All Members are Disciples who Make Disciples

Introduction

Have you ever seen an MRI?

What does an MRI do? It gets behind all the surface stuff to see what’s going on under the skin.

Transition: As we look at what healthy church membership looks like, we will be in Romans 12 as we see how healthy church membership shows what is happening on the inside of a church.

You’re going to ask: Wait, pastor, what is membership? Let me tell you:

Church membership is a commitment every Christian should make to attend, love, serve, and submit to a local church.

Okay, I get that, but so what? Well, let me show you that too:

Biblical church membership is important because the church presents God’s witness to himself in the world. It displays his glory. In the church’s membership, those who don’t know Jesus should see in the lives of God’s changed people that God is holy and gracious and that his gospel is powerful for saving and transforming sinners.

Which brings us to Romans 12. Romans 12 shows us the impact of a people who know and experience the mercies of God.

Read Romans 12

Pray

The Christian attitude to God Vs. 1-2

Vs. 1 I appeal to you therefore. So what do we do when we see a “therefore”? We need to look back to what was said in the past verses. Paul has taken the last 11 chapters to layout fo the church in Rome the mercies of God.

By the mercies of God It’s this that he is appealing to his brothers in Christ at the Church in Rome.

living sacrifice Not a died sacrifice that we see in the Old Testament, this is a living sacrifice because they are alive in Christ.

Vs. 2 Conformed to this world, but be transformed This is talking about an outward conformity and an inward transformation. For those who are in Christ, you have been introduced into a world that is to come. That’s why it’s such a tragedy to see it when those who are in Christ continue to be conformed to a world that is perishing, but even more, the world that they are suppose to not be in.

renewing of your mind. If you are in Christ, you no longer think like those who aren’t. We aren’t talking about some sort of mindless emotionalism, this is everything about you. The result of a renewing of your mind is discernment of God’s will—what is “good and acceptable and perfect”—in everyday situations. Christian life is lived out not primarily in the hour or two spent “at church” but in the other 166 weekly hours spent in the home, workplace, or at leisure.

Application: Verse one is the means by which a whole life can be lived for God. Every part. As you work, as you eat, as you sleep, and being a student, single, husband, and wife, and mom and dad. In Romans 11:36 we see that giving glory to God is worship, and that is what the gospel enables those who are in Christ to do. To give our whole lives to God. There has to be a breaking from the world around us in it’s negative aspects, allowing renewal and discernment, and from this there is a life that is “good and acceptable and perfect that is used to fulfill God’s purposes.

Transition: The aim of the gospel is not merely doctrinal truth but lives that connect with God, delight in his will, and further his interests in glad communion with him. The ethical vision of this and other following chapters is from the picture of divine grace we see in the first 11 chapters of Romans. We don’t do these things to when favour with God, we do these things because we have been transformed by the renewal of our mind by the power of the Holy Spirit.

The Christian attitude to serving Vs. 3-8

Vs. 3 For by the grace the responsibility that has been given to Paul as he teaches and is an Apostle, but all of those who are in Christ have been given grace.

GOSPEL MOVE: It begins with the cleansing from sin by Christ. God is holy. We have sinned against him. Because of that sin and that rebellion, we deserve hell, but Jesus Christ steps down from his throne to pay the price for our rebellion that we could not possibly pay, so that anyone who repents of their sin and believes in this very gospel, that Christ died for your sins and rose again, will be save. You have been, what the Bible calls, Justified. And if you are Justified, you will be sanctified, which is the renewal that we saw in verse 2 that is done by the work of the Holy Spirit.

Romans 8:30 ESV

And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified.

It’s through the finished work of Christ on the cross that we have “the measure of faith that God has assigned.” If you are in Christ, each one of you has been given a portion of trust in Christ that you possess, nurture, and are dedicated to pursue. And as we keep working through this, the verses that follow are the different forms of that faith that

Vs. 4 For as in one body we have many members, and the members do not all have the same function, so we, though many are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another.

These verses describe the sanctity of unity in diversity among members of the church—God wills, unifies, and directs this diversity and its expression. Graced with divine wisdom (v. 3), Paul uses the integrated human body yet diversity of our body parts to paint that picture for us.

The human body has various components that do not all function the same way (v. 4). Similarly, the “one body in Christ” called the church is made up of multiple individuals (v. 5), yet they are “members one of another.” They form a coherent unified social organism. The word Church is used in two different way in the Bible, universal, meaning all those who are in Christ, those who are Christians. And local, those who belong to a local church. Paul is writing to a local church here. Reminding them that based on the mercies God has given to you, this is who you are to interact with one another. This is the attitude you are to have.

“In Christ” reminds us that Christ is the living presence holding the body together. The church is not just religious people but the mysterious manifestation of God the Son, interceding at the right hand of the Father (8:34), by the Spirit who dwells in and among those who believe in Christ (8:10–14). Paul in 1 Corinthians 12 offers more detailed discussion of how the body functions, the importance of each member for optimal body flourishing, and the role of the Holy Spirit and his gifts in personal and corporate Christian life.

Vs. 6 Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them. The list here isn’t precise. There are list in other place that differ from this one. The point is this, you have been given gifts, use them. Why? by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Which may I add, can’t happen without being committed to a local church.

Application: When we have known the mercies of God, there is a change in our attitude. It’s why a church that devours each other is unacceptable. It’s why you aren’t allowed to sit in a pew idol and not serve. Because even your gifts have been given to you as a gift of grace and you’ve been called into a local church to exercise those gifts as an act of worship.

Transition: The gospel doesn’t make people who just want to watch but mobilizes those who hear it to make a difference for others as God has made a difference int hem. We love as he loves us. We serve as he has served us. But it’s not just who we interact with one another that matters, but also our attitude to the rest of life.

The Christian’s attitude in living life Vs. 9-21

Vs. 9 Let love be genuine This is agape (selfless love) Here Paul is looking at what love looks like when it is lived out by the Christian as they not only interact with those in the Church, but also those who aren’t in the church. Really this sentence is the heading for what follows, even into chapter 12.

What doe sit mean to have genuine love? It’s not a love that is full of hypocrisy.

What does that love look like?

In the english, they are translated as commands. But in the greek they are participles, so there is action here: abhorring what is evil, holding fast to what is good,” and so on. Whatever the form expression of love may take, those expressions must respect the moral dimension of each situation. An act of love that commits evil is a contradiction in terms. The word love can’t be used in something that is against God, then it’s not love. So for example, to use the phrase, “free love” isn’t Biblical, because it’s a love that commits evil in the eyes of our holy God. Love gasps “what is good” and clings to it tenaciously.

Vs. 10 Love one another with brotherly affection This is love between believers takes the form of philadelphia (“brotherly affection”). When the church is loving each other this way, they are expressing an affection that is true devotion, not objective detachment.

An emotional bond is implied; something is wrong when believers feel less care for each other than they do for their household dog or cat.

But it’s this type of love that pushes to “outdo one another” in love but showing exemplary behaviour and honouring others in service that leads others to do the same.

Titus 2:7 ESV

Show yourself in all respects to be a model of good works, and in your teaching show integrity, dignity,

Vs. 12 we are a people who rejoice because of the hope that we have in Jesus Christ. Nothing can take that away from us. No man, no sickness, nothing. If you are in Christ, you have a hope. This is a hope that allows us to be patient in tribulation, and beings us to our knees during those times.

Vs. 13 this is a love that causes us to seek the needs of those in our local church and seek to show hospitality towards one another.

As people who have experienced the mercies of our God, we can:

vs. 14 Bless those who persecute you

Matthew 5:44 ESV

But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you,

or

1 Corinthians 4:12 ESV

and we labor, working with our own hands. When reviled, we bless; when persecuted, we endure;

It can be tempting to answer persecution with venom and spleen, but the gospel calls for and enables a higher way.

But also how else do we love others?

By identifying with them in the good times and the bad. Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep. With those rejoicing, co-rejoicing is called for. When believers encounter those devastated by loss or grief, weeping with them can be a sign of godly love.

Vs. 16 live in harmony with one another If you have spent enough time being with the church, there can be some havens of strife. Paul fears this for his Roman readers (16:17). Love, though, makes living “in harmony with one another” possible. Granted, sometimes divisions have to be endured, addressed, and transcended (1 Cor. 11:19). The gospel in one’s life should eliminate or at least minimize “haughty” attitudes and behaviour. Those

Vs. 17 Repay no one evil for evil

As a youth pastor, I would tell my kids that i don’t get mad, but i get even. I was wrong. Seeking revenge, perhaps discreetly, may be highly tempting—consider the folk saying “I don’t get mad, I get even”—but it is not a tool to be used in the church.

But we are to live peaceably as much at possible. Living peaceably doesn’t mean compromising nonnegotiable truths of the faith or giving way to practices or customs that go against what the Bible says. Our culture has some major misunderstandings of “tolerance” which fail to preserve the Christian backbone Paul presupposes.

Vs. 19 Beloved intensifies the command, leave it to God.

Vs. 20 to the contrary based on the mercies of God for you, you are to show kindness to someone unfriendly to the gospel and perhaps to even that fellow Christian you don’t get along with so much. We aren’t talking about the violent Criminal here. Paul is drawing from Proverbs 25:21-22

Proverbs 25:21–22 ESV

If your enemy is hungry, give him bread to eat, and if he is thirsty, give him water to drink, for you will heap burning coals on his head, and the Lord will reward you.

When we show that simple hospitality to the person who is against the gospel, it can get that person to rethink how they are being unjust to the Christian and towards God. Christian. You are to be different. In your holiness, in your hospitality, in your attitude, in your worship, in everything, you are to be different because you have had the mercies of God on you.

Think about Luke 7 as Jesus interacts with this wee little man named Zacchaeus. Jesus comes to his table in fellowship and it become the means of grace for a man who is by occupation a social outcast and by his own admission a cheat.

Vs. 21 And as we live in the gospel of grace and are lead by that love for God, as we apply what is in verses 9 to 20, we will ensure that good will come out of our lives as God measures it, and not evil

Application: it is By the mercies of God that enable us to live this way, as people who are different. As we worship God, as we interact with one another and as we live this life on this plant.

So What

If we looks at Church membership as a commitment every Christian should make to attend, love, serve, and submit to a local church and that Biblical healthy church membership is important because the church presents God’s witness to himself in the world. It displays his glory. In the church’s membership, those who don’t know Jesus should see in the lives of God’s changed people that God is holy and gracious and that his gospel is powerful for saving and transforming sinners.

BI: Church membership is the MRI of a healthy church.

Do we understand the mercies that God has poured out on us through his son Jesus Christ. If we do, that doesn’t leave us in the spot we were in, it changes us, it changes our attitudes in worship to God, it changes our attitudes towards each other, and it changes our attitudes towards those who aren’t in Christ.

Just as an MRI peers into the inner parts of our bodies, so does church membership. It shows the health of our church as we seek to be people, together, who have experienced the mercies of God.

BI: Church membership is the MRI of a healthy church.