2022.07.17 Future Church: Showing Up or Turning Out

Future Church: Showing Up or Turning Out

2 Timothy 3:16-17 • Galatians 5:22-23

How are you weathering the ever-changing world of today? In the heat of the pandemic, we were given lots of ways to stay emotionally well. Since the pandemic has let up, we haven’t paid as much attention to our emotional wellbeing.

A little more than a year ago, when the pandemic first let up, we were at WalMart, and the self-check aisle we were in broke while we were using it. Honestly, it felt like “one more thing”. It was a Friday. I had nowhere to be. I had no schedule or obligations. But this “one more thing” was enough to send my attitude through the floor. Of course, I immediately became a Chick-fil-A manager and saw everything that was wrong with the situation and how it should be fixed. They didn’t have enough check outs open - people had more items than they were supposed to - the staff wasn’t active enough - my family wasn’t doing anything to help me … it’s amazing how chippy we get when life is turned upside down.

You may have heard from other optimists in your life: “It will take some time, but it’ll turn out alright.” Or, if you prefer the classic version: This too will pass.

When life is upside down, and we’re not sure what’s next, we reassure each other with words about the future … we talk about how things will “turn out”. When we talk about things “turning out” alright, we’re talking about things being different than they are right now, aren’t we? When we think of things “turning out alright”, we CERTAINLY don’t think of the things staying the way they are do we?

The last several weeks, we’ve been comparing Future Church and Historic Church. Historic Church has gotten us where we are as a worldwide church community. In the last 50 years, the church community in the Western World has lost millions of people. We’ve spent a lot of time and effort trying to fix our congregations so more people would come … or come back.

But Historic Church’s motive is the real problem, not her tactics. Historic Church has been largely self-focused. WE want more people to come to OUR buildings and participate in OUR programs and put money in OUR offering plates. We have not been driven by their standing with Jesus. We’re only driven by their standing with US.

I’ve even been part of churches who ACTIVELY recruited people from other congregations! In case you’re not familiar with this phrase, that’s called “sheep stealing”. I can’t even begin to explain how wrong that is … and the specific church I’m thinking of paid a heavy price for growing their numbers that way. That is not church growth. It’s not God’s concept of church growth.

Now let’s be clear … nowhere in Scripture do we see God telling us that growing this way is wrong. However, we are told lots of ways we ARE supposed to grow, and growing this way NEVER APPEARS in Scripture.

Let me propose to you that the real problem isn’t with the process of “sheep stealing” per se. The real problem is with the church’s willingness to celebrate any bump in numbers. Even a slight bump in numbers can send a congregation into contortions of delight and self-congratulations where we break our arms patting our own backs. And I’m not talking from an ivory tower, I’m just as prone to this as any of you are.

But based on what I see in the Scriptures, I don’t believe God is pleased with a bump in attendance figures. Well, let me redirect that statement. If the new people are people who haven’t been involved in any church before, God is pleased … but a bump in numbers does not SATISFY God! “God wants His people to be more than attenders ...” Did you all hear that?

God wants his people to do more than just show up. He’s pleased that you show up … but if you think that satisfies his desires for you you’ve sold him terribly short, and robbed yourself of the richness of serving alongside his Son!

I’ve heard before, God is easily pleased, but not easily satisfied! As followers of Jesus Christ, our life-goal should be to not only please God, but to satisfy Him. On the day we face him, do any of you want to hear, “You did okay, mediocre and wavering servant?” No!

We want to hear, “Well done, good and faithful servant,” and if we want to hear those words, our focus needs to shift.

You see, God doesn’t hope people show up in his sanctuaries across the world. That’s way too low a bar for him. God hopes people are changed by the grace of his Holy Spirit through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. In the book of Revelation, we don’t read, “He occasionally makes some things new.”

No! We read, “Behold! I make all things new.”

Revelation 21:5 NKJV

5 Then He who sat on the throne said, “Behold, I make all things new.” And He said to me, “Write, for these words are true and faithful.”

So, if we’re following the track that God has for each one of us, it means we should be made new! That’s a lot different than just showing up.

Future Church: Showing Up or Turning Out

We read a very familiar passage earlier, the fruit of the spirit is very familiar to most believers. First, I want to make note that the word “fruit” is NOT plural. These are characteristics of a single fruit of the Spirit: multiple characteristics of one fruit. In other words, the fruit of an apple tree is leafy, green and red, hard skinned, soft white meat, juicy, with hard black seeds. That’s one fruit, with multiple characteristics, and the fruit of the Spirit is too.

Now, let me put the fruit of the Spirit in some context by reading a bit before and a bit after what we had read for us:

Galatians 5:19–24 NASB 2020

19 Now the deeds of the flesh are evident, which are: sexual immorality, impurity, indecent behavior, 20 idolatry, witchcraft, hostilities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions, 21 envy, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these, of which I forewarn you, just as I have forewarned you, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. 22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. 24 Now those who belong to Christ Jesus crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.

So, our former self demonstrated deeds of the flesh. Our life was known by different character traits than it is now … but some residue remains [heard?] … we aren’t done.

You see, God isn’t satisfied with us showing up to worship, or studying his word, or praying. He’s pleased by those things, but his real desire, what SATISFIES him is transformation.

Quote

“Transformation happens when God’s people are captivated by the gospel, empowered by His indwelling Spirit, and compelled by love to live holy lives.” — Gospel Saturation Primer

Or, as Paul said it:

Galatians 5:24 NASB

24 Now those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.

Historic Church has sold God’s expectations way too low!

Future Church: Showing Up or Turning Out

Showing up is a good first step, but Future Church must realize that “turning out” or being transformed is really what God wants for and from every one of us!

So … as we sit in our pews or in our pajamas, how are you being transformed? Which of the characteristics of the fruit of the Spirit are most difficult for you?

Maybe we can use this time to grow in these characteristics:

Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.

The Walmart story I shared earlier demonstrates that I still have some transformation to grow into. How about you? What does God want to transform in you today?

Future Church: Showing Up or Turning Out

‘Cause if we really want to please God, we need to set our sights on transformation as the goal of the Church. If we want to help every man, woman, and child experience the risen Christ and respond to his gospel … the good news of that is not that our numbers would rise. The good news of that is that the kingdom of God grows, and we are all transformed by that process.