What is More Attractive? (3)

What is more attractive than serving together?

An argument against outsourcing in the church

Our world over many decades now has become a world of outsourcing. When we hear that word, outsourcing, we may think of a company outsourcing their manufacturing to a country like China. Or a company may outsource their customer service over the phone to India, so we call a company for help and the person on the other end is actually across the globe. That is one type of outsourcing, but each of us does outsourcing, whether we realize it or not.

Here’s an example of outsourcing. When I was a young boy, my dad changed his own oil. He would spend a Saturday morning under the car, emptying the old oil, replacing the filter, putting new oil in, and dumping the old oil in the alley. Sometimes we would then wash the car together as a family. But there came a point in time where my dad did not change his own oil anymore.

I didn’t interview him about this, but I suspect that the main reason is there came a point in time where his time was more valuable than the cost of paying someone else to change the oil. That, and it was easier to change oil back in the day. Some cars now leave very little maneuvering space to get the filter off, but either way, at some point, my dad decided that either it wasn’t worth the hassle or his time, and he didn’t change his own oil anymore. Sometimes he had my brother do it, and often he took it to a shop. He doesn’t wash his own car anymore, either.

We outsource a lot of things. 50 years ago, most homeowners would do much of their own minor plumbing jobs, electrical work, and carpentry. But now most people hire at least some of that out. Small business owners who used to hole themselves up in the office for a couple days a month to do the books and the payroll outsource that job to a bookkeeper or accounting firm. We also outsource much of the job of cooking. Where many hours used to be spent in the kitchen preparing every meal, now most people would buy a frozen lasagna rather than make their own.

Now, none of us go through the day thinking about the fact that we are outsourcing. Most of us don’t spend our time while we are waiting for the oil change to be done contemplating how we are outsourcing this job. We don’t normally put that Marie Calendar lasagna in the oven and think about how in the past, having a lasagna that good would require hours in the kitchen. People don’t normally drop their kids off at school and reflect on the fact that public schools have only existed for the last century or so, and before that, most learning came directly from the family unit.

We outsource a lot. It is so much a part of our lives we don’t even think about it. So out is no wonder we do the same thing in the church. There is a book that mentions this concept called “I am a Church member” by Thom Ranier. He talked about how when his family joined the country club when he was young, he learned the privileges of membership. Dues were paid, and in exchange, certain benefits were available. Only members could come and swim and golf, etc. He talked about how this attitude quickly changed his thinking. He was enjoying the benefits of membership.

His point is that this idea, unfortunately, often creeps into the church. Many people see it this way: We pay dues (offerings), and we expect certain benefits. And to be certain, there are many benefits of being part of the church, but when we start thinking with the country club mindset, we will lose out as individuals and as a church body. And the message this morning is about serving together and the benefits of doing that.

In the country club, members become accustomed to the services they receive. They may not take advantage for a month or two, but when they return they expect those services to be available. And in the church, many people expect things to be available even though they rarely participate in them. We could point our fingers at mega churches and talk about how those people expect all of these services. And when they don’t have all the services they wanted, they look to another church. It would be easy to project this onto only those in larger churches, but it can happen in small churches as well. Everyone has expectations of what the church should offer, and rarely will you find two people who agree on every single thing.

So when we talk about service in the church, most people think about things that involve work. And this is what James refers to:

James 2:14–20 ESV

What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him? If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and filled,” without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that? So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead. But someone will say, “You have faith and I have works.” Show me your faith apart from your works, and I will show you my faith by my works. You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe—and shudder! Do you want to be shown, you foolish person, that faith apart from works is useless?

James here is talking about physical works, or deeds. You often hear someone say “I did my good deed for the day”. That is sort of what James is talking about here. Christians should be known for their good deeds, it should be a natural part of our lives. Note that in verse 15 James gives the object of the works he is talking about “If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food”.

In the New Testament, in most cases where we see a qualifier like brother or sister, it is referring to people of shared faith. I believe James is speaking here directly of our concern for each other inside the church. We should be concerned within the body of believers to help each other out. If someone has no food, or clothing, or shelter in the church, we should do something about that if we are able to. Our good deeds are not to be exclusive to the church, but they ought to start here.

Some churches focus so much on what they call compassion ministries to those outside the church that they may be neglecting needs inside their church. Think of it this way: If you are a parent, and your finances are tight, and you have $50 left until next payday to buy food for your family for the week, you wouldn’t be responsible if you took that $50 and put it into a donation jar to help needy children. You take care of your own family’s needs first, and you may evaluate during the next pay period whether you can help others as well. Our hope should be to help others, but we must never neglect our own family.

So the world James is speaking of are works towards one another, towards a brother or sister. He mentions specific works, taking care of physical needs. So this is one type of service that we can do in the church, to help each other.

Some people hear the words service in regards to church and they think of physical work such as cleaning the church, or mowing the lawn, or painting, things like that. And we are very thankful that in this church, we have volunteers that do things like that. An obvious benefit to having volunteers to do those things is that if we have volunteers to do those things, we don’t have to pay someone to do it, and that helps our budget. But another great benefit to doing those types of things is that working together builds camaraderie. When we have had work days, we have has people enjoying each others company.

It was fun to work together, and the work went very quickly because we had a lot of help, and it was satisfying to see the end result of those projects. Working together builds relationships. In marriage counseling, couples are often advised to do work together, whether yard work, or cleaning the house or doing the dishes. Working side by side in a common goal, big or small, builds relationships. So when we talk of service to the church, those types of works come to mind, and that is one way to think about it.

Sometimes the word service in our English translations of the Bible are indeed referring to deeds or works. But there is another type of service as well, and that is a word that means ministry. For example, Paul praises the man Onesiphorus, saying:

2 Timothy 1:18 ESV

may the Lord grant him to find mercy from the Lord on that day!—and you well know all the service he rendered at Ephesus.

Paul also, in speaking of cheerful giving, says:

2 Corinthians 9:13 ESV

By their approval of this service, they will glorify God because of your submission that comes from your confession of the gospel of Christ, and the generosity of your contribution for them and for all others,

So many times, service comes from a Greek word that means the service of ministry. That Greek word, diakonia (Dee ah konia), from which the word deacons comes, is sometimes translated to service, and sometimes to ministry. But the word clearly means a ministry. And indeed, ministry is work. The word Ergon in greek is the word translated to mean work or deeds. So when we do things like provide food or clothing, or paint, we are doing Ergon (erron), which means works or deeds.

But we have a phrase in scripture that uses both of these words. “The work of ministry”. And here is where we find it:

Ephesians 4:11–12 ESV

And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ,

The work (or deeds) of ministry or service. The ergon (erron), works or deeds, of (diakonia), ministry or service. We see then that there is an important work to do that God want the saints to do, and we know that by saints he means all of the family of Christ. It isn’t something we outsource to the pastors or teachers, but it is actually in a sense the other way around. A clear reading of this text is that it is the saints, or if you want to use the word laypeople, that are to be equipped to do the work of ministry.

So God gave apostles & prophets. We don’t have face to face access to these, but we have their inspired words recorded in scripture and these contain all that we need for this equipping. And he gave evangelists, shepherds, and teachers. These we do have in the church today, to equip the saints fo the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ. So it is important that we understand the church is not a country club, we should not simply pay our dues and expect to be served. Nor should we assume we can outsource our responsibilities as members of the body of Christ.

The saints (all who are saved) are to do the work (Ergos) of ministry (diakonia). The evangelists, shepherds and teachers are to equip those saints for that ministry. And what reason does Paul have in mind when he writes this?

Ephesians 4:11–16 ESV

And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes. Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.

Let’s take these one at a time: First, that we all attain to the unity of the faith: In other words, to be unified in our understanding of our faith, which requires the work of studying God’s Word and learning, and to be unified in heart and spirit as we live out the faith together.

“and of the knowledge of the Son of God”. Again, this requires learning, and that learning comes from hearing God’s word, reading it for ourselves, discussing it, and through prayer.

“to mature manhood” We know from other scripture that by maturity Paul means that we are solid in our understanding of our faith and in living it out.

“To the full measure of the fullness of Christ” So we are to be so filled with Christ, striving to be like him and as much as is in our abilities to measure up to the grace he has given us.

“So that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes.” Ah, so here we see the danger. Now, remember, all of these things are the reason behind Paul’s encouragement that the saints be equipped for the work of ministry. Without becoming equipped, you will be storm tossed, falling for false doctrines, unable to tell what is right and wrong.

There have been competing ideologies against the ways of God for all of human history, but in today’s world, we are truly inundated with false ideas. The only way a Christian can remain confident in the ability to discern the truth is to be equipped, but God has provided for the Christian to be equipped by giving to the church apostles and prophets (who we can learn from through scripture) and evangelists, shepherds and teachers (Who help explain and apply the Word).

Just as one must coming willingly to the cross of Christ, those who desire to be equipped for the work of ministry must be willing to become equipped. Our desires determine what we know. I had a friend in high school, and he really struggled with getting good grades. He worked very hard. He had to study way more than I did. He wanted to do better in life than his dad, who had worked a very low income job his whole life, and died early.

My friend worked hard for his grades and still was a B student. He just had a lot of trouble with school. But he had a passion for auto mechanics. He would rebuild engines, he could do any repair on older cars. He was like an encyclopedia when it came to American muscle cars. He would see a car, and he could tell you what year it was, and what possible engine choices were available that model year, and what transmissions they were paired to, and what kind of carburetor it had, and what the compression ratio was. It was amazing to me. Here was a guy who worked his tail off just to get B grades, but when it came to his passion, he was a genius in that area.

Our desires determine what we know. For my friend it was muscle cars, and you may know someone who knows tons of baseball stats, or everything about fishing, or whatever it is. The point is this: That if our passion is for Jesus, we will seek out and latch onto the opportunities we have to learn more about him. I know one thing for sure: I can’t nag someone enough to make them have a passion. I may be able to nag you to participate in some church activity, I may be able to guilt you into giving, I may be able to persuade you to attend church more often, but I cannot create a passion in you. Only the Holy Spirit can do that.

For those that have this passion to grow, and to serve, and to do the work of ministry, and who are willing to be taught and are willing to follow, then the opportunities abound. For those who have no passion to do these things I will never convince you. Sometimes people want leaders to pull along followers. Think if we were on a narrow hiking path and the way up got tough. If you are following a leader, you may ask them to give you a hand up a steep incline. So long as you are willing to put effort in yourself, that leader will lean back, put his hand out, and offer it to you.

What doesn’t work is to demand the leader carry you. What doesn’t work is to expect the leader to pull you or push you without your cooperation. You see, a true leader loves to help those who follow. A true leader desires to make leaders out of his followers. And a true follower understands this and it becomes a cooperative effort.

2 Corinthians 13:8–10 ESV

For we cannot do anything against the truth, but only for the truth. For we are glad when we are weak and you are strong. Your restoration is what we pray for. For this reason I write these things while I am away from you, that when I come I may not have to be severe in my use of the authority that the Lord has given me for building up and not for tearing down.

Paul was happy to be weak when his followers were strong. He didn’t desire to always be the one with the strength, and he did not want to be severe. Paul was calling on the Corinthian church to mature and grow, so that he would not have to be harsh.

This message is not a complete treatment of what Scripture says about service, but I hope that some of these important points were understood. We have work or deeds to do. And we also have spiritual work to do. Our lives of worship should be of willing service, not under compulsion. Elders are supposed to serve willingly, not under compulsion, 1 Peter 5:2. Paul asked for the release of a brother, but asked it be done willingly, not under compulsion, Phileman 14. He also said that giving should be done cheerfully, not under compulsion, and I believe this means giving of time, work, as well as financial giving.

In the church, our service should be willing service. That means the works or deeds we do should be done with gladness and joy and also the spiritual work, the work of the ministry, be done so as well.

In closing, I ask that each one here would consider this message, and whether the service they give is because they feel under obligation or whether it is done with joy. If you aren’t doing anything now, then consider how you can contribute to the body of Christ. God has given each of us talents and abilities for the benefit of each other. Finally, remember that the most important service that you have is to be equipped for the work of ministry,

Ephesians 4:12–14 ESV

to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes.

And this is a work we all must be willing participants in, because we cannot outsource our duties to our Savior.