Proverbs 29:18 – Where there is no vision, the people perish.
Years ago a young black boy was growing up in Cleveland, Ohio in a home which he later described as “materially poor…but spiritually rich.” One day a then famous athlete by the name of Charlie Paddock came to his school to speak to the students. At the time Paddock was considered “the fastest human being alive.” As part of his presentation Paddock told the children, “Listen! What do you want to be? Whatever it is, you name it and then believe that God will help you become it.” That little boy listened with rapt attention and decided right then and there that he too wanted to be the fastest human being on earth so, he went to his track coach and told him of his dream. His coach said, “It’s great to have a dream, son, but to attain your dream you must build a ‘ladder’ to it. Here is the ‘ladder’ to your dreams. It has four ‘rungs.’
The first rung is determination! And the second rung is dedication! The third rung is discipline! And the fourth rung is attitude!” Well, as a result of all that motivation, this little boy climbed each of those rungs. In fact, years later he went on to win four gold medals in the 1936 Berlin Olympics right under the moustached nose of fascist Adolph Hitler. He won the 100-meter dash and broke both the Olympic and world records for the 200 meter. He set a broad jump record at those games that lasted for twenty-four years. You may have guessed by now that his name was Jesse Owens and I share this story because his life is a great example of the power of vision. It reminds me of something Paul Hovey once said, “A blind man’s world is bounded by the limits of his TOUCH; an ignorant man’s world by the limits of his KNOWLEDGE; a great man’s world by the limits of his VISION.”
Well, the same principle is true of the local church. If any body of believers is to achieve great things in the kingdom of God, it must have goals, it must have a clear purpose — a VISION. For a church to grow it must know WHERE it’s going and WHY it’s going there for, as our text says, “where there is no vision…the people perish…” Or as my dad always used to tell me, “He who aims at nothing, hits it.”
In his best-selling book, The Purpose Driven Church, Rick Warren cites several benefits of a church’s having a vision — a target to aim at. Let’s review them together.
1. First of all, a church that knows its purpose HAS BETTER MORALE than one that doesn’t.
Morale and mission ALWAYS go together, as the Apostle Paul points out in I Corinthians 1:10 where he says, “Let there be real harmony so that there won’t be splits in the church be of one mind, united in thought and PURPOSE.” (Living Bible) Warren writes, “People working together for a great purpose don’t have time to argue over trivial issues. When you’re helping ROW the boat, you don’t have time to ROCK it.” Working together to achieve specific goals builds a real esprit de corps in a church.
2. And then, a second benefit of a church’s having goals is that goals tend to REDUCE FRUSTRATION.
This is because knowing its purpose allows a church to forget about things that really don’t matter. Churches with goals experience the truth of Isaiah 26:3 where it says that, “God gives perfect peace to those who keep their PURPOSE firm and put their trust in Him.” (TEV)You see a clear purpose not only defines what we do, but what we do NOT do. And, this is especially important for us here in Montgomery County where we are so busy. We literally don’t have time to waste doing things that don’t matter. You know, every church-this one included-is constantly beset by people who say we “ought” to do this or that-and many of these suggestions are good-but we can’t do everything. And if we are to accomplish the tasks that God has called us to, then we must always filter our plans through this question: “Does this activity fulfill one of the purposes God has given us?” Without this rule, it’s easy to be frustrated and feel like Isaiah when he wrote: “I have labored to NO PURPOSE; I have spent my strength in vain and for nothing.” (Isaiah 9:4 )
3. Thirdly, a clear purpose allows concentration.
It makes it possible for the leaders of a church to focus all of their efforts in the same direction. When I was a child I had a magnifying glass and like all kids I learned that if you held it under the sun light at just the right distance from a piece of paper you could get it to catch on fire, because unlike diffused light, focused light has tremendous power. Those laser pointers that were popular recently show that if light is concentrated it can be seen at long distances. Industrial lasers are so focused that they can cut through a block of steel. Well, this same principle applies to ministry. Like a laser beam, the more focused a church becomes the more impact it will have on it’s community and culture. I think Paul was referring to this principle when he wrote in Philippians 3:13 and said, “I am bringing ALL MY ENERGIES to bear on this one thing forgetting what is behind and looking forward to what lies ahead.” (Living Bible) Many churches fall into the trap of majoring on the minors. They diffuse their strength and resources on good, but less important agendas. For a church to be effective, it must major on the majors; it must live by that old cliche’ that says, “The main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing.”
4. A fourth benefit of a clear purpose is that it attracts cooperation.
People want to join a church that knows where its going. They’re eager to get on board because people naturally are looking for something that gives meaning and purpose and direction to life.
When Ezra told the people of Jerusalem exactly what God expected them to do, they responded, “Tell us how to proceed in setting things straight, and we will fully cooperate.” (Ezra 10:4 LB)
This is why we make our purpose statement here at Redland part of every service. Not only do I want US to never forget our purpose as a church. I also want the people who visit us each week to know who we are and where we are going. For, as Proverbs 11:27 says, “If your goals are good, you will be respected.”
5. And then, finally, a clear purpose assists evaluation.II Corinthians 13:5 says, “Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves.” You see, if you know what you are supposed to be doing, it’s easier to see if you are doing it or not. A clear purpose enables us to gauge how we are doing and make changes when need be.So, as Warren reminds us, there ARE a great many benefits to be found in having clear cut goals. Well, this morning I want to give you some goals as a church for the near future. And, I want to do this in the context of the purpose statement that God gave us two years ago. So this is sort of a combination sermon. I want to both remind you of our purpose and tell you exactly how we are going to fulfill that purpose in 2001. We talked about this a great deal at last week’s annual church council planning retreat.
And before we go any farther, I think it is important for us to pause and refresh our memories of exactly what it is that motivates us to work to achieve our purposes. I mean Jesse Owens’ motivation in life was his desire to be the fastest man alive. Our motivation here at Redland for all that we do is our common experience of the GRACE OF GOD. We believe that God has called us to be a what? [“A GRACE-DRIVEN church for a GRACE-NEEDING world.”] If we had a theme verse it would be II Corinthians 5:14-15 where it says, “For Christ’s love compels us, because we are convinced that One died for all and those who live should no longer live for themselves but for Him Who died for them and was raised again.” So, I guess you could say that God’s LAW INSISTS on our fulfilling His purposes for this church but it is His GRACE that INSPIRES it. Okay, what exactly does GRACE inspire us to do here at Redland Baptist Church?
1. First, it inspires is to GROW in our love of Christ…
In other words, we believe that GRACE makes disciples like us want to become more and more like the GRACE-GIVER. So that, as II Corinthians 3:18 says, “We who reflect the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into His likeness.” Our love-our admiration-of Jesus compels us to try and live every moment just as He would. Being Jesus’ follower then means that we embrace Paul’s passionate life motto by saying, “For me to live is Christ…” (Philippians 1:21 )
Now, how does this happen? How do we become more and more like Jesus? Well, here at Redland we know that this change is not instantaneous. It’s a process that comes as a result of a life-long commitment. As I have said several times in the past few years, discipleship is more of a marathon than a sprint. We also know that it’s more than just a desire. I mean, WANTING to be like Christ isn’t enough. I have to commit to training myself to learn to walk and talk and act like Him. You know, Michael Jordan is probably the greatest basketball player ever to play in the history of the game. I wish I could play basketball like he does and I’m not alone. A whole generation of basketball players is growing up wanting to be “just like Mike.” They want to shoot like he does, jump like he does, jam like he does…FLY like he does!
Well, to assume that someone becomes a disciple of Christ simply by WANTING would be similar to saying that all someone has to do to play like Jordan is to WANT to do so. But I’m sure Mr. Jordan would tell us that the secret of his jumps, acrobatics, timing, and shots was much more than simple desire. It was constant practice and training. The same principle is true of Christian discipleship. Jesus said, “Everyone who is fully TRAINED will be like his Master.” (Luke 6:40 ). This is why the apostle Paul wrote, “TRAIN yourself to be Godly.” (I Timothy 4:7 )
And, this training includes personal as well as CORPORATE Bible study and prayer. You see, we also know here that growing to be like Jesus is not a solo event. You can’t do it on your own. You need the help of other disciples. Paul Tournier rightly said, “There are two things we cannot do alone, one is to be married and the other is to be a Christian.” If we are to grow and mature and become more Christlike, we need the help of others who are on this pilgrimage as well. This is why Hebrews 10:24-25 warns us not to, “give up meeting together as some are in the habit of doing, but [to] encourage one another.” Optimal spiritual growth occurs when we develop a relationships with other Christian disciples who know something we don’t or have experiences in an area we don’t and are willing to share this knowledge with us.
This is why I believe Sunday School here at Redland is so important for, as we gather together around the Bible and study it together in small groups, sharing insights and experiences, we do grow. We become more and more like our Master. And I want you to know that in 2001 our Christian Education committee is committed to keeping Sunday School here healthy and strong.
We’ll also offer other group discipleship studies on Sunday nights and Wednesday nights for the express purpose of helping you mature and develop as a disciple. We’ll continue our ever-growing Tuesday morning women’s Bible study which I understand will very soon be expanded to offer an evening class. We also want to do a better job of tracking people’s spiritual growth and maturity in the next year so that we can move more and more people from the committed to the core.
To aid us as we move members from participation on the fringe of the church to leadership inside the church, we are going to offer a church-wide seminar designed to help us all discover and use our spiritual gifts. This will happen on Sunday, February 4 so put that date on your calendar. We’ll have lunch after church and then spend the rest of the afternoon going through a seminar called SHAPE, which has come out of Saddle Back Community church and is an acronym for S.piritual gifts, H.eart, A.bilities, P.ersonality, E.xperiences. This seminar will be focused on the fact that God custom made each of us…and what He made us to BE determines what He intends for us to DO. So, in the coming year we will do all we can to help you GROW in your love of Christ.
And then, as our acronym reminds us, grace also motivates us here to….
2. …REACH in the name of Christ…
We are absolutely committed to helping the members of this church learn to share their faith in such a way that more and more people decide to become Christians-disciples of Christ themselves.
I read this week about the Yuppies of the 1980’s. Remember that acronym? Y.oung U.pwardly-mobile P.rofessionals. Well, I came across a reference to a marketing newsletter aimed at the baby boom generation. And it said that the Yuppies have now become known as the MOSS generation which is a brand new acronym for: M.iddle-aged, O.ver-stressed, S.emi-Affluent, S.uburbanites.
Isn’t that a welcome description? According to this newsletter, the typical MOSS is 41 years old, working on a second marriage, has 2.0 biological and .5 step children, owns at least one publication on cholesterol, and is affluent but doesn’t feel that way. But, let me distill that “MOSS” description down to one word: THIRSTY. These are thirsty people who thought they had it all and are discovering a thirst that’s gone unsatisfied. They are thirsty because they have needs that only God can fill. And, as a church, I want us to become much more committed to sharing our faith with these thirsty people who live next to us or work next to us.
Now, we’re doing a very good job here of leading our children to embrace a personal faith in Christ and of reaching out and attracting Christians who are new to this area to join our church.
But we have a long way to go when it comes to becoming efficient at sharing our faith with our friends and neighbors. We must learn to become relational evangelists. Did you know that statistics show that within 2 years of becoming a Christian most people have no significant relationship with a lost person? They get so involved in the church that they center nearly every free moment of their lives within the church and have no time left to develop relationships with people on the outside. And many evangelistic efforts are not fruitful because they end up being focused around inviting lost people to come into the church building. But to really influence the lost in our community we must leave the church and go out there, making friendships with people through which we can share our faith. Nowhere in the Bible are we told that the lost are going to come to us. But repeatedly we are told that we must be willing to go to them.
It is estimated that less than three percent of the non-Christian people in the world ever come into our buildings. So, we will never fulfill the Great Commission by building great buildings or flashy programs. If great cathedrals would win the world, Europe would have won it long ago. If programs would win the world, Southern Baptists would have done it long ago. Relationships bring people into a saving relationship with Jesus. So, we must go to people. And Jesus is our example in this for, He went to where the thirsty individuals were. He met Peter at the docks…the woman of Samaria by the well, Matthew as he sat at his tax office, and scores of others while they were in the process of their daily pursuits. He went to people. So, to complete our God-given mission we must look for opportunities to go to where the people are and build relationships with lost individuals.
A couple weeks ago Sue and I were browsing through Barnes and Noble over at the Rio when we saw a sign inviting people to a Christian Book Readers Club. The sign said that the following Wednesday they would be discussing Philip Yancey’s book, Disappointment With God. Well, since that is one of our favorite books, Sue planned to attend. Now, when the day rolled around she almost backed out. Our schedules are very hectic and she wondered if she really had the time but she was perceptive enough to sense the still, small voice of God urging her to go so she did. I called her later that afternoon to see how it had gone and she was very excited. She reported that the book club itself had not been that good but that a true seeker had come to the session, a young man who is not a Christian but who is truly searching for God. He too had seen the sign and was intrigued by the book title and decided to attend. Sue spent 90 minutes after the session sharing her faith with him, doing her best to answer his questions. She invited him to our Sunday night track study of C. S. Lewis’ Mere Christianity. She even mailed him a copy of that book and of Lee Strobel’s The Case For Christ. The young man has not come to Redland yet but he has called us a couple times and written once. He is still seeking and is obviously very grateful for someone like Sue, who took the time to befriend him and answer his questions. I want all of us to see the importance of making friendships like this through which we can share our faith, looking for opportunities to spread the good news of God’s grace.
And, we’re going to give you a tool to help with this. Later this fall and twice next year five commercials will be aired on cable channels in our area like UPN, USA, and ESPN, etc. The theme of these 30 second blurbs is “What If It’s True?” So as your friends and neighbors ask you about these commercials be ready to tell them why IT IS TRUE,
…that you can find purpose, a home, a sense of family, and practical application for life at church!
…that Jesus will come again some day…and that it is possible for us to be ready when He does.
…that there is only ONE way to God…as Acts 4:12 says, “Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved.”
…that we are not crazy. The things that lady in the yellow outfit had heard are true…Jesus did “die for our sins and was buried and rose on the third day.” (I Corinthians 15:3 )
Be prepared to tell them that the teachings of the Bible do work when applied to life, all the answers to all our questions are found in this book. Be ready to tell them you lost friends that all this IS true!
Next summer we are also committed to plan a church-wide mission trip to Conway, New Hampshire to help a new church work there called Valley Christian Church. This little church is about 3 years old and they average about 100 in attendance. They don’t have a building but meet in a school. Our own Tad Wehunt serves as their youth minister. Their pastor is Brian Hart and they need us to come there to do religious surveys, lead sports clinics, run Vacation Bible School, anything to help them grow and reach more people for Jesus. And then, the third thing that GRACE drives us to do here at Redland is to….
3. …AFFIRM in the body of Christ…
This part of our acronym basically says that we understand the importance of healthy church fellowship. Now, FELLOWSHIP may not seem like that vital of a thing but I believe that it is probably the most important of each of the five tasks God has given us. For, to the outside world, the way Christians relate to one another is a “litmus test” proving whether or not we have actually experienced the grace of God. Scripture teaches that Jesus believed in the importance of church fellowship or harmony. In His last prayer before the cross, He prayed that the people who fellowshiped in churches like ours would be ONE…that we would experience true UNITY. And our UNITY is a very special thing because it is a UNITY that is shared among very different people. One of Redland’s strengths has always been its healthy diversity. And Christlike unity or harmony comes from our knowledge that, whereas we are different, we do have ONE THING in common: our mutual acceptance OF and dependence ON the grace of God. And this UNITY in spite of diversity is a powerful magnet to draw lost people to God. But DISUNITY has the opposite affect. It drives people away. This is why we should heed Paul’s forewarning and, “make every effort to keep the UNITY of the Spirit through the bond of peace.” (Ephesians 4:3 )
Now, this is not to say that we compromise our convictions or beliefs. We don’t abandon the truths of Scripture. Remember the words of St. Augustine? As Christians we must have, “freedom in the non-essentials…UNITY in the essentials…and love in all things.” Embracing UNITY doesn’t mean that you can believe whatever you want. UNITY would be impossible under these conditions. But it does mean we understand how important UNITY is and so we constantly guard our attitudes and do everything we can to cherish and protect our unity, so we don’t mess with the non-essentials here.
We didn’t talk much about this on the retreat but I want you to know that I will continue to do all I can as your pastor to guard and protect the healthy fellowship that we now enjoy. I want us to meet our budget and continue to operate in the black financially because that is an enormous shot in the arm for church unity. I want us to work side by side and finish the “Building on the Master’s Plan” campaign this year and enjoy the thrill of accomplishing a great task like that together. And, this is why I am very hesitant to deal with denominational politics. I just don’t think that wrestling with denominationalism is worth it if it hurts our unity, and diverts us from our purpose. We derive our identity from our mission, not our denomination. We are CHRISTIANS before we are Baptists.
And then, the fourth thing that grace motivates us to do here is to…
4. …CARE IN THE NATURE OF CHRIST.
You see being grace-driven means we realize how very much God has done for us. We begin to comprehend the staggering cost of our salvation. And when this happens we respond with a desire to give back to Him in any way we can. We remember Jesus words in Matthew 25:40, where He said that whenever we help people; whenever we give food and clothes to the needy; whenever we visit the sick and those in prison; it is as if we are helping Jesus Himself. You see, if we let it, grace will change us. It will make us into gracious, loving, giving people. E. Stanley Jones said, “Grace binds you with far stronger than the cords of duty or obligation can bind you. Grace is free, but when you take it, you are bound forever to the Giver and bound to the spirit of the Giver. Like produces like. Grace makes you gracious…the Giver makes you give.”
Here at Redland I want more a more of our members to see how very important ministering to the needs of people is because when our lives end you and I don’t want to stand before a Savior, Who shed His blood for us and say, “I’m sorry Jesus. I never found my spiritual gift. I never became a part of the serving core of the church at Redland. You and I don’t want to have white, unstained, uncalloused hands when the time comes for us to put our hands in those blood-stained hands with holes in them. Truly grace-driven disciples will be involved in ministering to people in need. And this is an amazing source of church unity itself.
On our retreat last weekend Paul Jordan told me that when his family became active at Redland some of his friends asked him why he continued to attend here. He replied that this church was like family to him. He shared that when his father died in 1984 the membership ministered to him and his family by bringing food, sending cards .or just calling to see how he was doing. He shared that when his son had cancer and needed daily radiation treatments church family members like Shelia Woofter and Lloyd Linn gave him rides so he and Marilyn wouldn’t have to miss work…
Patty Graves and Dick and Gladys Mclain were constant sources of encouragement. In these trials, Paul and his family discovered that this is a place where joys are multiplied and sorrows are divided.
So, next year we are going to work very hard. We’re going to give you lots of opportunities to get “ministry callouses.” On January 7th we’re going to invite the principles of Sequoyah Elementary School, Redland Middle School, and Magruder Highschool to come attend a panel discussion through which they can share with us their needs so we can make ourselves available to help these public school leaders as they seek to build a moral base on their campuses. On February 25th I have invited JEFF COLLINS, founder and president of Love In Action, a ministry to men, women, and children in our area suffering and dying from AIDS. Our own Ken and Deb Vaughn are the Montgomery County Coordinators for this ministry. Jeff tells me that Washington, D.C. has the highest municipal HIV-infection rate of any city in America; surpassing San Francisco. I want us to learn how we as a church can be a part of this ministry. I would like our first task to be joining them in PROJECT EASTER JOY, providing quality care packages for thousands of patients in more then one hundred hospitals and clinics in our area. And then, inspired by the Christmas In April ministry, we’re also going to sponsor a “Christmas All Year Long” ministry.
That is to say we’re going to circulate a survey very soon to find out what each of you are willing to do in order to minister to the needs of other people, whether it be providing transportation to a doctor’s appointment for someone who cannot drive or visiting with a shut in or doing yard work or preparing a meal. And then, as those kind of needs arise, we’re going to call on you so that all of us can obey Jesus command when He said, “Freely you have received, now freely give.”
5. And then, the last purpose our acronym reminds us of is that here at Redland we believe that God wants us to EXALT IN THE NAME OF CHRIST…
In other words we feel led to provide our people with regular opportunities to worship God in Spirit and in Truth. This is an aspect of our purpose that we must get right because more and more churches these days are having difficulty in this area. Tragically many Christians are spending precious time arguing over worship styles. Perhaps this is due to one of several misconceptions of what worship really is. For example, some Christians see worship as a “filling station” where they receive the necessary resources for the normal activities of the week. To them worship is little more than a routine “pause that refreshes.” In the words of Brennan Manning, people like this want to get “…just close enough to God to warm themselves with His love but not close enough to be consumed by it.” For others worship is more like a “giant pep rally.” They attend to have their spirits lifted so they can go out once more to do battle in an often depressing world. For many people worship is a chore…something you force yourself to go through each week because you know that, like vitamins and exercise, it’s good for you.
And, there is at least an element of truth in each of these misconceptions but their flaw is that they are built on the premise that worship is mainly oriented towards the worshiper, that worship is primarily for my benefit. This philosophy naturally lends itself to strife because we are selfish beings and if we don’t have our worship “needs” met in one church .we’ll keep looking until we find a church that does meet our expectations.
But, a more accurate perspective of worship is that of Soren Kirkegaard who said that worship should be viewed as a theater of sorts. And in this “worship theater” God is the audience. Congregants are the actors and worship leaders are the prompters. In this paradigm, worship is seen as our gift to God, not the other way around. We come to sing and preach and pray in ways that bring God glory and honor.
The word “worship” literally means “worth-ship.” We come to this place in order to worship that which is worthy. And Scripture teaches that ONLY God fits this requirement. As it says in Revelation 4:11, “You are worthy O Lord to receive glory and honor and power.” So when we worship God we are declaring His worth not our own. We enter times of worship with an attitude of reverence or respect for God. Psalm 25:14 says, “Friendship with God is reserved for those who REVERENCE Him. With them alone He shares the secrets of His promises.” True worship should be a time when we allow God to challenge and change us, an hour in which we offer God our lives to use as He sees fit.
In the upcoming year we want to maintain a proper view of worship-to shield Redland from the “worship wars” that are plaguing many churches in our culture. One goal we have is to somehow motivate our members to be on time for worship…to not miss those first minutes when we prepare our hearts for God’s presence. We want to work harder to “thematize” each service so attenders can clearly hear and respond to the message God has laid on our hearts…
So, in 2001 our purpose…our goal…is to continue to make Redland Baptist Church a grace-driven church for a grace-needing world where people can…[READ WITH ME]
- Grow in the love of Christ,
- Reach in the name of Christ,
- Affirm in the body of Christ,
- Care in the nature of Christ, and
- Exalt in the glory of Christ.
This is our vision as a church — our goal.
You know, I can think of no better Sunday for a Christian who is looking for a church home to attend. Because today you have heard exactly what kind of church God is calling us to be. And if after hearing all this, you feel God leading you to join us in this purpose, we invite you to walk forward during our closing hymn and ask to move your membership here. Others of you attending this morning may not be Christians and you are seeking purpose and meaning in life. As I said earlier, that is only found in a personal relationship with God through Jesus Christ.
We invite you to make that decision this morning and to share it with us. Won’t you come as we sing?