Built on Sacrifice, Not Spotlight

Introduction

If you are humble nothing will touch you, neither praise nor disgrace, because you know what you are. -Mother Teresa

How do we as the church, spiritually prosper?

We walk as a body humbly serving one another with selflessness, not as a body selfishly seeking out how we can be served

A lot of it is dependent on us at an individual level

As an individual what dictates your actions, a spirit of selflessness or a selfishness?

In order to be the church we are called to be we must strive to be selfless because in the words of Yoda, “Do. Or Donot. There is no try.”

This morning we will look at a passage that puts these two things into a comparison.

Selflessness (v. 32-37)

As this passage talks of a healthy church it moves into introducing a healthy church member, Barnabas

Barnabas is mentioned 23 times in Acts as he is very active in missionary work and teaching, but this is the first time we encounter him and as we do a very vital part of his character is shown, selflessness

Selflessness is the Christ-like virtue of willingly setting aside one’s own rights, desires, and well-being for the sake of God’s glory and the good of others, rooted in love, humility, and trust in God's provision. It is the death of ego, not of personhood.

Selflessness allows us to reflect the image of God in the unique way he has created and gifted us

In the text this morning we see three things out of a spirit of selflessness:

Unity

As we follow the words of Philippians 2:3

Philippians 2:3 ESV

Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves.

Selflessness encourages empathy and an attitude of how can I better serve my brother and sister

conflicts resolve and diminish, leading to greater unity

Disagreements are no longer about having my view or my way but what benefits the body as a whole even if it may mean sacrifice on my part

Unity in the church is not uniformity of personalities, but the Spirit-led harmony of the people living out one faith, under one Lord, in mutual love and sacrificial service.

Provision

God provided the means to meet the needs

In this passage God was meeting the physical needs of his people as the early church was taking off

They were not in a fight over titles/positions, they were not lost in endless debates on policy, but were focused on doing the work of God in trusting in his provision

God still provides today, and do not confuse this as an invitation not to work (2 Thessalonians 3:10), but do trust God in your work situation and the sacrifices of time and resources God has called you to serve Him.

He is not looking for your excuses, but your obedience

He knows the obstacles, He has a plan

Also don’t waste His provision

Something else to note is the Christian life is not about finding out how you can be served to have needs met, but how can you serve and meet needs

Coming to church the mindset should not be how does this church serve me, but how has God called me to serve within his body

What need am I to meet?

Hospitality

How do I make the visitor feel welcomed?

Encouragement and prayer

How am I encouraging and praying for other members?

Mentoring

How are you sharing what God has taught you?

Tithe

2 Corinthians 9:7 “Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.”

When you start to serve selflessly your joy will be much deeper as you seek out to meet the needs around you

For success, like happiness, cannot be pursued; it must ensue... as the unintended side-effect of one’s dedication to a cause greater than oneself. -Viktor Frankl (Holocaust survivor)

To take the principal of this quote, unity is not pursued but must ensue

Encouraging

Barnabas means “son of encouragement” , which as we will see is a very fitting name for him

Philippians 2:3–4 ESV

Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others.

We become more of an encourager in selflessness because it takes our mindset beyond our three foot circle

When we look beyond our world we start to see the issues existing in other people’s worlds allowing us to step into their three foot circle so to say and serve them, ultimately encouraging them

When we serve selflessly, we train our minds in the concept of dying to self.

As we have seen a healthy church is deeply linked to a healthy church member. This is what we see here as scripture transitions from the profile of a healthy church into a profile of Barnabas

Barnabas emerges as an example of Christlike selflessness — a man who laid down ego, embraced service, and lived out unity, provision, and encouragement not as ideals to be pursued, but as fruits that flow from a life surrendered to others for the glory of God.

Selfishness

So this short snippet of a healthy church member is followed immediately with the word “but”

Following this but is a profile of a dangerous church member, a selfish member

First of all A & S did not die because they did not tithe the right amount, but because they gave an allusion of doing so in order to give an allusion of great righteousness in their life

That righteousness was not there, this act was one of their unrighteousness beginning to enter the assembly of believer

Their actions were about to flood over from their four walls into the “four walls” of the church

In their story we can see a few things that come out of a spirit of selfishness

It affects our ability to lead / mentor well

Ananias failed to lead his wife well

When we lead selfishly our mindset goes into how can this decision benefit me the most

We stop taking into account how the decision affects those around us or at what cost the decision comes to others around us

A leader is great, not because of his or her power, but because of his or her ability to empower others. -John Maxwell

Then on the flipside it affects our ability to follow well

Sapphira may have not committed the action physically, but she knew and chose to follow bad leadership

A selfish heart can make us follow bad leadership and neglect good leadership

Sapphire followed the poor leadership of her husband into lying to attempt to get false praise and approval out of the good leadership in their lives

Selfishness makes us look to ourselves for provision rather than trusting in the provision of God

As this passage makes clear God is the sustainer of life

All their plans were dependant on the breathe God allowed to enter their lungs

Proverbs 19:21 ESV

Many are the plans in the mind of a man, but it is the purpose of the Lord that will stand.

Outro

I want to go back to the beginning of what we read this morning to wrap up with a thought

Acts 4:33 “And with great power the apostles were giving their testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and great grace was upon them all.”

a healthy church was allowing for the gospel to be preached and for people to be discipled well

Reflect on your character this morning, no one else’s but yours

Do you have a selfless heart that is a part of empowering the gospel ministry of Hurricane to be all it can?

Do you have a selfish heart that is part of opposing the gospel ministry of Hurricane to be all it can?

Will you be a Barnabas this week and speak life into someone’s life inviting the joy of the Lord into your life

Or

Will you be an Ananias or Sapphira living in such a way inviting the wrath of God into your life

#It’s not about being seen—it’s about being surrendered.