Through this series, we've been tackling some of the tougher questions being posed to believers. These questions build upon one another.
First, we asked "Who is God?" Can we rationally believe a God exists? Is there room in science for a God who is the powerful creator, loving sustainer, and brilliant designer of all things?
Second, we asked, "What is the Bible?" If God has created everything, for what purpose was it created? Who has this God revealed himself to be? Why are there so many competing ideas about God? What religious ideas are true, or false?
Third, we asked, "Who is Jesus?" Was he a real historical figure? Could he be the Christ, the promised Messiah, of ages past? Could he be the Son of God and the long awaited hope of all the earth?
Fourth, we asked, "Who am I?" What are the implications for whether we believe or don't believe? Do our lives have meaning apart from God? Do they have value? Lasting significance? At the end of time, will it matter that we ever existed?
This past week I got on YouTube and listened to several debates. Atheists will fervently discuss any of these questions. But there is one topic that arouses their ire more than any other... and it's the Church. The church is perceived to be against scientific progress, cultural/moral progress, political progress. In debates Christians frequently remind Atheists about Nazi Germany and Hitler's godless-genocidal war machine. But Atheists love to remind Christians about the Middle Ages, the Crusades, and the exploits of Christian missionaries on every continent.
If you defend the Christian faith there is a good chance you will be asked about the Church. This morning I want to make some general observations about the Church. Specifically, what is the Church? And what makes the church relevant today?
The Church is ... Relevant because of her Good Works
We know the teaching of Jesus and Scripture: "let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven." (Matthew 5:16). "Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress..." (James 1:27). Also, "If anyone has material possessions and sees a brother or sister in need but has no pity on them, how can the love of God be in that person?" (1 John 3:17). There are hundreds of such instructions in Scripture.
No question the church has lost her bearings from time to time. Yet no institution has done more to alleviate suffering and pain than the Church. There is a love, a depth and intensity to the church's sacrifice, unparalleled in all history. The good has far eclipsed the alleged evils. Even today, there is a resurgence of social concern spreading like wild fire across denominations. The rallying cry for most Christians is love God, love people, and do good! Lakeside is a church that responds to a wide variety of needs in our community. Hundreds of other churches are also serving Springfield.
But we're not relevant just because we do good works. There are plenty of organizations, including secular, government, for-profits, and other religions, that also do good works. Take the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation--they've given billions to fight disease and poverty around the world. State and Federal programs have gone a long way to help people right here at home. Red Cross. United Way. Salvation Army. Good Will. It would be a mistake for us to stake the Church's "entire" relevance solely on good works.
The Church is ... Relevant because of her Foundation
Jesus once said, "Everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock." (Matthew 7:24-25)
That house is a metaphor for the Church, and for our lives. The Word of God is a sure foundation. When times are good, few understand the relevance of a good foundation. Before a storm, all houses on the block look the same, right? But whenever someone doesn't put Christ's words into practice, they become "like the foolish man who built his house on the sand. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash." (Matthew 7:26-27).
When you have a sure foundation, you can endure pain, suffering, and hardship and disappointments... storms... in way others simply cannot. In college, a professor's home had a fire. They lost a lot. After the fire, they were surveying the damage when a neighbor approached, "How can you be so calm? My wife and I would be a total wreck if something like this happened to us." Foundation matters!
God doesn't promise there won't be any storms, he just promises our foundation, the Word of God, will see us through. With God we can face any storm of life and not become a total wreck. We'll exude strength and hope when others might be apt to crumble and relent.
The Church is ... Relevant because of her Lord, Savior & Sustainer
Our relevance is further defined by our personal relationship with Jesus. When Jesus describes his relationship with us he uses the imagery of a Vine and its Branches. "... No branch can bear fruit in itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me, and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. If you do not remain in me, you are like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned." (John 15:4-6).
When we're vitally connected to Jesus, there is a love, a joy, a peace, a patience, a kindness, goodness, gentleness, and self-control that emanates from our lives that otherwise wouldn't be there. There is true forgiveness and grace. There is real power available to sustain us through temptation, struggle and weakness. God promises to meet all our needs in Christ Jesus. He works for the good of those who love him. Just as God is the Sovereign Lord, Redeemer and Sustainer of the Universe... so he becomes Sovereign Lord, Redeemer and Sustainer of our lives.
It's not like were just following a bunch of dead, empty laws or hallow commandments. We have a dynamic, personal relationship with Jesus... in which we give ourselves to Him, and he gives himself to us by his Holy Spirit. As the Church, we're showing the world what this life in Christ, in all its vitality, consists of. Jesus came that we might have life and life more abundantly. That life makes the Church relevant!
The Church is ... Relevant because of her Imitation.
It's not just our good works, our sure foundation, or our personal relationship with Christ that is relevant. It's also our way of life. The reason we are called "Christians" (i.e. little Christ's) is because we seek to imitate Christ's entire way of life.
I'd like to read a section of Scripture, and ask you to honestly access what relationship wouldn't dramatically improve by imitating Christ? I'd also ask you where, outside the Church, this way of life is actually prescribed, practiced?
[Read Ephesians 4:17-5:4] or [Read Colossians 3:1-17].
I don't think anyone would suggest that the Church perfectly "imitates" Christ. At times, individual Christians, individual churches, individual denominations, individual leaders/pastors/teachers/parents have certainly lost their way and dishonored Christ.
The Church is a lot like the moon. It's warm/beautiful so long as it's radiating the glory of the Son. But the moment it stops radiating the glory of Son it becomes dark indeed. We only remain relevant so long as we're reflecting Christ.
The Church is ... Relevant because of her Non-Conformity
So this is the other side of the same coin. The Church is relevant because of her conformity to Christ and her stubborn non-conformity to the world. Consider a couple of verses. The Bible says, "Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress..." But do you know the second part? ". . . and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world." (James 1:27)
I cannot tell you how many times in my life I felt I "wasn't relevant" because I wouldn't say or do XYZ. If you are a Christian person, you know the struggle. You want to fit in with the world, and be friends with the world, but you don't fit-in unless you adopt the world's behaviors, values, attitudes, thoughts, and symbols. Eat this, drink this, smoke this, wear this, buy this, listen to this, click this, cross this/that boundary.
From a Biblical perspective, the more we conform to the world, the less relevant we remain. "If salt loses its saltiness, its not longer good for anything but to be thrown out and trampled by men." And this is what happens when we conform. We become irrelevant, we just get trampled on. Think about this. Who gets trampled on? The young person who maintains their principles or the young person who gives in? You know the answer! The world shows disdain for principled men and women... but it shows greater disdain for those who compromise their principles.
The Bible says we are to be like "aliens and strangers" in the world (1 Peter 1). Jesus prayed that we would remain "in" the world but not be "of" the world (John 17). Paul urged the Romans, "Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is--his good, pleasing and perfect will." (Romans 12:1-3).
If you want to pride yourself on "being different," be holy... maintain holiness! Offer yourself as a living sacrifice holy unto God.
The Church is ... Reviled in the World
This last point should probably be obvious to all of us by now. Jesus warned us that we would be hated because of him. I don't think we should seek to be hated, but we should accept that in all reality, we will be reviled by people far from God. Some will praise God because of what they see in us, but others will turn against us.
Jesus said, "Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you." (Matthew 5:11-12)
Our task as the church is to stay course, and maintain our North Star. It is our call to demonstrate the reality of Christ...
By doing the good works God has prepared for us to do.
By proving how sure the foundation of God's word is for all of life.
By abiding in Christ, depending on him fully, as a branch depends on the vine.
By imitating the full life of Christ and no longer being polluted by the world.
The rest we leave up to God.