Adaptable Church

Introduction

-Adaptable. Stories: Me being a stickler for time at camp and about to lose my marbles for not keeping the schedule. -Travelling as a kid getting there was not half the fun, the goal was to get there as fast as possible. Our stops matched this.

As a church, sometimes we can get set in our ways: wanting to do things the way we always have, staying where we’re comfortable, and keeping from rocking the boat.

The church through the ages has been nothing if not adaptable. Not adapting doctrine, the truth of God or the gospel. But being adaptable in practice: how we live our faith, how we connect with non-believers, how we deliver the gospel, etc. Satan and the world throws various curve balls at the church and she has always been able to take it in stride and carry on. Not only surviving but thriving in the midst of chaos.

I. Adaptable In…

A. Accepting New People (Acts 9:20-31)

1. The church had been under intense persecution by a man named Saul. He arrested, beat, and killed Christians because they proclaimed faith in Jesus instead of the Law. The attack on Christianity was so intense that the Christians spread all over the world. In ch. 8 we read about Philip who went to Samaria to preach the gospel. Now, in ch. 9, Saul got permission to travel to Damascus to persecute the church there. On the way he met someone he didn’t expect, Jesus. The Lord asked the question, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?” Saul responded, “Who are you Lord?” The answer would have been shocking: “I am Jesus whom you are persecuting.” Jesus commanded Saul to go into Damascus and he would be told what to do. Of course, we know the rest of the story. Saul was blind for 3 days and was healed by Ananias who told him how to become a Christian. Saul converted to Christ: the head persecutor become that which he swore to destroy. It was a true transformation: now, instead of persecuting Jesus, Saul began preaching Jesus (Acts 9:20-22)

The Jews plotted against Saul and it became known to him. So, the Christians helped him escape and Saul went back to Jerusalem where he was met with a new challenge: being accepted by the church (Acts 9:26). You can understand their hesitation: how many months has Saul been relentlessly attacking the church? How many families had been broken up, friends killed, and Christians cowering in fear because of Saul? They’re probably thinking, “This is just a trick to draw us out of hiding.” All of that changed when one man took a stand (Acts 9:27-31).

Barnabas was his advocate. He took hold of Saul, brought him before the apostles, told his testimony, and they accepted him. Saul moved about freely with those Christians, speaking boldly about Jesus. Even when the Jews tried to take up the mantle of persecution and tried to kill Saul then the church protected him and all the churches enjoyed peace, comfort, and growth. It all started because one man looked past the surface and forgave Saul’s history. He put his arm around Saul like a brother and brought him into the fold. Only then did the church prosper.

2. We are naturally drawn to people that look, think, and act like us. Everyone feels that way. The way to make an instant friend is to find something you have in common: working at the same place, enjoying the same food, watching the same movies, being in the same bowling league, etc. One of the reasons we love the church is that it’s a safe space where we feel comfortable and can get closer to God. Sometimes the hard part is remembering why the church exists: Matthew 28:19 “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,” We are called to be disciples who make disciples. That means we will bring people to Jesus of every background, some of which are hard for us to accept.

Accepting new people can be a challenge for a lot of us. But let’s remember that there is something that binds us together: Jesus. We now have something major in common: the same blood of Jesus covers us, the same Holy Spirit lives in us, and the same Father is over us. The church enjoys peace, comfort, and growth (spiritually and numerically) when we humble ourselves to say, “I’m going to stick my neck out for someone new so that we can all enjoy Jesus together.” Let’s be open to new people and show them the love of Jesus, because He unites us. The church is adaptable: we accept new people with various backgrounds so we can all get to the same person: Jesus.

B. Rejection (Acts 13:44-52)

1. Saul didn’t remain Saul for very long, soon, he became known as Paul and Barnabas stayed right by his side. The church at Jerusalem set them apart to be missionaries. Paul and Barnabas began their travels and ended up at Pisidian Antioch where they went into the synagogue on the Sabbath to share the gospel. A few followed Paul and Barnabas. Surely, they’d have more success preaching at the synagogue again, right? Wrong! (v. 44-45). You know what happens when people get jealous? They start name-calling and insulting. The Jews did that very thing.

What did Paul/Barnabas do? They shook the dust off their feet and moved on (v. 46-52). They went to the Gentiles and there was immense joy. Many believed and the Word of God spread. Further persecution broke out but Paul and Barnabas didn’t stop their ministry, they travelled to Iconium to preach there. Notice the result, the disciples were continually filled with joy and the Holy Spirit

2. We all have to deal with rejection in life. It’s something that we hate. Out of fear of rejection we never tell that special person how we feel, or we never apply to that new job, or we refuse to have that hard conversation. Learning to deal with rejection is a must because it happens. Paul and Barnabas modeled it beautifully, they were adaptable.

They were bringing the gospel to people. At first there was good success but then our worst nightmare happened: people disagreed, challenged, and insulted. Did Paul and Barnabas cower? No!

1) Nearly the whole city gathered to hear them, they were not failures. 2) Paul/Barnabas were not rejected, the gospel was. The fault was on the Jews. Don’t take other’s rejection of God personally. 3) They moved on to find people that would listen.

When we face rejection for Christ we need to remember to be adaptable: 1) their rejection is not personal against you, even if they insult you. There’s usually an underlying struggle there. 2) Keep moving forward until you find those who will listen. Keep serving God and He will grant success. Your faithfulness is blessed with joy and the Holy Spirit. Be bold for God and watch what He can do. Be adaptable in the face of rejection

C. Different Paths for the Same Goal (Acts 15:36-41)

1. Paul/Barnabas want to embark on a second missionary journey. Barnabas wants to take his nephew, John Mark but Paul refused because Mark had abandoned them during the first journey (of which we are not told why, expand reasons for radio). They had such a sharp disagreement that they parted ways. Barnabas took Mark and went one way while Paul chose Silas and went another.

Eventually, Paul did come around and reconciled with Mark. 2 Timothy 4:11 “Luke alone is with me. Get Mark and bring him with you, for he is very useful to me for ministry.” It’s hard to say who was right: Paul or Barnabas. Barnabas, being an encourager, wanted to give Mark a second chance now that some time has passed. Paul, wanting to carry on with the mission unobstructed, refused. You can see where both are coming from. Again, fellowship was restored over time, humility and grace won the day. But in that moment, there was a disagreement that broke up two men.

That disagreement ended up with something good. Instead of one set of missionaries travelling around, there were two sets. The grace of God was sent along with them and the churches were strengthened. Both had the same goal, just different ways of getting there.

2. At church we have the same goal: grow in Jesus together. How we want to get there might look different depending on who you’re asking. For some, the most important thing will be to take care of the people within our four walls. Others may want to focus on bringing the sick, the struggling, the spiritually needy to Christ. Still others may focus on prayer, teaching, serving, giving, etc. No one aspect of the Christian life is more important than another. We need them all. Different paths to the same goal.

Let’s not become bitter and fight with one another to do what we think should be done. Let’s be patient with one another and work as a team so that the church can be strengthened and thrive.

II. Adaptable Today

A. A new phase for our church is adding to the leadership. We want to be be guided by the same principles as above: showing the love of Jesus to new people, continuing to move forward no matter what we are facing, and keeping to the same goal of growing in Jesus together. We are unsure of what the future holds and what God has in store. We want to be adaptable for whatever comes our way so that we can grow.