Building a Resilient Church Culture: Part 2 Remix – Clear Mission

We invite you to take your copy of God's Word and turn with me to Matthew chapter 28.

Matthew 28 · chapter mention

! We had purpose today to get back into our study of Romans, and I must tell you that I'm very eager to continue considering and learning from verses 16 and 17 of chapter 1.

At this rate, we'll finish Romans about the time I retire as a pastor.

I do hope we'll be able to get in it and keep up a pace here very soon.

But this evening, we have an important members meeting to pray and discuss the future of our church.

You see, God has been blessing us with growth.

Good, healthy, steady growth.

And we feel it on a lot of Sundays, not every Sunday, because there's just been so much sickness as of late.

But when you really begin to pay attention and look at the numbers, we have a wonderful opportunity in front of us, and we're going to have to think together.

We're going to need to make some changes to the way that we meet if we are to stay on mission as a church.

So, as I have spent time working on a sermon for today, I have felt that the most important thing happening today is the work we will do together this evening, which is why I want to prime us for that meeting.

Now, if you're a guest this morning, whether a new guest or a long-time guest, I don't believe this lesson will be lost on you, so don't already check out on us.

In fact, perhaps it will help inform your church involvement.

So, I pray that this will be of good benefit for us all.

I'm revisiting this morning a sermon that I preached about six months ago when we were going through that resilient church culture kind of series that we were working through on the mission of the church.

What is the mission of the church?

If we are not crystal clear on why we exist, then we will always be distracted by some lesser purpose.

I think that we are God's people and we care about his word, but there's a lot of lesser purposes that can distract us from the purpose of the church.

We will need to readily identify what battles we ought to engage in and what the war is that we cannot avoid.

We must know the task the Lord has set before us if we are to make decisions both macro and micro that honor him.

So, we're going to look today at Matthew chapter 28, verse 18, 19, and 20.

Matthew 28:18

A text that perhaps is familiar to you.

Maybe you've never heard it and thought about it in the context of a local church.

Before I read it, beloved, let me remind you that this is God's word to us written for his glory and our good.

And so, we should listen to it so that we would believe its promises and that we would obey its commands.

Matthew 28, verse 18 and following.

Matthew 28:18

And Jesus came and said to them,

All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.

Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,

teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.

And behold, I'm with you always to the end of the age.

Now, in considering this text, we must first consider the amazing Christological statement that Jesus makes concerning himself in verse 18.

He says there that all authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.

Let us not rush past this to the application, but stop for a moment to steep in this reality.

Jesus is totally in charge.

There's not an ounce of anything that happens in this world that our Lord does not reign over.

This episode, as Matthew records it for us, takes place just after Jesus' resurrection.

He has lived the perfectly righteous life that we cannot live, but that is required of us.

He has died a most gruesome death on the cross and paid the penalty for our sin.

A debt that with all our penitence we could not have repaid.

And he has risen from the grave, defeating death, guaranteeing that for those who place saving faith in his person and his work,

we will one day be resurrected.

It is on the heels of this that Jesus says,

All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.

Now, it takes a little imagination to think,

What must have the disciples thought at this point?

Where do our minds go if the risen Christ is before us and says,

All authority in heaven and on earth, this leaves nothing out, has been given to me.

And I just imagine it's where my mind goes.

Maybe it's where their minds went.

To a text like Daniel chapter 7, verse 13 and 14.

Daniel 7:13

Where Daniel records,

I saw in the night visions and behold, with the clouds of heaven there came one like a son of man.

And he came to the ancient of days and was presented before him.

And to him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom that all peoples, nations and languages should serve him.

His dominion is an everlasting dominion which shall not pass away.

And his kingdom one that shall not be destroyed.

Right?

This, who we understand to be the Christ, the son of man, is given all the dominion so that peoples, nations and languages would serve him.

Right?

In his kingdom forever and ever.

If their minds happened to go to a text like this,

then Jesus' following command would not have been a surprise to them.

He has a reign that is going to include peoples, nations and languages.

So it makes sense that he says,

Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations.

Or in the Greek, ethnos.

Go, therefore, in response to what I have just told you of my authority.

Go, right?

Because I am in charge of all things.

Go.

And this Greek word for go, which I won't try to pronounce this morning,

means in the simplest of terms to go or to travel.

This is why this text is most classically used as a missionary text.

And it certainly is that.

As it speaks of all nations.

Right?

It is a missionary text, but not just a missionary text.

As a brief side note, I argue that this is a reference to peoples, not nation states.

It's a much more inclusive statement.

Right?

So it's a missionary text, but not just a missionary text.

You see, this Greek word go is in the errorist verb tense.

In this case, not indicating a particular moment of going.

It's in the passive grammatical voice,

which means the subject implied in this case as you is being acted upon.

So a fair translation of go could be in your God-ordained going about.

In all of your going in which the Jesus who reigns over all things sends you,

be about the work of making disciples.

So it is a missionary text because there are going to be people who go to the very ends of the earth.

But it is also a text for us today.

Jesus gives us a command to make disciples in our God-ordained going about,

which may include packing up and spending your life in a remote place.

Or it may include commuting to a thankless job.

But wherever you are sent, you are to be part of this disciple-making endeavor.

You see, even as Jesus has all authority,

he is pleased to use secondary means to bring about his purposes.

He includes us in his mission on the earth because he loves us.

And he knows that including us in his purpose grants us him as we see him work mightily in our disciple-making efforts.

This is not delegated authority.

He doesn't give us authority.

Jesus has the authority.

We have a command.

But because Jesus has the authority, it is an empowered command.

And he does not want us to miss this.

Which is why the text is bookended.

At the end of verse 20, he says,

And behold, I am with you always to the end of the age.

Jesus possesses all the authority,

commands us to make disciples,

and promises to accompany us with his authority.

This ought to embolden the listener to Jesus' words.

I have the authority.

I will empower you.

So, in your going about, as I've ordered it,

be about the work of making disciples.

We have nothing to fear.

For if God is for us, who can be against us?

As Charles Spurgeon once said,

Half our fears arise from neglect of the Bible.

Often Christians focus their minds on the going

and forget who has all the authority

and who goes with us.

So, Jesus gives us a command to go, therefore,

and make disciples of all nations

and a promise to empower the work with his authority.

But what are the means for this disciple making?

Perhaps you've gathered where I'm going with this

as I have posed the question to us this morning,

what is the mission of the church?

The means for the command to make disciples of all nations

is the church.

This is the mission of the church.

Here, in the simplest of terms,

to make disciples.

Now, how do I arrive at that from this text?

I want you to see these three verses

as highly ecclesiological.

If I can get there,

because I see two activities in our disciple making.

The first one we see is baptizing.

So we're to make disciples,

baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son

and of the Holy Spirit.

Now, Bobby Jameson, in his book,

Understanding Baptism,

defined baptism this way.

Baptism is a church's act

of affirming and portraying

a believer's union with Christ

by immersing him or her in water

and a believer's act

of publicly committing him or herself

to Christ and his people,

thereby uniting a believer to the church

and marking off him or her

from the world.

It's the believer's act

of declaring that they're in Christ.

They identify with Christ

and his people

and the church's act

of affirming

that they believe

that profession is credible.

It's one of the ordinances

we get from the Latin

to put in order.

It's the ordinance

by which we welcome people

into the church.

Now, we don't have time

to prove this definition out.

I think that book's out in the book nook

if you'd like to pick it up.

I'll be happy to put it in your hand.

But we believe as a church

that baptizing individuals

in the name of the triune God

is what marks them off,

is what welcomes them

into the life

of a local church.

Normatively,

churches baptize.

There's all kinds

of erroneous practice

of baptism in our culture.

But normatively,

churches baptize.

We can find an exception.

The case of the Ethiopian eunuch

being sent home

as the only Christian

to a people

who had yet to hear the gospel.

But this is not

the normative pattern

that we see

in the scripture.

People become Christians

and they're baptized

by a church

into the life

of a church.

Therefore,

it is an extremely fair assumption

that Jesus means

for us to understand

that in our God-ordained

going about

and making disciples,

we will be doing this

connected to a church.

It's right there in the text.

It's glaring at us

as he says,

make disciples,

baptizing them

in the name

of the triune God.

The second activity

that I see

is teaching.

Teaching them

to observe

all that I have

commanded you.

the church

is given

the ongoing work

of teaching

the ways

of Jesus.

Let me show you this

from an additional text.

If you'd like to turn there,

this is Ephesians chapter 4

Ephesians 4:11

verses 11

and following

down through 16.

There we read,

and he,

referring to Christ,

gave the apostles,

the prophets,

which you've probably

heard me argue,

I think is the scripture

of our day.

He gave the apostles,

the prophets,

the evangelists,

the shepherd teachers

to equip the saints

for the work

of ministry.

So there's,

there's the task

of the leadership

of your church

is the equipping

of the saints

for the work

of ministry.

What is that work

of ministry?

Last part of verse 12,

for building up

the body of Christ

until we all attain

to the unity of the faith

and of the knowledge

of the Son of God

to mature manhood

to the measure

of the stature

of the fullness

of Christ

so that we may

no longer be children

tossed to and fro

by the waves

and carried about

by every wind of doctrine,

by human cunning,

by craftiness

in deceitful schemes.

Boy,

does the church

lack

this kind of equipping.

The church

in our day

is so wind blown.

Rather,

verse 15,

speaking the truth

in love.

There's the teaching

ministry of the church.

Speaking the truth

in love.

We are to grow up

in every way

into him

who is the head

into Christ

from whom

the whole body

joined and held together

by every joint

with which it is equipped

when each part

is working properly

makes the body grow

so that it builds

itself up.

in love.

This work

that Paul describes here

will not be over

until Christ

returns.

This is the

age in which we live

that Jesus

accompanies us

on

with all of his

authority.

We need

to be taught

and taught

and taught

to observe

all that Jesus

has commanded us.

He is not suggesting

that we have

a simple course.

Someone's converted,

baptized,

and they take

the Christianity

101 course

and it's done.

What he's talking about

in Matthew chapter 28

Matthew 28 · chapter mention

is the life

of discipling

that happens

in a church.

church.

I am building

a house.

Many of you know

I'm building

a house

property.

I'm building

quite physically

with my hands

a house

for my

parents.

This task

will not be

completed

until the house

is completed.

We have that

CO

and probably

beyond that

I'll still have

some projects

to do.

I cannot

merely break

ground on the

job site

and say

that I have

built a house.

It's not built

yet.

We took a step

in the right

direction.

One of

thousands of

steps

but it's not

built yet.

I'm in the

process of

building

a house.

We will not

be done

until Ephesians

Ephesians 4:13

4 verse 13.

We all attain

to the unity

of the faith

and of the

knowledge

of the

Son of

God.

To mature

manhood

to the

measure

of the

stature

of the

fullness

of Christ.

Now I want

to take a

step away

from our

text just

for a bit

to consider

this further.

Jonathan

Lehman,

the editorial

director for

Nine Marks,

has characterized

in numerous

publications,

most recently

in a little

book entitled

What is the

Church's

Mission?

I don't

think this

one is out

there but

there's

quite a

few of

this

series

out in

the

book

nook.

But in

this What

is the

Church's

Mission

book,

he talks

about five

different

types of

churches,

each with

a different

mission.

And I

think it's

helpful to

us.

So the

first four

are erroneous

missions.

And I

think we

need to be

careful as

a church

that we

don't get

tempted to

begin to

think in

some of

these ways.

So let

me read

to you a

brief excerpt

from this

book.

So again,

he's going

through five.

My reading

starts,

Church

one

emphasizes the

Great

Commission

and Jesus'

command to

make

disciples.

Yet when

they say

make

disciples,

they really

mean make

converts.

So church

number one

gears everything

in the church

toward non-Christians

as if local

churches basically

exist for the

sake of

evangelism.

And he

means only

evangelism.

They talk

about Christian

growth some,

but their

programs focus

on individuals,

not the

corporate body

or family.

They don't

see the

connection

between their

evangelism and

being a

vibrant,

united,

otherworldly

family.

Based on

church number

one's mission

playbook,

let's call it

Seekers

Church.

Church number

two is similar

to church

number one,

but it

appeals less

to middle

class longings

for things

like purpose

and more

to basic

human desires

for health

and wealth.

Join their

service on

Sunday when

you hear about

God's desire

to bless us

if only we

would have

enough faith.

Based on

its playbook,

let's call

church number

two Prosperity

Church.

While church

churches number

one and

number two

emphasize how

Jesus is here

for us,

churches number

three and

number four

emphasize how

we are here

for Jesus.

Church number

three we can

call Justice

Church.

Join them on

Sunday when you

hear the preacher

say we should

care for the

downtrodden,

wake up to the

nation's structural

injustices,

attend to the

environment,

and generally do

good in the

world.

church number

four is another

version of

church number

three,

but it focuses

on the

structural

injustices that

concern political

conservatives like

abortion,

same-sex marriage,

and religious

freedom.

Call it

Righteous Nation

Church.

It wants to

save the nation

from moral decay

and make it

safe for

Christianity.

At best,

both Justice

Church and

Righteous Nation

Church focus on

discipleship,

the moral shape

of Christians

and the command

to love our

neighbors.

At worst,

they risk sliding

a foot or at

least a toe

into Phariseeism,

meaning they lay

down laws and

political certainties

where Scripture

doesn't.

Members leave

church on Sunday

not so much

thanking God for

His grace in

their lives,

but feeling

superior to

other people

because of

their moral

and political

convictions.

To be sure,

many churches

occupy a couple

of these

examples.

I'm simply

outlining stock

types, not

trying to

caricature your

church so

that we can

all be more

careful.

Furthermore,

I trust that

some variety

between churches

is God-given.

Just like an

individual Christian

working on Wall

Street and one

teaching in a

run-down school

will have

different daily

ministries,

so a church

in the suburbs

might have a

strong counseling

ministry,

while a church

next door to

a refugee camp

might excel in

serving the

poor.

Praise God.

Still, there's

a difference

between being

sensitive to

the economic

waves and

political winds

surrounding us

and being

driven by

those waves

and winds.

When churches

are driven,

their playbooks,

their sense of

their mission

easily succumb

to biblical

imbalances

and worldly

agendas.

Seekers' church

shows signs of

having succumbed

to consumerism,

prosperity church

to materialism,

justice church

to political

progressivism,

and righteous

nation church

to nationalism,

even if all

four have

orthodox

statements of

faith.

So,

seekers,

prosperity,

justice,

righteous nation,

church.

But Lehman

goes on to

speak of the

church he

believes is

most biblical,

that is the

church I am

making a case

for today by

asking two

important questions.

First, he

asks,

what is the

mission of

the church

acting all

together,

and what is

the mission

of church

members

throughout the

week when

we're not

gathered together,

or what is

our mission

and what is

your mission?

He then

answers these

questions simply

and I believe

correctly by

saying,

number one,

so what is

our mission

acting together

as a church?

Our mission

is to make

disciples.

Number two,

living as

individual church

members throughout

the week,

our mission

is to be

disciples.

So,

the church

acting together

reads the

Bible,

preaches the

Bible,

prays the

Bible,

sings the

Bible,

and sees the

Bible in the

ordinances of

baptism and

communion.

we do so

by the

prescription of

the Bible.

This is called

the regulative

principle.

This disciple

making together

will include

things like

sending you to

your respective

spheres to share

the good news

of Jesus,

teaching you to

be faithful

husbands and

wives,

parents and

children,

equipping you

to work as

unto the Lord

and not for

men.

It may also

include things

like starting a

biblical counseling

center or a

pastoral residency

or planting new

churches or

starting a

school,

but the efforts

of the church

acting together

must always be

aimed at

going therefore

and making

disciples of

all nations,

baptizing them

in the name of

the Father,

Son,

and the Holy

Spirit,

teaching them

to observe

all that

Jesus has

commanded us.

Church members

then will be

equipped to be

salt and light

in their

respective spheres

always with a

mind to the

collective work

of the church's

mission to

make disciples.

Disciples of

Jesus will be

rightly concerned

with seeing

others become

disciples of

Jesus.

You've heard me

sum up much of

what I've just

said by saying

the church

gathers to

go,

bring you here,

equip you to

send you,

and we go in

order to gather,

continue to

gather the

church together.

The church is

not merely an

evangelistic outreach

or a place for

therapeutic lessons

or a lecture or

concert series.

The church is not

only meant to be

your social network.

The church is not

a theological

club.

The church is not

a thing to be

consumed.

And beloved,

hear me,

it's altogether

possible to

consume a

church that's

not trying to

offer consumables.

What you might

be consuming is

small church

or relationship

or expositional

preaching or

wordy songs or

the list can go

on and on and

on.

The church is a

people called

by God and

given a divine

mission with a

guaranteed

outcome.

Jesus has all

authority in

heaven and

earth.

Go therefore and

make disciples,

baptizing them and

teaching them all

that I've commanded

you.

Another text that I

want to show you

that drives at this

point is from

Matthew chapter 16.

Matthew 16 · chapter mention

So do please join me

in Matthew chapter 16

Matthew 16 · chapter mention

beginning in verse

13.

We'll close with

this text and a

few comments

about it.

Jesus is traveling

with the disciples

and when he comes

as verse 13 to the

district of

Caesarea

Philippi,

he asked his

disciples,

who do people

say that the

son of man

is?

And they

said,

some say John

the Baptist,

others say

Elijah and

others Jeremiah

or one of the

prophets.

He said to

them,

but who do you

say that I

am?

Simon Peter

replied,

you are the

Christ,

the son of

the living

God.

And Jesus

answered him,

blessed are

you,

Simon Barjona

for flesh and

blood has not

revealed this to

you,

but my father

who is in

heaven.

And I tell

you,

you are Peter

and on this

rock,

and maybe

clear,

he's referring

to the truth

that Peter

has declared

doing some

play on word

there,

but he's

referring to

the truth

that Peter

has declared

that he is

the Christ

on that

rock.

Jesus

says,

I will

build my

church.

Right?

This Jesus

all authority

in heaven

on earth

who's going

to accompany

us in this

disciple-making

process of

building churches

says,

I will

build my

church.

He is

primary means,

we are

secondary means.

And then he

says,

and the gates

of hell

shall not

prevail

against it.

If you've

been here,

you've heard me

say this,

my mind

flipped this

text for

years,

for years.

I don't

know why,

the text

is really

plain,

but I

had the

church in

the defensive

position,

right?

Holding at

bay the

world.

It's very

clearly not

that,

right?

It's very

clearly the

church is on

the advance.

Hell is in

the defensive

position,

and the gates

of hell will

not prevail

against it.

Jesus is

talking about

his global

church,

his church

everywhere

and across

all time

here,

and I

want to be

very careful

at this

point to

say,

the gates

of hell

can prevail

against this

church.

It will

not prevail

against the

church.

Boy,

I want to be

part of that

church,

right?

I want to be

included in

that number

that take

the gates

of hell

for the

glory of

Christ.

If we are

not crystal

clear on why

we exist,

then we will

always be

distracted,

by some

lesser

purpose.

We will

need to

recognize and

remind one

another that

the church

has a

mission to

make disciples

of the Lord

Jesus Christ

by the power

that belongs

to the Lord

Jesus Christ.

We will

have to be

readily reminded

of this as

we are slow

learners and

quick to

forget.

This coming

year and

the years

beyond it

will be a

great test

of our

collective

understanding

of the

mission of

the church.

I can

promise you

that it

will not

be easy.

If you're

a member of

this church,

I just want

you to

wad up all

the comfort

that you

have right

now and

throw it

out the

window.

It's not

going to be

easy.

That is not

the point.

It's going

to take

sacrifice

on our

behalf.

but the

reward will

be great

because we

will experience

God as he

empowers the

mission that

he has

given us.

I can

close with a

quote from

Thomas Brooks.

He once

wrote,

Christ dwells

in that heart

most imminently

that hath

emptied itself

of itself.

May this be

true of us.

Let's pray

to that end.

Let's pray.