If we are the body..............?
I know that I have said this before. And I am pretty sure that I have heard at least one other person say it before. And I know for a fact the Bible says it. Well maybe not exactly in these words, but if we are the body..........why? Church planters, pastors, leaders, missions boards, and countless others look at the book of Acts for insights into how to grow the church. We see the Acts of the Apostles (the "full" name of the book) as a blueprint for ministry. We talk about the themes that run throughout the book. And yet I have found that with the people I hang out with we miss the "MAJOR" theme of the first eight chapters (maybe even the whole book) on a regular and consistent basis. How do we overlook it? I am glad you asked, and if you will hang with me for just a moment I will explain.
We look at the Acts of the Apostles and say, "What can we glean from these men and their ministry? What great miracles did they do, what mighty sermons did they preach, what great prayer warriors were they?" And I think it is right that we do so, but, and it is a big but, aren't we missing the more subtle message here? Jesus taught in parables so that those who were "blind" and "hard-hearted" might not see or hear. In our blindness and hard heartedness are we not seeing and hearing? Did Luke, inspired by the Spirit of God, put a subtle message into the book of Acts that the blind and hard of heart (that would be us) miss? I think he did - and I think we are all missing it. Now everyone back away from the stones, you can stone me to death when this is over.
Jesus said that we would have power when the Spirit came upon us, and that we would be his witnesses all the way to the ends of the earth. When he said we would have power, he wasn't just talking to the Pastors, Elders, and Deacons. He was talking to every believer. Now everyone is saying, "Yes - yes, we know this all." But knowing it in our heads, and actually believing it and acting it out are two COMPLETELY different things. I can believe in my head that the Holy Spirit is available for every person in the church, but I actually have to let these folks, the lay people, start ministering the way that God has gifted them. And I know that everyone is saying that they are willing to let lay people minister, but they can never get them to step up to the plate and do it. Yet what we should really be saying is that we can never get them to step up to the plate and do it OUR WAY!
Ok.....that hurt......that really hurt me.....because that is exactly my problem. I don't want to let people minister to others their way, I want them to do it my way, and if they don't do it my way - well they just need to sit there in the pew until they will! Isn't this a horribly sinful attitude to have? Yet Pastors, Youth Pastors, Elders, Deacons, and Sunday School Super-Intendents (to name a few), isn't this exactly the attitude of our heart? Do it my way or not at all!
So what is the theme we are missing in Acts? It is something Gary Benedict has said about a bajillion times. Unleash the laity! You see in Acts 5 the Apostles were doing some great things. Yet in verses 12-13 it says this: Now many signs and wonders were regularly done among the people but the hands of the aposltes. And they were all together in Solomon's Portico. None of the rest dared join them, but the people held them in high esteem. (emphasis added) I sat and read this, and prayed, and read, and prayed, and kept asking myself and God this question. Who are the "none of the rest" that dared not join them. As I looked at this I saw where people were coming to the apostles and complaining because their widows were being neglected. Did the apostles go take care of them? Nope! As a matter of fact they called the whole church together (that is what it means in Acts 6:2 when it says the called the full number of the disciples together) and told them that they already had a ministry of teaching and preaching, and that someone needed to get to work. Now they did not give them a plan on how to hand out the food, they just told them to pick out from themselves some men of good reputation, full of the Spirit, and full of the wisdom of God, and take care of it.
You see, the "none of the rest" were the laity I think. They were scared, numb, indifferent, or whatever, and they would not do the ministry. But, and it is another big but, when the apostles gave them the ministry, they handed it over without giving them detailed instructions, and just trusted that God would guide, empower, and equip them, we see in Acts 6:7 the results. And the word of God continued to increase, and the number of the disciples multiplied greatly in Jerusalem, and a great many of the preists became obedient to the faith. But this wasn't enough yet, the theme goes on.
In Acts 7 we see Stephen get killed preaching his first sermon! Then in Acts 8 we read these words. And there arose on that day a great persecution against the church in Jerusalem, and they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, EXCEPT THE APOSTLES. Acts 8:1b (emphasis added). Then throughout the rest of the book we keep seeing the apostles showing up to different places where people had already heard the gospel and been saved, yet were oblivious to baptism of the Spirit, and I don't mean speaking in tongues, I mean the empowerment of God's Spirit as he gifts them. So they would pray for them, lay hands on them, and then turn them loose into ministry after they recieved the Spirit. The apostles would give them general oversight in their ministry, but they would let them handle the details. They would make sure they were preaching and teaching sound doctrine, but they didn't tell them which lesson to teach in Children's church on which day. They let Spirit Empowered believers minister as the Spirit of God enabled them.
I think today that we are so conceited that we believe that we are so Spirit Empowered that we can empower people to minister and do it our way. I hope God fixes us in that area starting with me. Because personally I am the biggest control freak I know, and I hope that if I can admit that then you can admit where you are at fault and together we can repent before a holy God!
We look at the Acts of the Apostles and say, "What can we glean from these men and their ministry? What great miracles did they do, what mighty sermons did they preach, what great prayer warriors were they?" And I think it is right that we do so, but, and it is a big but, aren't we missing the more subtle message here? Jesus taught in parables so that those who were "blind" and "hard-hearted" might not see or hear. In our blindness and hard heartedness are we not seeing and hearing? Did Luke, inspired by the Spirit of God, put a subtle message into the book of Acts that the blind and hard of heart (that would be us) miss? I think he did - and I think we are all missing it. Now everyone back away from the stones, you can stone me to death when this is over.
Jesus said that we would have power when the Spirit came upon us, and that we would be his witnesses all the way to the ends of the earth. When he said we would have power, he wasn't just talking to the Pastors, Elders, and Deacons. He was talking to every believer. Now everyone is saying, "Yes - yes, we know this all." But knowing it in our heads, and actually believing it and acting it out are two COMPLETELY different things. I can believe in my head that the Holy Spirit is available for every person in the church, but I actually have to let these folks, the lay people, start ministering the way that God has gifted them. And I know that everyone is saying that they are willing to let lay people minister, but they can never get them to step up to the plate and do it. Yet what we should really be saying is that we can never get them to step up to the plate and do it OUR WAY!
Ok.....that hurt......that really hurt me.....because that is exactly my problem. I don't want to let people minister to others their way, I want them to do it my way, and if they don't do it my way - well they just need to sit there in the pew until they will! Isn't this a horribly sinful attitude to have? Yet Pastors, Youth Pastors, Elders, Deacons, and Sunday School Super-Intendents (to name a few), isn't this exactly the attitude of our heart? Do it my way or not at all!
So what is the theme we are missing in Acts? It is something Gary Benedict has said about a bajillion times. Unleash the laity! You see in Acts 5 the Apostles were doing some great things. Yet in verses 12-13 it says this: Now many signs and wonders were regularly done among the people but the hands of the aposltes. And they were all together in Solomon's Portico. None of the rest dared join them, but the people held them in high esteem. (emphasis added) I sat and read this, and prayed, and read, and prayed, and kept asking myself and God this question. Who are the "none of the rest" that dared not join them. As I looked at this I saw where people were coming to the apostles and complaining because their widows were being neglected. Did the apostles go take care of them? Nope! As a matter of fact they called the whole church together (that is what it means in Acts 6:2 when it says the called the full number of the disciples together) and told them that they already had a ministry of teaching and preaching, and that someone needed to get to work. Now they did not give them a plan on how to hand out the food, they just told them to pick out from themselves some men of good reputation, full of the Spirit, and full of the wisdom of God, and take care of it.
You see, the "none of the rest" were the laity I think. They were scared, numb, indifferent, or whatever, and they would not do the ministry. But, and it is another big but, when the apostles gave them the ministry, they handed it over without giving them detailed instructions, and just trusted that God would guide, empower, and equip them, we see in Acts 6:7 the results. And the word of God continued to increase, and the number of the disciples multiplied greatly in Jerusalem, and a great many of the preists became obedient to the faith. But this wasn't enough yet, the theme goes on.
In Acts 7 we see Stephen get killed preaching his first sermon! Then in Acts 8 we read these words. And there arose on that day a great persecution against the church in Jerusalem, and they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, EXCEPT THE APOSTLES. Acts 8:1b (emphasis added). Then throughout the rest of the book we keep seeing the apostles showing up to different places where people had already heard the gospel and been saved, yet were oblivious to baptism of the Spirit, and I don't mean speaking in tongues, I mean the empowerment of God's Spirit as he gifts them. So they would pray for them, lay hands on them, and then turn them loose into ministry after they recieved the Spirit. The apostles would give them general oversight in their ministry, but they would let them handle the details. They would make sure they were preaching and teaching sound doctrine, but they didn't tell them which lesson to teach in Children's church on which day. They let Spirit Empowered believers minister as the Spirit of God enabled them.
I think today that we are so conceited that we believe that we are so Spirit Empowered that we can empower people to minister and do it our way. I hope God fixes us in that area starting with me. Because personally I am the biggest control freak I know, and I hope that if I can admit that then you can admit where you are at fault and together we can repent before a holy God!
posted by Pastor Jerry at
8:41 AM
1 Comments:
From one family control freak to another -- that's a powerful look at something I don't think anyone else has ever brought out of that scripture when I was listening (or at least not when the spirit was helping me listen :-)
Keep up the good work. Praying from Arnold, MO....MsKim
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