11/17/02

John 17:1-5

A Biblical Philosophy of Ministry

The First Business of God’s People

No moment in the history of the saints could be more laden with reality than that time when, as a consummation of His redemptive mission—foreseen from all eternity and itself the determining factor in the character of all ages to come—, the Lord Jesus Christ reviewed in prayer to the Father that which He had achieved by His advent into this cosmos world. He fully intended His own who are in this world to hear what He said in that incomparable prayer (John 17:13). Devout minds will ponder eagerly every word spoken concerning themselves under such august and solemn circumstances.

            John 17:1-5      

In these words,

Peter Drucker, management expert, consults with many churches and Christian organizations. He says the first question he always asks them is this: “What are you trying to accomplish?” And often he finds that they are in a crisis of objectives, not a crisis of organization. They are doing the wrong things.

God’s promises and His objectives for His church are vast. The church is equipped with the power to fulfill every objective God has for it.  Certainly its expectation should be to accomplish every goal carved out by God.

Spurgeon said to a young preacher, “Young man, you don’t really expect to see high and wonderful things happen in your life, do you?” The fellow said, “Well, no….” And Spurgeon almost exploded, “Then you won’t see them happen, either!”

Genuine expectation is part of the key. But for the church today perhaps a problem greater than low expectation is simply not clearly knowing what its goals should be.

            In John 17, Jesus prays this prayer and (in a sketch) lays out the priorities of His life and the priorities of the church.

Biblical Priorities

What should be a church’s biblical priorities? What should its overall objectives include?

Unless these questions are asked, churches will aim at nothing and hit it every time!

A pilot announced to his passengers over his intercom system, “Ladies and gentlemen, I have good news and bad news. The good news is that we have a tail wind, and we are making excellent time. The bad news is that our compass is broken, and we have no idea where we are going.” A similar situation is true of many churches.

Churches must have a philosophy of ministry, a direction, a sense of where they are going.   And, the more thought you give it, the more you will come to realize that our priorities must be: first to Jesus Christ, then to one another in Christ, and then to the world Christ died to save.

These three priorities must be kept in proper order. A church must not let its ministry to the world—its evangelism and good works—become of first importance.

·“evangelistic centers.” Most of what is done during the week and on Sunday mornings leads up to one exciting moment: the altar call. That is the focus of the entire life of the church; and it is wonderful to see people walk the aisle to the altar and acknowledge a decision of some kind. But that is not to be the primary focus of the church.

·“mission centers.” These churches raise an extensive amount of money for missions, they have world maps in prominent places, and the people hear missionary reports from around the world. It is wonderful that local churches can help spread the good news in far-off places. But that is not to be the primary focus of the church.

·“information centers,” have as their main purpose the pouring out of biblical material. The people eagerly fill their notebooks, and the one with the fullest notebook and the fullest head is often considered the most spiritual.

·“program centers.” They present one extravaganza after another—gospel magicians, singing groups, ventriloquists

·“building centered,” Their distinctive is only in their buildings. That is not to be the primary purpose of the church.

·“fellowship centers,” where the emphasis is on “body life,” relational theology, discipline, small groups, and the function of gifts. Relationships are exciting and beneficial, but that is not to be the primary purpose of the church.

·the church is to be for the Lord. He is the Head, and He must be the focus, the first priority.

Churches—and individual believers—are to be committed first to Christ, then to one another in Christ, and then to the world. These three are not to be “done” chronologically, one at a time, but they are to be part of churches’ and believers’ lives all at the same time.

The Bible repeatedly spells out these three priorities, both generally and specifically. In John 15 Jesus weaves these into His teaching on the vine and the branches. Verses 1–11 {John 15} stress the admonition, “Remain in me.” That is the first priority. Verses 12–15 {John 15} focus on the command, “Love each other.” That is the second priority. And verses 16–27 {John 15} say, in essence, “Testify about me.” That pertains to the third priority.

In John 17 the prayer of the Lord Jesus to His Father reveals His own personal priorities. In verses 1–5 {John 17}, (Lordship of Christ) the emphasis is on God the Father. “Glorify your Son, that your Son may glorify you.” Then in verses 6–19 {John 17}, (Body of Christ) He prayed for “those whom you gave me out of the world” (John 17:6). He prayed for their protection (vv. 11,15 {John 17}) and their joy (John 17:13). And in verses 20–26 (The World) His praying extended to the world (“that the world may believe,” (John 17:21), “to let the world know” (John 17:23).

A mission organization ran an interesting advertisement in several Christian magazines. It contained a picture of four people with hands clasped, bowed in prayer. The caption read, “Before we can reach the world, we have to be committed to reaching God.” Below the picture was an amplifying sentence: “Worship is where our mission begins.” The first priority of the Christian and of the local body of believers is to reach up to God. Only then can they effectively attempt to reach out to the world. Unless Christians maintain a close relationship to God Himself (priority one), they will not be able to provide much spiritual help to other believers (priority two) or to the world (priority three).

The Biblical Call to God-Centeredness

The Christian’s relationship to God must envelop and color all that he is and does. All of the believer’s other relationships are to be subservient to his primary relationship with God.

 “Believers may not often realize it, but even as believers we are either centered on man, or centered on God. There is no alternative. Either God is the center of our universe and we have become rightly adjusted to Him, or we have made ourselves the center and are attempting to make all else orbit around us and for us.”  -Ray Ortlund

Absolute personal loyalty to God must take precedence over anything and everything else…. All one’s ultimate loyalties must converge at a single point…. Jesus demanded as an exclusive priority that a person center his life, loyalty, and valuations solely upon God…. every other concern [must flow out of, fall in behind, and witness to, this one.

Balance in one’s life comes from making sure that Christ is supreme. This is equally true in the corporate lives of churches. If a church is centered on anything, any person, any doctrine, any project, anything but Christ, it is off balance. Such churches are prone to rush here and there after every new program or gimmick that comes along. Eventually such patterns of behavior become deeply entrenched and the church focuses on activities rather than Christ.

The truth that Jesus Christ must be central may seem trite; but if it is taken seriously, its ramifications in a local church will be exciting, creative, and fresh.

I have learned that there is only one truth that can motivate man simply through life: Christ. Before we can consider ourselves Christians we must have believed in Christ and accepted all the consequences of a radically altered life. Without this first basic commitment, growth in Christ through any church structure is impossible.

A saint prayed so beautifully,

Be, Lord,

within me to strengthen me,

without me to guard me,

over me to shelter me,

beneath me to establish me,

before me to guide me,

after me to forward me,

round me to secure me.

A Bible professor frequently warned his theological students, “Do not touch Christianity unless you are willing to seek the kingdom of heaven first. I promise you a miserable existence if you seek it second.”

            Believers can find peace and wholeness only through putting God first in their order of priorities.

The context of Matthew 6:33 indicates that the natural man without God is preoccupied with food and clothing. The believer must not worry about these things. As Jesus said, “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes?” (Matt 6:25). He seems to be saying that if God gave man the magnificent gift of life, He will sustain that life with the far simpler needs of food and clothes. Jesus said that only “the pagans run after all these things” (6:32 {Matt 6:32}). The believer should be secure and without worry because God has committed Himself to provide for him. The Gentiles, or pagans, had no knowledge of God’s gracious promises. Consequently they chased after the means of life—and missed the Giver of life.

So the believer’s first responsibility is to have a heart that seeks after God rather than things.

Jesus said the believer is to seek God’s eternal kingdom earnestly and intensely, even though the world around him chases after the temporary necessities of food and clothing, Lloyd-Jones in Studies on the Sermon on the Mount says, “‘Seek ye first!’ that means generally, principally, above everything else; give that priority.”4 Unless the pastors and elders seek the Lord first, they may tend to follow a “hard-sell” tactic that is crass and does not glorify God. 

CCBT

How does this commitment to God develop in the corporate life of the church?

Biblical Models of God-Centeredness

The Bible is replete with examples of men and women who sought to focus their lives on God. Three of these examples will be examined.

David – A Man after God’s own Heart

David provides a good model of the God-focused life for believers.

These practices can be seen in the example of David:

(a) acknowledge the presence of God.

He expressed his total dependence on God when he wrote, “I have set the LORD always before me. Because he is at my right hand, I will not be shaken” (Ps 16:8). How many Christians live disturbed lives because they have not determinedly fixed their attention on God! David attempted to live with his eyes upward, and he saw life from God’s perspective. In Psalm 63 he exposed his constant heart cry and sense of deep need for God. “O God, you are my God, earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you, my body longs for you, in a dry and weary land where there is no water” (Ps 63:1).

(b) worship effectively with the people of God.

Where did David go to get his thirst for God quenched? “I have seen you in the sanctuary and beheld your power and your glory” (Ps 63:2). David met God in company with the people of God.

(c) have a personal quiet time.

Then too David formed the habit of morning prayer. “Morning by morning, O LORD, you hear my voice; morning by morning I lay my requests before you and wait in expectation” (Ps 5:3).

The average believer’s lifestyle lacks Holy Spirit produced joy.  It is not very appealing. Packer has analyzed the problem well.

“We are, perhaps, orthodox evangelicals. We can state the gospel clearly, and can smell unsound doctrine a mile away. If anyone asks us how men may know God, we can at once produce the right formula—that we come to know God through Jesus Christ the Lord, in virtue of His cross and mediation, on the basis of His Word of promise, by the power of the Holy Spirit, via a personal exercise of faith. Yet the gaiety, goodness and unfetteredness of spirit which are the marks of those who have known God are rare among us.”

Paul – Apostle of a Heart set free

A New Testament model of the God-centered man is the Apostle Paul. After preaching, writing, and traveling, this veteran in the faith wrote, “I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death” (Phil 3:10). Like Paul, the believer is to recognize that he is on a lifelong pilgrimage. The goal of this journey is nothing less than a complete knowledge of the person and power of Jesus Christ.

Some of you do not live God-centered lives because you do not believe it is possible for you to do so. You feel that such an intimate relationship with God is available only to religious professionals. You fear that somehow you have sinned away the possibility of ever living close to God. You need to be brought to see the grand grace of God, and to know of His desire to disclose Himself to you through the Word of God.

While some in this room live apart from God out of ignorance, others do so by deliberate design. Frankly some in this room believe that their own salvation is sufficient and that the life lived close to Christ is not enjoyable. You do not know how wonderful God is. Tozer said it well.

No matter how high our expectations may be, when God finally moves into the field of our spiritual awareness, we are sure to be astounded by His power to overwhelm the mind and fascinate the soul. He is always more wonderful than we anticipated, and more blessed and marvelous than we had imagined He could be.”

“If you knew that there was one greater than yourself, who knows you better than you can know yourself, and loves you better than you can love yourself, who can make you all you ought to be, steadier than your shaky nature, able to save you from squandering your glorious life, who searches you beyond the standards of earth…. One who gathered into Himself all great and good things and causes, blending in His beauty all the enduring color of life, who could turn your dreams into visions, and make real the things you hoped were true, and if that one had ever done one unmistakable thing to prove, even at the price of blood—His own blood—that you could come to Him, and having failed come again, would you not fall at His feet with the treasure of your years, your powers, service and love? And is there not One such, and does He not call you to make Him the Lord of your life?”

Christ- the supreme Example

The third model of God-centered living is the perfect Son of God. In at least four ways Jesus demonstrated how to live a life centered on God the Father.

First, He lived in the presence of God. He spoke of the mysterious union He had with the Father: “I am in the Father and the Father is in me” (John 14:11). This union of the Son and the Father certainly included a beautiful awareness and a constant fellowship between them. In John 15:10 Jesus explained His relationship with the Father as “abiding” or “remaining” in the Father’s love. In the same discourse He orders Christians to do the same—to abide in Him and remain in His love (15:4–9 {John 15}). What a joyous picture! The believer is exhorted to live, work, and walk in the love of God! The Quaker, Thomas Kelly, wrote:

The experience is of an invasion from beyond, of another, who in gentle power breaks in upon our littleness, and in tender expansiveness makes room for Himself. Had we thought Him an intruder? Nay, His first odor is sweetness, His touch an imparting of power. Suddenly a tender Giant walks by our side—no, strides within our puny footsteps. We are no longer our little selves.

The second way Jesus modeled this God-centered life was through His habit of prayer. “But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed” (Luke 5:16). This was so attractive to the disciples that they asked, “Lord, teach us to pray” (Luke 11:1).

The world is harsh, and its evil presses in on believers from every side. A daily “quiet time” is essential for a Christian to maintain a vital spiritual life.

In the pamphlet The Tyranny of the Urgent,  the author says that the urgent tends to gain precedence over the important. “The problem is that the important thing rarely has to be done today, or even this week…. The urgent tasks are the ones that call for instant action. They seem at the moment to be important and irresistible, so they devour our time and energy.”

The third way Christ demonstrated how to live a God-centered life came through His desire to spend larger portions of time alone with the Father whenever a special need arose. An example of this is Christ’s actions before He chose the Twelve. “One of those days Jesus went out into the hills to pray, and spent the night praying to God. When morning came, he called his disciples to Him and chose twelve of them, whom he also designated apostles” (Luke 6:12–13). When God the Son became a man, He also—as do all men—needed privacy and periods of time when He could get away from people. All of us will experience special periods of stress and pressure; and he needs time alone to seek God for answers and strength.

The man who is always available is not worth much when he is available.

The fourth way the perfect model, Jesus Christ, expressed God-centered living was in His worship with the people of God. “He went to Nazareth, where He had been brought up, and on the Sabbath day he went into the synagogue, as was his custom” (Luke 4:16). Time for public worship was built into His schedule.

He said to the Samaritan woman, “Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth” (John 4:23–24).

God seeks the believer’s worship.

God-centered local churches must be willing to put their corporate activities on trial before the judgment of the Lord. Is it all for Him? set the example in “priority one” by faithfully attending the worship services. By taking part in worship with the people of God these leaders could both experience and demonstrate the joy of the God-centered life.

Christ is to be the first priority! Live that our and you will experience great blessing.