Gaining By Losing, Wk #4

John 6:1–15 ESV

After this Jesus went away to the other side of the Sea of Galilee, which is the Sea of Tiberias. And a large crowd was following him, because they saw the signs that he was doing on the sick. Jesus went up on the mountain, and there he sat down with his disciples. Now the Passover, the feast of the Jews, was at hand. Lifting up his eyes, then, and seeing that a large crowd was coming toward him, Jesus said to Philip, “Where are we to buy bread, so that these people may eat?” He said this to test him, for he himself knew what he would do. Philip answered him, “Two hundred denarii worth of bread would not be enough for each of them to get a little.” One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, said to him, “There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish, but what are they for so many?” Jesus said, “Have the people sit down.” Now there was much grass in the place. So the men sat down, about five thousand in number. Jesus then took the loaves, and when he had given thanks, he distributed them to those who were seated. So also the fish, as much as they wanted. And when they had eaten their fill, he told his disciples, “Gather up the leftover fragments, that nothing may be lost.” So they gathered them up and filled twelve baskets with fragments from the five barley loaves left by those who had eaten. When the people saw the sign that he had done, they said, “This is indeed the Prophet who is to come into the world!” Perceiving then that they were about to come and take him by force to make him king, Jesus withdrew again to the mountain by himself.

Plumb Line - The Week Is As Important As The Weekend

Missional or Attractional?

The answer is yes.

Greear, J.D.. Gaining By Losing (Exponential Series) (p. 83). Zondervan. Kindle Edition.

Is building an audience the same thing as growing a church?

Is “attendance increased” the same things as “mission accomplished”?

George W. Bush-May 1, 2003

Do churches that proclaim “success” when they gather large audiences make the same mistake?

Do they confuse a milestone en route to the mission with the end goal of that mission?

Greear, J.D.. Gaining By Losing (Exponential Series) (p. 83). Zondervan. Kindle Edition.

Greear, J.D.. Gaining By Losing (Exponential Series) (p. 84). Zondervan. Kindle Edition.

To be clear, I’m not against celebrating large weekend numbers. New Testament writers do that regularly. They often tell us when Jesus or the apostles gathered large crowds and sometimes exactly how many people were in those crowds. Twice Luke celebrates the specific number of baptisms the church performed on a given day. Jesus’ “good shepherd” in was so in touch with the number of his flock that he knew immediately when just one lamb had gone missing! And, of course, there’s a whole book in the Old Testament called . . . well . . . Numbers.

Greear, J.D.. Gaining By Losing (Exponential Series) (p. 84). Zondervan. Kindle Edition.

What happens during the week establishes the difference between a disciple and an attender.

Fewer and fewer lost people are moseying their way into our weekend services. Thus, equipping disciples to reproduce outside the church, during the week, is becoming vastly more important than having a great weekend show.

Greear, J.D.. Gaining By Losing (Exponential Series) (p. 84). Zondervan. Kindle Edition.

Greear, J.D.. Gaining By Losing (Exponential Series) (p. 84). Zondervan. Kindle Edition.

As our society becomes more and more “post-Christian,” training members to “go” will be far more effective than inviting the community to “come.”

This brings us back to the great commission.

Greear, J.D.. Gaining By Losing (Exponential Series) (pp. 84-85). Zondervan. Kindle Edition.

Matthew 28:16–20 ESV

Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. And when they saw him they worshiped him, but some doubted. And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 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, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

A Holy Huddle

For nearly half a century now, church leaders have debated the question of which approach is more effective: attractional or missional.

Just for clarity,

By ‘attractional’ I mean ministries designed so that unbelievers will be drawn into the church building to hear the gospel. (Come And See)

and

By ‘missional’ I mean equipping Christians to carry the gospel (and its good works) to unbelievers outside the church. (Go And Tell)

Greear, J.D.. Gaining By Losing (Exponential Series) (p. 85). Zondervan. Kindle Edition.

This is really not an either/or issue as much as a what “accomplishes the mission” issue.

History of Missional

The word missional originates from a mid-twentieth-century missionary named Lesslie Newbigin. Serving among the Indian people in South Asia, Newbigin was frustrated with his converts, because most of them assumed that it was his job to spread the gospel, not theirs.

Greear, J.D.. Gaining By Losing (Exponential Series) (p. 85). Zondervan. Kindle Edition.

Every believer is a Spirit empowered missionary to the world they inhabit.

Attractional (Come and See)

Matthew 5:14 ESV

“You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden.

Exodus 19:5–6 ESV

Now therefore, if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my treasured possession among all peoples, for all the earth is mine; and you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ These are the words that you shall speak to the people of Israel.”

Matthew 5:14–16 ESV

“You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.

1 Kings 10:5 ESV

the food of his table, the seating of his officials, and the attendance of his servants, their clothing, his cupbearers, and his burnt offerings that he offered at the house of the Lord, there was no more breath in her.

She was overwhelmed.

1 Kings 10:6–9 ESV

And she said to the king, “The report was true that I heard in my own land of your words and of your wisdom, but I did not believe the reports until I came and my own eyes had seen it. And behold, the half was not told me. Your wisdom and prosperity surpass the report that I heard. Happy are your men! Happy are your servants, who continually stand before you and hear your wisdom! Blessed be the Lord your God, who has delighted in you and set you on the throne of Israel! Because the Lord loved Israel forever, he has made you king, that you may execute justice and righteousness.”

Gentile court of the temple

1 Peter 2:9–11 ESV

But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. Once you were not a people, but now you are God’s people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy. Beloved, I urge you as sojourners and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh, which wage war against your soul.

1 Peter

1 Peter 3:15 ESV

but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect,

Attractional things are not bad. But, nor are they the goal.

They may be tools to accomplish the goal but the goal is to make disciples.

What is the Goal?

To empower believers to recognize, surrender to and implement the gifts they have been given in service of the Lord to make disciples by making known His Gospel.

John 6:26–35 ESV

Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, you are seeking me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves. Do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you. For on him God the Father has set his seal.” Then they said to him, “What must we do, to be doing the works of God?” Jesus answered them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent.” So they said to him, “Then what sign do you do, that we may see and believe you? What work do you perform? Our fathers ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written, ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’ ” Jesus then said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, it was not Moses who gave you the bread from heaven, but my Father gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.” They said to him, “Sir, give us this bread always.” Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst.

John 6:26-

De-Cluttering the Court of the Gentiles

Greear, J.D.. Gaining By Losing (Exponential Series) (p. 88). Zondervan. Kindle Edition.

Mark 11:17 ESV

And he was teaching them and saying to them, “Is it not written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer for all the nations’? But you have made it a den of robbers.”

Mark 11:

They took away the vantage point. Get out of the way.

J.D. Greear states, “The temple was primarily for the “already saved” to offer sacrifices. But God had also commanded them, as a part of their worship, to provide the lost Gentiles access to the beauties of worship, and when they didn’t, he became furious. They had transformed a portal for the outsider into a butler for the insider.”

Greear, J.D.. Gaining By Losing (Exponential Series) (p. 89). Zondervan. Kindle Edition.

How does God feel when we refuse to change to help people see?

Personal preferences vs. Jesus’ mission

Missional (Go and Tell)

Jonah

We are not alone in our reticence

The apostle Peter takes this idea of believers living in exile and presents it as the primary identity of the church today.

We live here as exiles, he says, commissioned to “declare the praises of him who called [us] out of darkness into his wonderful light.” He urges us, therefore, to “be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have” (

1 Peter 2:9 ESV

But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.

1 Peter 3:15 ESV

but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect,

;

1 Peter 3:15 ESV

but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect,

We are to pray for and bless our cities. In Peter’s epistle you see the “go and tell” and “come and see” approaches unite — as we go into the world, living out the gospel, unbelievers are drawn into our community to ask us a reason for why we live as we do.

We are to pray for and bless our cities.

In Peter’s epistle you see the “go and tell” and “come and see” approaches unite — as we go into the world, living out the gospel, unbelievers are drawn into our community to ask us a reason for why we live as we do.

Greear, J.D.. Gaining By Losing (Exponential Series) (p. 93). Zondervan. Kindle Edition.

To empower believers to recognize, surrender to and implement the gifts they have been given in service of the Lord to make disciples by making known His Gospel.

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.

Get this: Of the 40 miracles recorded in Acts, 39 happen outside the church walls. That’s 97.5 percent!

Greear, J.D.. Gaining By Losing (Exponential Series) (p. 94). Zondervan. Kindle Edition.

Where do we experience God the most?

Where does God desire the greatest impact?

Luke 15:1–7 ESV

Now the tax collectors and sinners were all drawing near to hear him. And the Pharisees and the scribes grumbled, saying, “This man receives sinners and eats with them.” So he told them this parable: “What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he has lost one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the open country, and go after the one that is lost, until he finds it? And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing. And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and his neighbors, saying to them, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep that was lost.’ Just so, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance.

Luke 15:1-

Where does God desire the greatest impact?

In the Lost,

Where are the lost? Outside our church.

That is why every believer is called to be a missionary. The only real difference is the location of our mission.

There is essentially no difference between witnessing in Nepal or witnessing in Lubeck.

Remember the Holy Huddle?

We need to help people run the play, not just come to the huddle.

Balancing depth and width

Charles Spurgeon said,

It will be seen that those who never exhort sinners are seldom winners of souls to any great extent, but they maintain their churches by converts from other systems. I have even heard them say, ‘Oh, yes, the Methodists and Revivalists [or, in our day, “the megachurch, church-growth” guys] are beating the hedges, but we shall catch many of the birds.’ If I harboured such a mean thought I would be ashamed to express it. A system which cannot touch the outside world, but must leave arousing and converting work to others (whom it judges to be unsound) writes its own condemnation. . . . I would sooner bring one sinner to Jesus Christ than unpack all the mysteries of the divine Word, for salvation is the thing we are to live for.”9

Greear, J.D.. Gaining By Losing (Exponential Series) (p. 97). Zondervan. Kindle Edition.

Faithful churches seek to grow deep and wide.

Greear, J.D.. Gaining By Losing (Exponential Series) (p. 97). Zondervan. Kindle Edition.

Pursuing width without depth creates audiences instead of churches;

but pursuing depth without width fails to take the urgency of the Great Commission seriously.

Greear, J.D.. Gaining By Losing (Exponential Series) (p. 97). Zondervan. Kindle Edition.

Matthew 4:19 ESV

And he said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.”

Nineveh was completely lost until someone, Jonah, came proclaiming the Lord.

It is about impacting the world with the Gospel. The transforming power of the Word of God.

Why does all this matter?

Because,

Depth comes from the living of what we learn on the weekend throughout the week.

Width comes from the desire to impact as many outside the walls as possible.

The Week is as important as the Weekend

Width comes from the desire to impact as many outside the walls as possible.