Remembering What We Are About
2 Timothy 4:2-5
©Copyright May 16, 2009 Rev.
Every year I set out to read at least one book on marriage. I do it for one simple reason: I need to be reminded of what it is I am supposed to be doing. I need to have my focus re-sharpened.
I want to take this time this morning to do something of the same thing. Pastors and church members are bombarded with all kinds of messages:
· Megachurches are better than small churches
· Choruses are better than hymns
· Hymns are better than choruses
· Pastors should be dignified professionals
· Pastors should be low key like everyone else
· The church must get involved with activist issues
· the church should stay away from controversial issues
As a result of these mixed messages we often find ourselves running after one program after another trying to become “successful” in our work for the Lord. In view of these challenges I think it is time to review . . .to remind ourselves of what the Bible tells us we are supposed to be doing. To do this we will take a brief look at Paul’s charge to his protégé Timothy in 2 Timothy 4:1-5. In these words Paul gives simple and timely advice,
2 Preach the Word; be
prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage—with great
patience and careful instruction. 3 For the time will come when men
will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they
will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching
ears want to hear. 4 They will turn their ears away from the truth
and turn aside to myths. 5 But you, keep your head in all
situations, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, discharge all the
duties of your ministry.
Let me draw four quick reminders from this text.
Our Task is not to Fill the Pews but to Preach the
Good News
Paul says our job is to preach, herald, and proclaim the Word of God. The main thing is not the music, the size, the multimedia capabilities or the newness of our facilities. Our job is to announce the Word of God. In other words the main focus of the church is to be: “The Message of Scripture”.
The reason we are to preach the word is simple. Paul tells us that faith comes by hearing and hearing comes by the Word of God. Let’s not miss this. People will not come to faith apart from the convicting and transforming power of His Word.
I suspect there are some churches that spend more time on creating their Powerpoint slides than they do in the Word. I suspect there are some who spend more time perfecting their delivery than they do on the content of what they are delivering.
I visited with a woman one night and asked her about her spiritual life. She said she had been attending a nearby “megachurch” where the Pastor’s message is delivered via a satellite feed. She raved about the music and the special effects. I asked how she liked watching a message. She said she would rather have a “real person” speak to them but, “the message was such a small part of the service that it really wasn’t a big deal.” That concerns me.
Now certainly the message of the gospel can be presented in music. There are many songs that speak powerfully to the soul. However, many of today’s praise songs are more about us than they are about God. There is a disturbing trend in churches: times of extended prayer and the public reading of Scripture are being removed so the service would “flow” better. The question is: if talking to God and listening to God speak through His Word are taken out of our worship, where are we flowing to?
I was helped a long time ago by reading D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones’ book, “Preaching and Preachers”. Lloyd-Jones made (what was to me) a compelling argument for the systematic exposition of Scripture. Lloyd-Jones was known for starting at the beginning of a book of the Bible and preaching through the book verse by verse. It is a philosophy that has become foundational in my own preaching over the years.
I have found several advantages of working our way through books or extended passages of Scripture
We have been working through the life of David. The last two weeks (and this coming week) we have been looking at the story of David and Bathsheba. In God’s providence we are at this part of our study of David (we started in January) at the very time we have been met with a host of family issues related to the issue of infidelity. Because of our practice of preaching the Word systematically I have been able to speak very boldly without coming across as preaching at anyone.
God’s Word changes people. His Word may not have the initial thrill of other things (even though there is something exhilarating about an insight into the nature of God or seeing myself more clearly) but what will result from the seeds of the Word is much more than what we have from other sources.
Let’s grant that our job is to proclaim the Word of God in a way that communicates with others. Drama, stories, object lessons are fine if they draw attention to the point. We are living at a time of Biblical illiteracy. As we preach Scripture we must keep going back to the essentials of the faith. We must carefully explain the gospel because people do not know what we think they know. We must no assume any prior knowledge! Just the other day a woman who would consider herself a good Catholic said, “I don’t know what is in the Bible.”
Paul tells Timothy to be prepared in season and out of season. It’s the reminder that we are to preach the Word of God in every situation at every opportunity. We must be prepared to proclaim God’s truth whenever he opens the door to do so. I think this reminds us that we are not simply his representatives when we are in the church, we also represent Him
Just the other day I was walking down the street and I stopped to visit someone who had recently had a loss. In our conversation they remarked that they had been watching an interesting program about the Bible on the History Channel. She said it raised a question in her mind. She said, “The program said that Eve was Adam’s second wife. His first wife wouldn’t submit to him so he was given a different wife.” She said, “Is that in the Bible?”
I couldn’t help but smile. I asked, “What was the source of this information.” She said it was one of those “new gospels.” I assured her that such teaching was not in the Bible and that the newly discovered gospels were not new at all, they have been known for hundreds of years but were dismissed as fraudulent by those who were familiar with them.
The sad part of this is that this woman is an active member of our church. She had enough Biblical knowledge to recognize that this didn’t seem right. I wonder how many people accepted these assertions as true simply because it was on the History channel.
We need to keep in touch one with what is going on around us. One of the things that has helped me to keep in touch with current issues is, strangely enough, my iPod. As I travel and do chores around the house or walk on the treadmill, I benefit from listening to people like Dr. Albert Mohler who does a great job of addressing contemporary issues from a Biblical perspective on his radio program. His insights help me to be more prepared in dealing with people outside of the church sanctuary.
Our opportunities to proclaim the gospel are before us in many different places. One of our greatest opportunities to plant seeds of truth are at weddings, funerals, funeral dinners, and at school events. Sitting in the stands at a ballgame, helping with a tutoring program, attending community events are all opportunities to see people we don’t see any other time. When we show the love of Christ and we scatter seeds of truth we are doing what He has called us to do. When we talk to a friend who has had a bad day and we offer to pray with that person, we are serving as a herald of the Gospel. I have invested deeply in a host of people who have never darkened the door of our church.
Third, Paul told Timothy to be patient. There is always some great program out there that promises to change your church! I thank God for those who creatively find new ways to reach people with the gospel. Our God is a wonderfully creative God. However, when we start marketing those ideas so a church can copy what another church is doing we put our trust in a method or program rather than in the Sovereign Spirit of God.
Many churches have split because of impatience. People (and many Pastors) come to a church and determine to “fix” the church. They change the style of music, they adjust the worship order, they borrow to build larger places of worship, innovative programs are begun and those programs that have grown “stale” are discarded. Often when this happens a church is wracked with conflict. There are a few reasons for this.
First, conflict may happen because we have failed to show respect to others. When wholesale changes are quickly made in a church the message sent is this: “You have been doing it wrong!” Patience shows respect for the faithfulness and ways of others even while looking to introduce new things gradually and carefully.
Second, conflict sometimes happens because the church does not share our vision. I called Dr. John Gerstner one day at his home. I didn’t know Dr. Gerstner but I had been working through some of his books and teaching videos. In my conversation I told him that I had come to a new understanding of a particular doctrinal issue but I was frustrated because I couldn’t seem to get others to see what I had seen.
Dr. Gerstner spoke with a simple wisdom that I have never forgotten. He asked me how long I had been wrestling with the issue. I told him I had wrestled with it greatly for a two year period of time. Dr. Gerstner said, “So you have spent months of concentrated study on this issue. And now you are frustrated because your congregation doesn’t “get it” after several one hour class sessions. Creatively yet forcefully Dr. Gerstner taught me about patience. I need to give people a chance to work through issues that I have already resolved.
If we are going to move as a body of Christ we must move patiently. Any large group of people must be conscious of its slowest travelers or they will lose some of their members. The Christian calling is one of patient instruction and patient love that is modeled on the Lord’s patience for us.
Our Goal is to Point to Jesus and Not Create a Name
for Ourselves
We live in a day of superstar Christians. Many of these
people did not set out to be celebrities. We have our favorite speakers and
favorite authors. We sometimes sound like the church in
I love the great story of conductor Toscanini. One evening Arturo Toscanini conducted Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony. It was a brilliant performance. At the end of it, the audience went absolutely wild. They clapped, whistled and stomped their feet, caught up in the greatness of the performance. As Toscanini stood there, he bowed and bowed and bowed, then acknowledged his orchestra. When the ovation finally began to subside, Toscanini turned and looked intently at his musicians. He was almost out of control as he whispered, “Gentlemen! Gentlemen!” The orchestra leaned forward to listen. Was he angry? They could not tell. In a fiercely enunciated whisper, Toscanini said, “Gentlemen, I am nothing!” This was an extraordinary admission since Toscanini was blessed with an enormous ego. He added, “Gentlemen, you are nothing.” They had heard that same message before in rehearsal. “But Beethoven,” said Toscanini in a tone of adoration, “is everything, everything, everything!”
This is our message: Jesus is Everything, everything, everything. Our job is to use the tools that He has given us to serve and honor him. It is his message we proclaim. It is His salvation we offer.
When all is said and done the Lord will not be concerned about what kind of music we sang, how many people attended our church, what label we wore, how often we celebrated communion, what version of the Bible we read or what programs we offered. What He will be concerned about is whether we patiently and faithfully proclaimed the message of salvation that is centered on Jesus Christ. If we were faithful here we will have achieved our goal: the “well done” of our blessed Savior.
Conclusion
Our goal is to sharpen our focus this morning. What we have been told is this:
You wouldn’t be here today if you didn’t already believe these things. My goal has not been to enlighten you; the goal is to remind us all of what it is we are supposed to be doing. Consider yourselves reminded.
©Copyright May 16, 2009 Rev.