know God is good and He loves you.” The book probably wouldn’t have been 42 chapters long. In our hurt and in our questioning we need the church to be a place of safety — a place of healing.

A Roof of Grace

The type of roof you have on your house is very important. It needs to be strong. It needs to protect you from the elements. It can’t be too heavy otherwise it would collapse in on itself. For many years the church has attempted to use legalism as its roof, but works-based religion and legalism are too oppressive to stand up under the weight of them. It is easy to get into a place of being legalistic. It’s just easier. Everything can be black and white and if people disagree you can just hit them over the head with your Bible until you feel good about yourself. Hudson Taylor has a quote that has become very meaningful to me.

“Bear not a single care thyself, One is too much for thee; The work is Mine, and Mine alone; Thy work - to rest in Me.”

What God desires from us more than religious excellence is a relationship, to find our rest in Him. David affirms this in Psalm 51.

Psalm 51:16–17 NASB95

For You do not delight in sacrifice, otherwise I would give it; You are not pleased with burnt offering. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; A broken and a contrite heart, O God, You will not despise.

For many church is oppressive. Do this don’t do this. Wear this don’t wear that. Drink this don’t drink that. Church is more about checking off boxes and hitting a mark than it is about growing in a relationship with Jesus. It can be an unwelcoming place that says and does hurtful and hateful things in the name of Jesus.

But the roof of grace is liberating. There is freedom in grace. Legalism and the law told me everything that was ever wrong with me, but grace is what began to heal me. When I heard the law it inspired rebellion in my heart, but when I heard the voice of grace it made me want to be obedient. Holiness is essential to me. Not because the law told me to be holy but because Christ told me to be holy. Those stone tablets didn’t leave heaven to die on the cross for me but Jesus did. He brought me into this relationship I have with Him and I long to do what my savior calls me to do. For too long the church has taught a works-based view of identity. If you sleep with someone before marriage God hates you and your tainted forever. If you wear that you’re going to cause him to stumble. We treat people like objects. We treat people as worthless, but God sees us as individuals made in His image. Beautiful in His sight. Our sin separated us, we were ugly, and broken, but under grace, we are made new. We are clothed in His righteousness and nothing can take that away.

Legalism and religion have hurt many people. Church hurt can be an ugly thing, but we serve a church-hurt savior. He was despised by His own people and condemned to die by those who claimed to know God. He understands our grief. He understands our suffering. And where it might be easy to say, “The church hurt me, I want nothing to do with the church and with religion” Jesus reminds us that it’s about relationship. He died for the people who hurt Him. And while it might be time to leave that church that hurt you that doesn’t mean God’s not leading you to forgive and that God’s church isn’t worth it. A church under the roof of grace is a church where church-hurt people can heal and be refreshed.

Rooms for All Ages

A healthy church is made up of believers of all ages working together in unity. Everyone has a role to play in maintaining this household of faith we have been adopted into. Calling back to the caricature we talked about earlier, when older generations and younger generations pull away from each other the church suffers.

Young people can be prideful and foolish about how we interact in the church. We don’t have the wisdom that comes from years of experience. We can be know-it-alls and abrasive. We need older generations to help guide us in our passions. Two of the most helpful relationships I have in my life are Marshall and Michael. I have had countless conversations with them about ministry. One of the most helpful things to me is how different they are from me. When I first started working here I was coming out of a place where I felt like I knew it all. I had been leading worship since I was 14 I had started on staff at a church at 19. I had a good amount of experience and felt like nobody should ever question me. I really struggled with worship. I was very set on what I thought worship was supposed to look like. I was very passionate about what songs people should and shouldn’t do and was fairly vocal about it. When Marshall got here it really stretched me. I was leading worship in the interim and when Marshall got here his philosophy was different from mine and I was so frustrated I struggled to participate and I struggled to worship. This lasted for a year or two and through that time God was working on me. Humbling me. My heart had gotten hard and I had no joy in worship because of my pride. I was realizing part of why I was struggling was because it wasn’t me on the stage, I didn’t get to pick the songs, it wasn’t about me. And when God showed me I was making my worship about my ability to worship and about myself I realized something needed to change. God had ceased to be the object of my worship and that is why I was having such a hard time. But God was using Marshall’s wisdom and the conversations we were having to chill me out, to humble me, to help me grow. I started listening more than I was talking and I began to grow and heal. Michael does the same thing. I go to him with questions and frustrations and he helps me work through them. This wonderful process is discipleship.

Young generations need a Paul in their life who can call us out on our nonsense. They help keep us accountable and help foster growth in our Spiritual life. After Solomon died his son Rehoboam took over the kingdom of Israel. Rather than use his father’s council Rehoboam surrounded himself with men his age who gave him bad advice and led to Israel being split into the northern and southern kingdoms. For the church to avoid division it needs wise council. In Ephesians 4 Paul says we need to grow up.

Ephesians 4:14–15 NASB95

As a result, we are no longer to be children, tossed here and there by waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, by craftiness in deceitful scheming; but speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all aspects into Him who is the head, even Christ,

Older generations are needed in the church to help equip and build up younger generations to serve in the church, and as those generations grow in their faith they will get the opportunity to be Pauls to another generation coming after them.

That being said, older generations need a Timothy in their lives not just to invest in but to help carry out the plans of the church. Later in his ministry, Paul was limited in his ability to do all that was needed of him. Timothy became that guy who supported and aided Paul in whatever he needed. Timothy helped deliver a letter, he helped Paul write when his eyesight was poor, he even helped Paul plant some of his churches. God is raising up a generation that is passionate about serving in the church and they need an opportunity to learn those skills firsthand. This is something our church does so well. Things like Student Sunday are a great way for kids to learn how to serve the church. Young generations need attention. That’s why we work so hard to support our kids ministry, our student ministry, and our college ministry. These kids are going to be Pauls to the next generation and if we neglect them we’re setting up a generation to be poor leaders.

There is power in perspective. When we come together as God’s people and listen to each other. We all have something to contribute.

Ephesians 4:16 NASB95

from whom the whole body, being fitted and held together by what every joint supplies, according to the proper working of each individual part, causes the growth of the body for the building up of itself in love.

The church is held together and built up by each individual member of the body bringing something to the table. We don’t contribute for control or out of pride. We contribute in love. Love is the defining characteristic of God’s people. Everything we do together should be done in love.

1 Peter 4:8 NASB95

Above all, keep fervent in your love for one another, because love covers a multitude of sins.

Healing begins and ends in love. Not a superficial love but the supernatural love of Christ working through His people. Let all that we do be done in love.

Open Doors

Finally, a healthy church has open doors. All are welcome here. A church with a heart for the nations welcomes the stranger joyfully. Broken people are drawn to safe spaces and the healthier a church becomes the more hurting people God brings along their path. It can make ministry uncomfortable. It can be a little scary. But healthy churches accomplish much for the Kingdom. We as a church are equipped to help people with their hurts. I know this because I was hurting when I came here. I carry the weight of church hurt with me wherever I go. I have had people in churches mistreat me, and take advantage of me. I have gone through seasons of deconstruction and this church has helped me stay the course and has built me up by your love and support of me and my family. I am so thankful for this church and all that it does and I know we can continue to be a light in our community. But I carry the weight of church hurt everywhere I go. Many days it feels like a wound that refuses to heal. I carry it in insecurities in my ability to be a pastor. For a long time I carried it as a chip on my shoulder. I was angry and bitter. But now I carry it as a testimony of what Christ has done in my life. After Jesus rose He still had His wounds. Thomas reached out and touched them and he believed. If my wounds never heal I pray hurting people might see them and know that God is good. He has been faithful to me every step of the way. There hasn’t been a hurt I have carried alone. If you’re hurting this morning the invitation is to come. Find comfort in a God who is acquainted with our grief. Touch His hands and side and know His love for you.